vaseline on rubber plumbing seals?

[Adrian Mariano]

A colleage told me that rubber gaskets and such in plumbing systems
should be smeared with vaseline before installation. This stops
leaks, he told me. Now last time I installed a lavatory faucet I had
a lot of trouble getting it to quit leaking around the big rubber
gasket right under the sink, so I was curious about this practice.
I'm about to install another sink, so I'm wondering if he's right (or
kind of right). I do wonder, however, about the wisdom of putting
petroleum products on rubber. I briefly looked around at Home Depot
for some special plumbing grease, but didn't see anything.

Is it helpful to put grease on rubber gaskets in plumbing? If so,
what kinds of grease are acceptable?

[Speedy Jim]

Post by Adrian Mariano
A colleage told me that rubber gaskets and such in plumbing systems
should be smeared with vaseline before installation. This stops
leaks, he told me. Now last time I installed a lavatory faucet I had
a lot of trouble getting it to quit leaking around the big rubber
gasket right under the sink, so I was curious about this practice.
I'm about to install another sink, so I'm wondering if he's right (or
kind of right). I do wonder, however, about the wisdom of putting
petroleum products on rubber. I briefly looked around at Home Depot
for some special plumbing grease, but didn't see anything.
Is it helpful to put grease on rubber gaskets in plumbing? If so,
what kinds of grease are acceptable?

Depends on the rubber, but in general you're correct;
grease will swell the rubber.
You can use silicone grease; it's non-petroleum.

The big rubber gasket under a faucet may be sealed with
silicone caulk if the gasket itself won't provide a tight seal.

Jim

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

Post by Speedy Jim

Post by Adrian Mariano
Is it helpful to put grease on rubber gaskets in plumbing? If so,
what kinds of grease are acceptable?

Depends on the rubber, but in general you're correct;
grease will swell the rubber.
You can use silicone grease; it's non-petroleum.

I second the silicon grease. Back in the days when I ran a scuba shop, we never
used anything else on rubber o-rings. Valeline can cause neoprene to break
down. It also was supposedly flammable in the presence of high pressure.

We always used food grade silicon grease. A very little bit goes a long way.
If you use too much it will attract grit.

[Chris Lewis]

Post by Mortimer Schnerd, RN
I second the silicon grease. Back in the days when I ran a scuba shop, we never
used anything else on rubber o-rings. Valeline can cause neoprene to break
down. It also was supposedly flammable in the presence of high pressure.

You may be thinking flammable in the presence of pure oxygen. I don't think
vaseline is flammable in ordinary air even at scuba tank pressures. But it
certainly is with pure O2 at higher pressures.

Almost everything is...

[Richard J Kinch]

[Vaseline] also was supposedly flammable in the presence of high
pressure.

Please. It burns in ordinary AIR. It's petroleum GREASE.

[Michael Daly]

Post by Richard J Kinch

[Vaseline] also was supposedly flammable in the presence of high
pressure.

Please. It burns in ordinary AIR. It's petroleum GREASE.

Outdoor types use vaseline as a fire starter. Yes it burns.

Mike

[Chuck]

What he was making reference to is..
In pure oxygen environment, chap stick, lipstick, any petrol product
can spontaneously combust. (no matches required.)

But not in compressed air environment..

Post by Michael Daly

Post by Richard J Kinch

[Vaseline] also was supposedly flammable in the presence of high
pressure.

Please. It burns in ordinary AIR. It's petroleum GREASE.

Outdoor types use vaseline as a fire starter. Yes it burns.
Mike

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

Post by Chuck
What he was making reference to is..
In pure oxygen environment, chap stick, lipstick, any petrol product
can spontaneously combust. (no matches required.)
But not in compressed air environment..

I just mentioned it in passing. The real supposed objection was that it
supposedly caused rubber to break down. In a scuba environment, we didn't want
anything that wasn't food grade, so we used silicon grease. The idea was to use
just a smidgeon to lubricate the joint and hopefully help preserve the o-ring.
Failure to use a little silicon grease generally ment you couldn't get the joint
apart later without destroying the o-ring.

I recognize we're not talking about scuba here, but I would still think you'd
want to preserve the seal.

[Brikp]

There is a plumbing grease made just for this purpose. I have used vaseline
as well but its probably not ideal.

Post by Adrian Mariano
A colleage told me that rubber gaskets and such in plumbing systems
should be smeared with vaseline before installation. This stops
leaks, he told me. Now last time I installed a lavatory faucet I had
a lot of trouble getting it to quit leaking around the big rubber
gasket right under the sink, so I was curious about this practice.
I'm about to install another sink, so I'm wondering if he's right (or
kind of right). I do wonder, however, about the wisdom of putting
petroleum products on rubber. I briefly looked around at Home Depot
for some special plumbing grease, but didn't see anything.
Is it helpful to put grease on rubber gaskets in plumbing? If so,
what kinds of grease are acceptable?

[Art]

Just put in a Moen faucet and it came with special grease and said not to
use vaseline.

Post by Adrian Mariano
A colleage told me that rubber gaskets and such in plumbing systems
should be smeared with vaseline before installation. This stops
leaks, he told me. Now last time I installed a lavatory faucet I had
a lot of trouble getting it to quit leaking around the big rubber
gasket right under the sink, so I was curious about this practice.
I'm about to install another sink, so I'm wondering if he's right (or
kind of right). I do wonder, however, about the wisdom of putting
petroleum products on rubber. I briefly looked around at Home Depot
for some special plumbing grease, but didn't see anything.
Is it helpful to put grease on rubber gaskets in plumbing? If so,
what kinds of grease are acceptable?

