Silicone Spray from Halfords

[ronin677]

Hi

 

I have just bought this. It says it is safe to use on rubber, so it it ok for my AEG hop up unit, rubber and barrel?

 

cheers

 

Jon

 

 

[Sitting Duck]

Barrel - I have used a cotton bud or cue-tip as yanks would say taped to a think stick

or unjamming rod, tip of cotton bud moderately coated with silicone and can drop in barrel

applying a layer of slicone to length of it

I have a very thin bit of tubing that is just right for stick of cotton to wedge into

(cut the cotton bud in two and wedge it in very thin tube or tape to small thin cane or jamming rod)

spray sliicone onto cotton bud and run down barrel seems to work for me and seems to be right size

unless you got a really big set of ears and use jumbo cue-tips/buds

 

Hop-up - hmm a light spray on gear or mechanism perhaps but would never go nuts or it on bucking

but hop up - hardly adjust it and seems ok atm - so kind of scared to go too mad with silicone in case it goes

perhaps where it shouldn't - but don't take this as gospel as I am still a noob myself

Just think you don't want a slippery bucking too much

 

Silicone won't damage rubber - but it is so very slippery and if you go too mad it stays slippery as f*ck for quite a while

(we have spilt it on floor at work and blow me it is like an ice rink - really dangerous and need lots of hot soapy soapy

washing up liquid as it is a degreaser to clear it up)

Rubber parts of machines have been coated in it and all still ok - but I would advise go easy with it as you don't need much

 

May not know a hell of lot about gun maintainence but I know a bit about that slippery bastid - Silly Con

See what others say as well coz I would like to learn more about keeping my AEG in good order too

[Airsoft_Mr B]

IIRC it's fine as long as it's 100% silicon.

[Samurai]

Contrary to popular belief, no silicone spray should go near any AEG ever. Not only the rubber sucks it up and gets softer and swollen, even if you clean it afterwards, but dust sticks into it.

Clean your barrel with alcohol and that's it.

[AK47frizzle]

Contrary to popular belief, no silicone spray should go near any AEG ever. Not only the rubber sucks it up and gets softer and swollen, even if you clean it afterwards, but dust sticks into it.

Clean your barrel with alcohol and that's it.

Silicon is good for the gearboxes, but for the hop up, i guess it's a different story.

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

Silicone oil is good for lubricating Plastic-Rubber contact,like GBB nozzles,preserving rubber seals,like GBB fill valves and preventing oxidization. It's mostly useless on AEG gearboxes since you need more viscous grease,silicone grease for piston guide rails and the O ring,White Lithium for gears and bearings. White lithium spray is handy for lubricating bearings I find

 

Silicone sprays are a waste of money,they often contain petroleum based propellants which ruins rubber,not only that but the oil itself isn't as viscous or long lasting as it is from a dropper. Silicone oil is best bought in dropper bottles,often sold at RC shops as 'Shock oil'.

[Sitting Duck]

Yup I will go with that - white slicone grease or similar for gearbox

 

Silicone - very slippery stuff but use very carefully - barrel yup

hop-up - maybe a tiny bit but rubber maybe see if you really need it & just a minute bit if you do

 

yes there are loads of various type/make/spec of silicone liquids

just like Isopropyl - the wipes/swabs are 70% + 30 % distilled water

but you can get pure or 99% alchohol/Isopropyl in bottles

 

think maybe WD40 for hop-up gears might be better than silicone - leave rubber alone

barrel silicone

 

any surface polished or wiped with silicone will be very slippery

wd40 & silicone are not the same - they are a tiny bit similar but each has their benefits/uses they work best for

anything is better than nothing at a push but just go easy is my thoughts wityh these lubricants

gearbox is a different matter though

[ronin677]

Well I've lubed up the barrel and the hop up rubber. I'll let you all know how it pans out.

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

Never lube the barrel and hop up rubber.

