Question about the protectant

[beanojones]

Question about the protectant

Is the idea that this can replace having to slather silicone or Tribolube all over parts that usually get corroded like inflator parts? Is it a dialectric?

I'd like to not have to coat things in grease to prevent corrosion.

Some specific places where I would like to use it:
Tanks neck threads
Inflator innards
Alternate inflator innards
Threads (like on the Apeks regs spring caps, and environmental seal caps that are not protected by oRings)

Do you have any feedback in harsh tropical environments where things tend to essentially weld themselves together?

 

[TRIBOLUBE71]

Beano,

Over the years I listened to all the problems that occur concerning regulators. The EPO2 Protectant was designed originally to stop the corrosion of the brass parts inside regulators. EPO2 accomplishes this with surface pacification. It puts a light coating of PFPE material on the surface and will block the intrusion of oxygen and other foreign contaminants (solids, liquids, and gasses). It will halt the corrosion on the surface of the material. This rust or corrosion reaction is called Electrophoresis. Electrophoresis is the loss of electrons and is the natural state of decay or corrosion of metals.
EPO2 is dielectric. EPO2 is not miscible in water either, so it will not dissolve. You can however use the KO2 solvent to remove it if you needed to. Using EPO2 for the replacement of silicone or PFPE grease was never the intent, but in some areas it would be viable.
I met with Jeff Bozanic (Mastering Rebreathers) at DEMA this year, and he is experimenting with the EPO2 protectant and he KO2 solvent. I hope to be able to relay his findings the first of the year. Jeff is testing the EPO2 protectant on electrical connections and relays and other various parts.
We have not considered the inflation areas you mentioned for the EPO2 protectant, but I think that area would be a good place to test. Tribolube 71 grease would still be my first choice for connectors, spring caps, and environmental seal caps.
A cylinder manufacturer is currently using Tribolube 71 on the threads of new cylinders to prevent flash rusting. We first offered them the EPO2 protectant, but they liked the grease better.
You should not have to heavily coat parts all you need is a film of grease, this is normally sufficient. I would follow the requirements of the equipment manufacturer, as it pertains to lubrication.
The welding you experience in tropical conditions is probably due to salt residue. Solidified salt is caustic and can cause a weld like appearance. In worse case scenarios it cane fuse two parts together like superglue. It probably makes it extremely difficult to disassemble your equipment. A light coating of Tribolube 71 or EPO2 in this area should alleviate the problem. Even though the parts are being flushed with fresh water; residue still remains and will build up over time. Which parts are affected the most?
We hope that covers all of your concerns, if you have other questions please let us know.

 

[beanojones]

Thanks for the info.

As for which parts are affected the most, I can only speak on the fixing end of things. Basically everything that can end up permanently stuck together (metals) will sometimes get stuck together. From coversations here at ScubaBoard, I am realizing that tropical conditions are just not the same as the colder conditions. My assumption is that the severe corrosion problems in the tropics has to do with both much higher usage, and the salt air environment.

Example: We got AL tanks that had welded the valve to the tank in for VIPs. Even using a 6 foot cheater bar all we could do was rip the valve in two. The tanks would just end up condemned. I was just reading about taking out the seat retainer in a ScubaPro MK10. the poster suggested Snap ring pliers could work on a pinch. That wpuld never work in the tropics: I have broken pin spanner tools doing the same thing. We have an assortment of cheater bars to help us undo 'welded together' parts. And these bars regularly destroy tools that are used to disassemble 'welded together' parts.

The tropics has extraordinarily higher rates of chrome plating failure severely limiting the lifespan of gear. Basically no one else here at the board has ever seen gear fail due to losing chrome. I have retired a bunch of gear due to dechroming. To the point that I will just not use a balanced piston first stage, and if I could I would only use titanium second stages, if I could, going forward, in rental or personal gear.

It seems that it is just not the same in other parts of the world. One of the frustrating things is to have to disassemble brand new gear to properly coat it with grease to protect it. That tells me that either the level of wear, or the level of corrosive action, or some combination of the two is higher in the tropics than it is other places. Otherwise the manufacturers would be doing something different.

 

[TRIBOLUBE71]

Thanks for the feedback. After a good cleaning spray a light coating of the EPO2 protectant then follow up with the Tribolube 71 grease in any area you see this problem. You will not need to use copious amounts of grease here just enough to cover the surface. The grease and protectant are fine to put over top of each other. The EPO2 was designed to protect in the areas that the chrome/nickel is peeling off to protect the brass that is underneath. The EPO2 will stop the pitting you most likely see as well. The Tribolube Grease will help to reduce the welding or galling you have seen on the fittings and threads.