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geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: AlphaStudios on Thu, 28 April 2022, 12:42:39
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HI - what is is about Krytox that makes it so special? can't any reasoonably heavy grease do the job? Any alternatives to Krytox?
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There's some alternatives, but its mostly due to the fact that kryptox is a nice consistency and doesn't separate.
Some alternatives include gazzew loop, certain superlubes, tribosys, some, very small amount of china aliexpress lubes. SW something it was I think. But generally krytox is just what you want.
For stab wires, dielectric grease, I use the super cheap silicone superlube one. Big ass tube for 3 bucks off amazon and it lasts forever.
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Just any grease wont do: a lot of chemicals will attack and de-polymerize plastics, some greases will just harden or separate over time, or some others will just slip off plastics. You need a grease that does not separate, that clings to plastic surfaces, and keeps its properties over time, and is made for this kind of usage and temperatures.
Tribosys is an alternative.
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A big thing to look out for when buying lubricants/greases for switches is that is has to be plastic safe and non-conductive. That combined with the fact that Krytox makes a variety of grease viscosities and it doesn't separate over time makes it a perfect fit for lubing switches.
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Thanks for the replies guys. Whats the best source for Krytox? it is made by DuPont right but i guess they only sell it in gallon tubs and folks part the tub up and sell like 10g at a time?
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I buy microlubrol instead of krytox. it's the same pfpe oil + ptfe thickener as krytox, but it's much cheaper and easily available in larger but sub-kilogram quantitites.
I generally start with ultimox 226 and thin it down with whatever PFPE oil is handy.