 

Hop up rubbers should be dry and a little bit sticky to grip the BB better. It certainly does not need lubrication,otherwise it will slip and give you bugger all range. Clan hop up rubbers by taking them out and bathing them in warm,soapy water. I find fairy liquid does a terrific job of cleansing hop up rubbers.

 

Barrels have to be as even and polished and possible since the BB rides the top,Silicone oil inside the barrel will prevent corrosion,but ruin performance. Clean barrels out with rubbing alcohol,and polish thoroughly,maybe use a VERY LITTLE bit of compound suitable to the metal.

Barrels should be dry- Silicone gets into the micro pores in the metal and can give an uneven slipperyness so the friction of the BB riding the top will be uneven.

 

You may find after lubing the hop up rubber and barrel will results in awful performance,get some isopryl alcohol to clean the barrel and wash the bucking in warm soapy water like I said.

[CaptainSwoop]

Keep WD-40 away from your gub altogether. It is not a lubricant. It is not designed for lubricating anything in your gun.

[Sitting Duck]

Silicone is ok on smooth metal surfaces - apllied and polished there is no drag or resistance

we use it all the time at work - greatly reduces drag

as you are not gonna be able to buffer and polish barrel perfectlt I said a bit on cotton bud

don't go mad and any excess will get pushed out and should be fine after say 50 bb's

 

Rubber - nope like I said was my feeling

 

Hop-up - hmm maybe but WD40 might be better - still a tiny tiny bit to gears

 

But silicone on metal is not bad thing in my book, it really helps stuff to glide over the polished metal surface

[Sitting Duck]

Difference of opinion again......

 

Already said Silicone & WD40 are not same but are slightly similar but used for different things

 

WD40 has been silicone free since first invented - says on tin

it is NOT a lubricant but oddly states in a few examples of use:

 

Stops squeaks

Penetrates and LUBRICATES hinges castors springs.....

 

Frees sticky mechanisms:

Un-jams and LUBRICATES door locks, zippers, sewing machines AK47's

 

OK I put the AK47 bit in - but that is what it says on the tin

it is designed to help free seized rusted bolts etc but in its own way helps to ease and lubricate slightly

it is not a high melting point oil or grease but does HELP to keep things moving

 

Hop-up - already said I haven't used stuff on mine yet, but if your hop-up adjustment is a bit stiff then I

reckon a tiny amount of WD40 won't be a bad idea to free it up and assist it

 

keep any lube away from rubber bucking - don't want it slipping out end of barrel

[CaptainSwoop]

Sewing Machine Oil or the Model Railway 'Electrolube' Pens are what you need for the Hop Unit gears. I won't attack plastic and can be applied with a hypodermic applicator so it goes exactly where needed.

[Sitting Duck]

So WD40 eats plastic ???

really - I didn't think it was corrosive as well

 

like I said I haven't bothered with hop-up, but said use sparingly

yup got blunt needles for refilling ink carts or CISS systems on printers

but then could always use the tube/straw that comes with WD40

or the other half of the cue-tip to apply a few drops on gears of hop-up

 

some products may be better than others and some should not be used for certain areas

but then letting certain parts run dry as bone is not good gun maintenance either

suppose if you ask 10 people what and where to use stuff you will get at least 5 different answers

[Airsoft_Mr B]

As UTJ said, you're supposed to clean your barrel using rubbing alcohol and not silicone oil.

Rubbing alcohol is a cleaning agent, oil is a lubricant.

 

Don't want to hijack the thread here but, GBB pistols: I've seen a few different guides with conflicting advice in them. So I don't know which ones to trust. What would be your advise be for maintaining one?