[Rick]

Post by Adrian Mariano
A colleage told me that rubber gaskets and such in plumbing systems
should be smeared with vaseline before installation. This stops
leaks, he told me. Now last time I installed a lavatory faucet I had
a lot of trouble getting it to quit leaking around the big rubber
gasket right under the sink, so I was curious about this practice.
I'm about to install another sink, so I'm wondering if he's right (or
kind of right). I do wonder, however, about the wisdom of putting
petroleum products on rubber. I briefly looked around at Home Depot
for some special plumbing grease, but didn't see anything.
Is it helpful to put grease on rubber gaskets in plumbing? If so,
what kinds of grease are acceptable?

Any water-based lubricant will work, think 'personal lubricant' - ie KY
jelly, Astroglide, etc. - LOL

Rick

[Adrian Mariano]

Post by Rick

Post by Adrian Mariano
A colleage told me that rubber gaskets and such in plumbing systems
should be smeared with vaseline before installation. This stops
leaks, he told me. Now last time I installed a lavatory faucet I had
a lot of trouble getting it to quit leaking around the big rubber
gasket right under the sink, so I was curious about this practice.
I'm about to install another sink, so I'm wondering if he's right (or
kind of right). I do wonder, however, about the wisdom of putting
petroleum products on rubber. I briefly looked around at Home Depot
for some special plumbing grease, but didn't see anything.
Is it helpful to put grease on rubber gaskets in plumbing? If so,
what kinds of grease are acceptable?

Any water-based lubricant will work, think 'personal lubricant' - ie KY
jelly, Astroglide, etc. - LOL

But the goal is to make the gasket seal well. Wouldn't a water based
lubricant will wash away upon exposure to water? Seems like something
specifically waterproof is needed, like the silicone.

[Richard J Kinch]

Post by Adrian Mariano
I do wonder, however, about the wisdom of putting
petroleum products on rubber.

Much superstition on this.

Petroleum is a solvent for NATURAL RUBBER, which hasn't been used in
plumbing since, oh, the 19th century.

Parts like O-rings are today typically Buna-N (nitrile) rubber, which is
fine with petrolatum aka petroleum jelly aka petroleum grease aka Vaseline.

If anyone sez otherwise, point them to the rubber fuel hose in your
gasoline-powered automobile.

[Michael Daly]

Post by Richard J Kinch
Petroleum is a solvent for NATURAL RUBBER, which hasn't been used in
plumbing since, oh, the 19th century.

19th century is an exaggeration. If it's old, it might be natural
rubber or it might be synthetic without being resistant to petroleum
products. Relatively new parts might be made of nitrile, but that
assumes someone didn't swap for a cheap o-ring (I've seen all sorts
of dumb things done).

The safest thing is a silicone grease.

Mike

[Richard J Kinch]

Post by Michael Daly
Relatively new parts might be made of nitrile, but that
assumes someone didn't swap for a cheap o-ring (I've seen all sorts
of dumb things done).

Please cite an example of such a product.

[Michael Daly]

Post by Richard J Kinch

Post by Michael Daly
Relatively new parts might be made of nitrile, but that
assumes someone didn't swap for a cheap o-ring (I've seen all sorts
of dumb things done).

Please cite an example of such a product.

The O-ring I had to replace in my last house. I hve no idea
where the previous owner got it.

Mike

[Richard J Kinch]

Post by Michael Daly

Post by Richard J Kinch

Post by Michael Daly
Relatively new parts might be made of nitrile, but that
assumes someone didn't swap for a cheap o-ring (I've seen all sorts
of dumb things done).

Please cite an example of such a product.

The O-ring I had to replace in my last house. I hve no idea
where the previous owner got it.

I meant, cite an O-ring material incompatible with petroleum.

The common ones are nitrile, Viton, neoprene, or EDPM, all compatible.

[Michael Daly]

Post by Richard J Kinch

Post by Michael Daly
The O-ring I had to replace in my last house. I hve no idea
where the previous owner got it.

I meant, cite an O-ring material incompatible with petroleum.

That's one. I didn't say that modern materials are all bad, I said that
you don't have to go back to the 19th century to find o-rings that are
incompatible with petroleum. I found one in my house - probably about
20 years old and it disintegrated after someone smeared it with oil.

Post by Richard J Kinch
The common ones are nitrile, Viton, neoprene, or EDPM, all compatible.

"Common" isn't "all".

Check the available compound specs at the following:

http://www.precisionassoc.com/contribute/tcom.htm

You'll find they have butyl and such - not good with petroleum.

Mike

[Richard J Kinch]

Post by Michael Daly
I found one in my house - probably about
20 years old and it disintegrated after someone smeared it with oil.

20 years of water alone will disintegrate most any elastomer.

Post by Michael Daly
http://www.precisionassoc.com/contribute/tcom.htm
You'll find they have butyl and such - not good with petroleum.

No reason for them show up in a plumbing application, although it is
possible.

[Brandon]

Post by Adrian Mariano
A colleage told me that rubber gaskets and such in plumbing systems
should be smeared with vaseline before installation. This stops
leaks, he told me. Now last time I installed a lavatory faucet I had
a lot of trouble getting it to quit leaking around the big rubber
gasket right under the sink, so I was curious about this practice.
I'm about to install another sink, so I'm wondering if he's right (or
kind of right). I do wonder, however, about the wisdom of putting
petroleum products on rubber. I briefly looked around at Home Depot
for some special plumbing grease, but didn't see anything.
Is it helpful to put grease on rubber gaskets in plumbing? If so,
what kinds of grease are acceptable?

Just go to your local pool store and pick-up some o-ring lubricant.

Brandon