grease or lube?

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danilocesar

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Location
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I have a camera setup that includes a Ikelite housing and two Sea&Sea strobes...

Sea&Sea recommends to use their own grease on o-rings, while Ikelite requires a more liquid lubricant.

The point is: Is there really a difference between them?
I have a few grease tubes(sea&sea's) and I use them on Ikelite o-ring since I don't have (nor want to buy) Ikelite's lube.

Do you think there is any problem in doing that? In my opinion the result is the same, but I would like to have a second opinion.

thanks
 
YES, there is a difference between different brands of grease.

Often times there is an incompatibility between manufacturers O-ring grease.

For example I used the Canon O-ring grease on a Sea & Sea strobe O-ring and it broke down the O-ring by stretching it and ruining it. But in reverse the Sea&Sea grease (yellow tube with blue cap) did not harm the Canon O-ring.

Another example; I once used generic dive shop silicon grease on an Olympus camera O-ring and it broke down the material by stretching the O-ring rendering it useless.

This website lists the housing brands that the Sea & Sea grease (yellow tube with blue top) is safe for. Ikelite is not on the list:

http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-sea-amp-sea-o-ring-grease.htm

QUOTE from the site:
"This Sea & Sea fluorosilicone grease is the preferred lubricant for silicone o-rings in underwater cameras, housings and strobes. Suitable for Canon, Olympus, Panasonic, Sea & Sea and Sony underwater camera housing o-rings."
 
That's bad news for me...

TODO before my next dive: buy Ikelite lube...
 
Better you just buy some Tribolube 71 or Christolube. These are both good on all kinds of o-rings.
Bill
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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