[Sitting Duck]

Not gonna get into another row or debate on this subject

I said in beginning I am still a noob to some airsoft stuff

but do have a number of years of wisdom I have aquired along the way

 

I wasn't using oil as most people preception but pure silicone liquid lightly on a que-tip

I use it at work and know how it does greatly reduce drag

This is still in effect an oil but is used a polishing agent which mildly cleans dirt & dust

Alchohol or Isopropyl is a cleaner - but that is all it is and evaporates but will not reduce drag

except for removing any dirt that may cause extra drag - it will not do much else

 

Also on the subject of cleaning - most of this I am taking as a quick light regular clean

In effect without stripping down the top - just giving a quick squirt or rodding a cloth down barrel

could be in effect just pushing some crap back into barrel rather than proper removal of it

if gun was dismantled then you could clean barrel properly one side to other to ensure all dirt

is properly removed and barrel cleaned as best as possible

 

But my feeling is in many cases we are just doing a little bit of quick regular maintenence

to get the majority of gunk that may in there and also perhaps keep hop-up gears turning

so it remains adjustable when required

Bucking or rubber - leave alone unless gun is really playing up - in which case then an overhaul

 

And like I said - different chemicals for different purposes and used sparingly too if required

 

OK lets just forget this subject - we have numerous difference of opinions....

funny I said that as well ask 10 people etc......

 

Lets agree to disagree slightly then and call it a day

[Russe11]

Silicon oil shouldn't do any actual harm. It will reduce the effectiveness of the hop up. In terms of the barrel, yes it will reduce drag, I'm not sure whether this will be a major benefit or whether it will do so unevenly enough to cause problems. What will happen is that the oil in the barrel will stick any dirt together so your barrel will become more dirty more quickly. I would stick to alcohol.

Silicon oil is good for gas guns.

When it comes to gearboxes, its not entirely true that grease is better. The reason you use grease is that it stays on the gears. If you could seal the gears so they run in a bath of oil that would be better, but it would not be practical in an AEG to do this.

[ronin677]

Not gonna get into another row or debate on this subject

 

 

OK lets just forget this subject - we have numerous difference of opinions....

funny I said that as well ask 10 people etc......

 

Lets agree to disagree slightly then and call it a day

Debate is good, its how we all learn something new (good and bad) and expand our knowledge.

 

I know a lot of you have seen this topic discussed many times, but I am still inexperienced to this subject and I am appreciating all the comments. Its nice that there are so many different views as this allows me to investigate new avenues of thought that I had not thought of.

 

The wealth of knowledge here is tremendous and I definitely think I'm in the correct forum to gain the knowledge I require

 

thanks

 

Guys

[Sitting Duck]

OK I am 47yrs young and my profession is in the print industry - Print Finishing to be exact

 

Using Polar guillotine is where lots of paper is cut and though has airbeds a polished airbed really helps

when moving stacks or reams of sometimes big heavy paper......

Now you can use Pledge or Mr Sheen but trust me a spray of silicone and wipe pi$$es over anything else

 

On Folding machines - Stahl/Heidelberg & MBO the paper is folded in plates, it slips up plate forms fold and

then slips out of plate 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999% with old traditional lithograpgic

printed sheets it works fine BUT recently Digital printing is getting more and more common.

Trouble with Digital printing is STATIC - and I mean this $hit is weird this static can cause drag and bizarre

crap to happen that you would never see on litho....

The electric silicone solenoid spray system I knocked up saved us running up and down spraying the crap

out of folder plates & rollers - these are metal & rubber btw so I know silicone we used didn't destroy the rubber

segments of the rollers - anyway this bastic job was a digitially printed closed or double Gatefold - one of the more

trickier folds to do requiring a special Gatefold plate - we have 3 of these expensive plates coz we do crap that

other places don't like to touch. It is a little critical in setting up - even speed of machine can mess up a working

machine - as machine speeds up centrifugal force actually causes the rubber on rollers to increase pressure

(if you set pressure on a still machine lightly - the pressure in increased when she starts to run - but even pressure)

 

The silicone device was used on gatefold to very lightly spray with very very fine droplets the bastid and ensure the

paper slipped up the folding plate with no drag - if drag took place paper would travel the ammount and fold would be

incorrect - and it worked really really well to get us out of the $hit - no I am no enginneer or the only experienced or

clever bloke at my firm - all of them are the best people I have ever worked with and we all bring stuff to the table as

the saying goes - we all are brilliant at problem solving......

