Can anyone recommend a locally available low temperature grease suitable for use in my Vixen GP-DX? I spent all day yesterday pulling the mount apart and degreasing it. Last night I applied an expensive fancy cryogenic grease, a dollop of which I got from work. After working the surfaces the darn thing locked up, I suspect the grease has reacted with some of the aluminium surfaces and possibly the teflon washers. I now need to find a good alternative quick! Cheers and happy new year, David
David, I have been using "Slick 50 One Grease" on my G-11 with good results. It was recommended to me by an experienced cold-weather imager and it has proven to work well. There may be something better, but it has worked for me. Cheers, Tyler ____________________________________________________________- <Can anyone recommend a locally available low temperature grease suitable> <for use in my Vixen GP-DX?>
--- Naz_David <naz_david@msn.com> wrote:
Can anyone recommend a locally available low temperature grease suitable for use in my Vixen GP-DX? <snip - the Vixen horror story.>
David, I haven't done this personally, but have done some reading on it over the last month in preparation for regreasing my Synta EQ-6 (Orion-Atlas) branded mount. In December 2005, there have been extensive discussions of the cold-weather regreasing issue in the yahoo EQ6 newsgroup. Beyond general statements of "use white silicone grease," only two brand specific recommendations were made: Dow Corning Molykote G-4500 Grease (search term "G-4500") Dow Corning 33 Low Temperature Grease (search term "Dow Corning 33") The specs sheets for both can be downloaded through the Dow Corning site at: http://www.dowcorning.com/ Menu options: Products | Find Products The retreived spec sheets cover Molykote G-4500 and G-4700 grease, and Dow Corning 33, 41 and 44 grease. In theory, a standard or high-temperature grease like Molykote G-4500, Molykote G-4700 or Dow Corning 44 grease should work. They are all rated to -20 degrees or lower. The Molykote G-4500 states it uses a "aluminum complex" as a thickner; Molykote G-4500 and Dow Corning 33 are lithium based. Dow Corning 33 is specifically made for low-temperature, low torque applications. But per the spec sheets, contamination is problem for these greases and can change their materials properties. It is important to thoroughly clean and remove the old grease, remove the degreasing solvent and then use clean tools to regrease the parts. I do not see anything specifically in the spec sheets about reactivity with aluminum. After reviewing the spec sheets, I'm leaning towards Dow Corning 33 Low Temperature Grease. The Dow Corning site has live online chat to help select a product and a distributor lookup engine. There are many SLC distributors listed in the lookup engine. The following two caught my eye, but I have no experience with them: APPLIED INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES 195 WEST 2950 SOUTH SALT LAKE CITY UTAH TEL: +1 801 487 7851 INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY COMPANY 1635 S 300 W SALT LAKE CITY UTAH TEL: +1 801 484 8644 Probably the best suggestions I heard in the EQ6 group were (1) low temperature test your grease before you put it in the scope - that is take a glob of it and put in the freezer for a day and (2) make sure you do not contaminate the grease. - Hope this helps. It's what little I know on an abstract, not experience basis. Canopus56(Kurt) __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL Â Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com
participants (3)
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Canopus56 -
Naz_David -
Tyler Allred