Learning to do maintenance on my own gear, Apeks

[Tanks A Lot]

Isopropanol is a polar solvent, while the PDMS in silicone grease is non-polar due to its methyl groups. This makes isopropyl alcohol a poor solvent for silicone grease, as the old saying 'like dissolves like' rings true here.

I have found that toluene, xylene, or other non-polar solvents like mineral spirits can reliably remove silicone grease, with not much else being truly successful. Silicone grease is seriously hydrophobic, making it difficult to remove without a suitable solvent. Isopropyl alcohol is amphiphilic, meaning it possesses both hydrophobic and hydrophilic characteristics, much like many surfactants. Yet, the highly hydrophobic nature of PDMS means that a dedicated non-polar solvent is the most effective approach for its removal. This, in turn, points to most mineral spirits as a good choice.

For oxygen service, this means we must be extra vigilant to remove any residue that the solvent may have left behind.

 

[happy-diver]

Phiphilicus schmiphilicus lots of stuff removes silicone, with isopropyl alcohol being one of them

Just back in from the laboratory, removed it with all this stuff with the final secret being hot water

For Zero Residue


It's just difficult when you make it difficult because you can't move your fingers except to type stuff

 

[happy-diver]

Here you go Tanks A Lot and everyone else so go do yourselves a favour
and if you haven't been thinking about this have a good think about this

So here it is, so very very briefly you don't want a similar chemical to mix
with the silicone and thin it so you needlessly smear it much further than
it already is, you want something to encapsulate, to lubricate the silicone

You know, stuff that gets between the silicone, and what it is adhering to

So you can brush it away in lumps

Sound good what do you all think


Sounds like The perfect job for "Look up in the sky, it's a bird, its a plane"

"No it's Amphioboilingphilgggggiccccssstufff isopropyphyl alcohol man!"

Isopropyl alcohol is amphiphilic

To truly learn we must take a leap and give serious thought to thinking beyond our constraints