 

Sorry about massive ramblings but just trying to show what I have based my theory on

 

Silicone will not be answer to world peace or make you more attractive to opposite sex but it is good in my book at

reducing drag - this does not last a liftetime as we need to spray folder very regularly and on guillotine after say an

hour or so another spray will help keep the stock moving smoothly on airbed

 

It will not last in an AEG all day - think it will start to dissapear or lose effectiveness probably after 1 or 2 games

and I have said used sparingly - you do not pour any stuff into gun and hope for best - a pool of even the best

polish will just increase drag - so c'mon use some common sense as well as any cleaner

Also use anything too much - even best synthetic oils and it will attract dust dirt etc and dirt & lubricant together

is much worse than too little so to speak - hence I have said use any cleaner or lubricant sparingly

 

I have said use on barrel - AFTER rubber or bucking coz it will probably not hold bb in place if it is as slippery

as $hit, so on hop-up I would not use it

WD40 might be ok to help if hop-up gears have become stiff or siezed but again keep use sparingly coz you do

not want this either on bucking and I "think" it is petroleum based and that may degrade the rubber if used or used

too much

 

Silicone or Lithium Grease and gearbox - well I don't know too much about that yet, but the stuff would be good to

use on gear shafts, bearings and gears even to reduce heat or wear - yes it may attract dust & dirt but in general

the gearbox is sealed - not airtight but not wide open to easily attract loads of crap. But is sealed and inside receiver

all the same so a good amount of grease may not be a bad thing in my book.

Whilst it may not always lubricate like it swimming it a batch of oil it will help to reduce friction and heat which is in

effect reducing wear - but nothing lasts for ever we can only help to maintain and reduce wear & tear on our guns

 

As I said use any $hit sparingly, and apply a good coat of common sense when doing this kind of stuff

 

They saying "if it ain't broke don't try to fix it" comes to mind but no maintenance is not a good idea either

 

I do feel silicone in barrel and applied with cue-tip - not dripping with silicone but slightly damp and rod carefully

down barrel will help clean and reduce a bit of drag - but I am not going to run scientific tests just yet but going

on my gut feeling and what experiences I have found

 

Rubber - NO like I said

 

Hop-up - not needed yet buy "maybe" a bit of WD40 carefully perhaps if gears are sticking - ffs go easy though

 

Like I said rodding barrel may also be pushing some dirt back down barrel but you do get some dirt out so it may

help I think - but this quick cleaning we should perhaps do very often is never the same as a total strip-down &

clean, grease rebuild etc.....

But as long as you go easy and sparingly use any stuff in the appropriate place in modest amounts it should help

keep you gun working effeciently for longer without a strip down

 

Sorry for ramblings but trying to demonstrate why and how I have my beliefs or methods or based my findings on

[CaptainSwoop]

In a previous life I used to service electro-mechanical equipment. Lots of bearings, shafts, motors and relays.

I am also keen on Model Railway locomotive kits. This also involves lots of small shafts, bearing, contacts and electric motors.

I also repair and service clocks and watches.

With any lubrication 'less is more' .don't smear on masses of grease or drown a bearing in oil. It will only attract dirt and with time it will increase in viscosity and will gum up the works.

Before applying new lubrication remove the old stuff first.

[Samurai]

Yes, silicone reduces drag. For example you can spray it on the dashboard of a car, and it gets extra shiny and slippery.

 

The bad thing is that the rubber sucks it up and gets soft and swollen. It is a good thing for gas sealants in gas mags. If you have a leaking magazine, and don't have a new o ring, just spray silicone in a small tray, put the o ring in it for overnight, and it get softer and a bit bigger - the perfect thing for a good seal.

