Help - The Bomb

[Phil Rose]

At 7:07 PM -0700 9/4/03, Bernie Benz wrote:
>  > From: "Derek Pulvino" <dbpulvino at hotmail.com>
>>
>>  ...thusly maybe Pentosin is adequate as a lube.
>>
>With luck, your in.

Bernie has me reconsidering the o-ring "lubrication" issue.  He
believes that "Pentosin is not enough", and that's something I'll try
to remember the next time I find myself doing this job.

Why? Well, like Derek and most others, I routinely use Pentosin to
lube the new o-rings during installation. However--even though that
procedure generally seems to avoid the major distortions responsible
for rapid recurrance of leakage--it is all too common for leakage to
recur within just a few years. I've always thought that this rather
short o-ring lifetime was primarily a matter of shrinkage and/or
hardening of the rubber (from the high-temperatures and possibly from
chemical interactions between the rubber and Pentosin.) However, I
now wonder if of some degree of o-ring stretching (even a small
amount) during installation might contribute to significant reduction
of seal effectiveness (i.e., lifetime). I realize that's pure
speculation, however I think it's plausible enough to warrant the
precaution of applying a better (better than Pentosin) lube to the
o-rings.

Like the chicken-soup remedy--it couldn't hurt. (no, I don't advocate
using chicken soup on the o-rings).

Phil
--

Phil Rose
Rochester, NY
mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net