New type of lube: gauging interest

[Smart Partys]

Let me start off by saying that this is not an advertisement for Fuch Lubricants as they do not specifically mike lubricants for paintball and I am not an employee of Fuchs Lubricants.

OK, my grandfather is an employee (not just a scrub, he's pretty high ranking) at Fuchs (I know, funny name, but it is pronounced FOOKS) lubricant company. I somehow mentioned one day not too long ago the ever popular silicone paintball lube, Dow 33 or "shocker lube" and asked him if his company makes it. He said that Dow is another competing lubricant company that basically makes bulk industrial silicone lubricants. However, his company, Fuchs makes a wider scale of lubricants (not just silicone, but other mineral oils and greases) that are more refined than Dow's are, including silicone compounds. Their competing product to Dow33 is called Chemplex 710 silicone compound. I saw him today and he gave me a sample tube of the stuff, which holds 5.3 ounces, or 150 grams. Although I may be biased, I asked one of my friends to close his eyes and I put a little Dow33 in one hand and some Chemplex 710 in the other. They have a very similar consistency and are hard to tell apart, but the 710 seems to be a little smoother and that is what he picked each time we tried it. It is similar in appearance and texture to vaseline, however they are not chemically identical. The slicker consistency is due to a pure silica thickener used in the product as opposed to Dow's dark pink to amber lithium soap thickener. Air America has used Chemplex on their regulators, so it must be good.

Pics:
sorry about the horrible quality: my camera Isnt great.

Here is a comparison to Dow 33, which is on top and Chemplex 710, which is on the bottom. Note the clear versus the pinkish color, that is because Dow uses the lithium soap thickener and Fuchs uses Silica thickener, which is basically the solid form of silicone, so it is a little bit slicker, while maintaining the same tackiness. http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w128/CWK922/CIMG0008.jpg


Here is a photo of both tubes compared:
http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w128/CWK922/CIMG0004.jpg

There is a long description about the product on the back of the tube, but I will only include the parts that would be usefull for paintball applications because silicone has other purposes, such as resisting corrosion, which are also listed.

A smooth, tacky, grease-like silicone compound with a light consistency. Provides a moisture barrier in vaccum systems (similar o ring use as in pressure systems) Temperature range -50* to 400*s farenheit. Similar to dow 33, which also peaks at 400, but bottoms at -100*s. Lubricant for Valves, seals and O-rings. apply by brushing, wiping or automated equipment. upon aging, a slight amount of fluid may bleed on surface inside the tube (same exact with dow33).

It does not swell O-rings, keeps them supple and lubricated.

What do you guys think? Does it sound effective? If it were made available to the paintballing world, would you try it out?
I have not done any performance tests yet, but i will when i have time to.

website:
http://www.fuchs.com
http://www.fuchs-lubritech.de/index_eng.htm

where to buy it:
http://www.amessupply.com/products1.cfm?aid=1&cid=F&sid=FE&fid=2204975
http://www.precisionroller.com/catalog_display.php?step=3&directlink=1&cid=18766&MfrID=289
http://www.imagesupplyservice.com/item105136.ctlg
http://www.jhps.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=jhps&Product_Code=JHPDG&Category_Code=CC

UK store: http://www.com-com.co.uk/9023/m/CHEMPLEX710-53.ihtml

Would someone with the ability to thoroughly test this product buy it and test it out and let us know how it goes? thanks.
P.S.: they also make and supply a separating oil used in the manufacturing of PMI paintballs when they are separated from the molds.

Fuchs does not make a dow55 equivalent. However, dow55 is dow33 with a penetrating agent which swells the o-rings. The actual silicone does not swell o-rings. If you wanted to, you could put a penetrating oil on the o-rings and then add silicone lubricant to it.

[amargio1]

great post...nice to here info like this.
:D

[DagNasty]

I use this all the time in my fabrication shop.. (not paintball related), I can't see why it wouldn't work to lube a marker, in fact, I'm kicking myself in the rear for not even realizing it would work.

Ima try it out tonight.

/edit

Just looked at the MSDS info..

Interesting to note the specific gravity on the Chemplex is .97 while Dow33 is 1.1

wonder what impact that has on how quickly the marker will need to be relubed.

[f2f4]

Hmm, it means it floats on water... if your marker got water in the internals, you'd want the specific gravity of the lube to be higher than 1.00, to avoid it "floating" away, right?

Just kidding. :P

Looks good! Shows promise, anyone willing to test? (I would, but I shoot an Ego; those take oil. And I already use Slick Honey in the regs, and I'll keep using that until I run out)

[Lopez17]

Interesting to note the specific gravity on the Chemplex is .97 while Dow33 is 1.1


The difference in this is what about 5%. I don't think you're really talking about a whole lot of impact in terms of viscosity or having to relube.

[Smart Partys]

Chemplex also comes in several other viscosities, such as 825, which i also have, but it is much thicker.

[Accident]

would a hardware or auto store carry this?

and if i picked some up, i would be happy to test it on my old ion.