But for a hopup rubber that's bad.

For any other parts in an AEG it's way too light. It just splashes everywhere from the moving parts just after a few seconds of shooting and nothing is left on the gears.

It's also not good for lubricating gas guns, because it attracts dust and dirt. After a while it will become something like mud. You shoud use dry silicone or teflon spray, or something similar there.

 

You can use silicone in the barrel, but you have to be careful to avoid the hopup rubber, and it is not for cleaning so it won't do a perfect job. Rubbing alcohol does it better. You can lubricate the barrel after cleaning it with silicone but it doesn't really do any difference.

 

As for my background: I was working as an airsoft mechanic for some years as a part time job.

[ronin677]

Really this is all good advice

 

My background is not in lubricants but I am a qualified civil engineer and have far too many years under my belt to even hint at my age haha

 

All this info is really informative and is allowing me to make an objective decision on what to use and where

 

once again thanks for all the feed back, it is really appreciated

[Sitting Duck]

So we have different techniques or methods or findings that we go with based on

our experiences nad what we find works best for us

 

I admit I am am still learning - aren't we all though ???

 

But did say about the warning of not using silicone on rubber

(not because it kills it but will affect its performance in holding bb)

Many chemicals can degrade rubber or cause it to swell but swelling rubber

is just a tempory fix as it will return to its worn state eventually

we can swell the rubber at work to bring rubber back to life but doesn't last for very long

replacement is the real answer for worn parts I'm sure we all will agree on that

 

Also there is is this myth that one thing will do it all - very rarely the case

various items will require different things to keep them running smooth

and silicone and Isopropyl on their own is not the one and only thing to use

 

Think we all agree that less is more and the only thing that should be applied

in large quantity when doing quick clean or quick service or even a full rebuild is

 

Basic Common Sense - alas you can't just buy this off the shelf

But keep it clean and don't go nuts I think is the general message I think

[straffham]

Used Halfords Silicon spray for years, had no problems using it as a general spray used sparingly on GBB pistol internals (NOT IN THE HOP / BARREL), inc TM, and on the OUTSIDE of new AEG hop rubbers when fitting them so they move freely in the hop unit. Would never use it in a gearbox or for cleaning barrels. Use silicon GREASE on the piston head air seal.

[Undieing_Lust]

Wow! there's alot of really good information in this thread. So I might as well thrown in my 2 cents.

 

Barrel: I spary some pure silicon oil on the cleaning rod with cloth on it and run it down the barrel from the muzzle of the weapon, to avoid it hitting my Hop-Up. depending on how dirty the barrel is sometimes there is lots of black crap out of the barrel, other times nothing. I do this 2 or 3 times.

 

Hop-Up: Keep this dry becuse you want friction to keep backspin on the BB.

 

Gearbox: on the gears you can use white Lithium grease or Teflon. on the teeth of the gears, Shaft ( Insert Penis joke here ) and also the bearings. Dont go crazy but also dont use to little. When in doubt use alittle bit more becuse a dry gearbox is your worst enemy. Also dont forget to clean out the old stuff before adding the new grease. I use a tooth brush and WD-40 on all the metal parts BUT ONLY the metal parts....

 

Piston rails: Just a touch of while Lithium grease.

 

Piston O-ring and cylinder head O-ring: Add a little silicon grease, Not oil as it is not thick enough. To the O-ring to allow it to seal better and expand alittle.

 

That should cover it I think. Airsoft international did a really good article on greasing a gearbox Volume 8 Issue 1 It was a god send when I started. Also dont forget YouTube is your friend.

 

List of what I use:

3-IN-ONE White Lithium spray grease.

Castrol LM Grease.

3-IN-ONE Silicone Lubricant.

Carlube Silicone Multi-purpose grease.

WD-40