[f2f4]

Hmm, good point. If I stop by Home Depot tomorrow I'll check what they carry.

[Smart Partys]

I think an auto store would have the best shot at carring it, since one of its other uses is to lube engine parts and electrical connectiins in the transmitions of older cars, but I am not sure.

[Tweeter]

interesting. A dow replacement that I could prolly find somewhere in my town. Do these guys have a dow 55 equivilent?

[Smart Partys]

I dont know, but i will ask.

Anyone test it thouroughly yet?

[IMADMAN]

Good info! Always looking for products that work well or better than some of the older products.

[Smart Partys]

has anyone tried it yet?

[MecTurtleCocker]

Grabbed some at my shop today, put it on my Sniper. No real changes, but it hasn't wrecked any parts yet. Yet.

[Smart Partys]

I asked my grandpa and he said that he is not sure if they make a dow55 equivalent, bu the will check. He asked me what kind of rubber the o-rings were made of and I didn't know.

Is anyone else interested in this lube?

[leed]

I asked my grandpa and he said that he is not sure if they make a dow55 equivalent, bu the will check. He asked me what kind of rubber the o-rings were made of and I didn't know.

Is anyone else interested in this lube?

I may be, depending on the pricing..

The majority of O-rings used in paintball are Buna-N (nitrile) O-rings. Hardness depends, but usually anything the size of a tank o-ring is 90 or 70 duro.

I'm not entirely positive, so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[DagNasty]

I haven't had the chance to test this yet, I went back to pilfer a tube and realized we had none in stock.. completely forgot to go back and check.. will do today.

[Smart Partys]

I may be, depending on the pricing..




If you look at the website I posted in end of the original post, you will see that it is $9.65 per 5oz tube. Most lube is about that price for about 2oz.

http://www.amessupply.com/products1....FE&fid=2204975 (http://www.amessupply.com/products1.cfm?aid=1&cid=F&sid=FE&fid=2204975)

[Superandy12]

I'm interested If they have a DOW 55 equivilent.

[coolrazer]

Honestly, I wouldn't use it. I wouldn't use anything not approved by the marker company, because I don't want to void my warranty.

[Smart Partys]

smart parts only allows their shocker lube or sl33k to be used and it is the exact same as other dow 33's but its just a way for smart parts to make more money. Oh, and the warranty runs out after about a year on most guns. Even so, you could just wipe the old lube off before you have it serviced under warranty.

[coolrazer]

Whether it's a scam by a company or not, it keeps my warranty valid.

[Tweeter]

so then as your shocker celebrates its first brithday (not familiar with SP warranty), you can use whatever you want.

[Smart Partys]

The warranty isn't voided if you just wipe off the old grease before you send it in.

I just talked to my grandpa and he says amessupply.com has placed 3x their normal order amount and 2 orders in the past two weeks, so apparently people have been seeing this and buying up. I also asked him about swelling the o-rings and he told me that after looking into the subject and doing some research, he found that dow55 is just dow33 with a penetrating agent mixed into it, similar to tri-flow oil. This allows the o rings to become swollen because the oil enters the rubber and fills it up, causing the swelling to occur. Then, the silicone grease is left to lubricate the gun and provide smooth movement of the bolt, as well as aid in sealing the chamber. So, if you wanted to, you could mix chemplex 710 or dow33 with a penetrating oil, or just apply them separately, with the penetrating oil coming first, then adding the silicone on top of that.

[Superandy12]

The warranty isn't voided if you just wipe off the old grease before you send it in.

I just talked to my grandpa and he says amessupply.com has placed 3x their normal order amount and 2 orders in the past two weeks, so apparently people have been seeing this and buying up. I also asked him about swelling the o-rings and he told me that after looking into the subject and doing some research, he found that dow55 is just dow33 with a penetrating agent mixed into it, similar to tri-flow oil. This allows the o rings to become swollen because the oil enters the rubber and fills it up, causing the swelling to occur. Then, the silicone grease is left to lubricate the gun and provide smooth movement of the bolt, as well as aid in sealing the chamber. So, if you wanted to, you could mix chemplex 710 or dow33 with a penetrating oil, or just apply them separately, with the penetrating oil coming first, then adding the silicone on top of that.



well tell your grandpa to mix them for me, put it in a tube, then sell it to me.

[Smart Partys]

haha hes not really in charge of that stuff, you know like the manufacturing process, but I'm sure he could talk to some of the guys who run that department.

[Smart Partys]

They also have chemplex 825, which is slightly thicker and works on paintball guns as well. Here is a link to the msds info: http://msds.ogden.disa.mil/msds/owa/web_msds.display?imsdsnr=195459

[Uziel Gal]

Noticed the link to the UK supplier in your first post - most thoughtful, thanks. Have to have a look at this.

[Smart Partys]

Ok, any well-respected member of PBN or PBR, pm me and I will send you a free tube to test as long as you write a n in-depth review with pictures and everything.