GX CS4 grease again...(sorry)!

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Grey-Kiwi said:
Right...then this must be the one I really need?
https://www.crc.co.nz/crc-food-grade-silicone-grease-75ml.html
Yes, a lot of stuff we can't get in NZ, or Amazon won't deliver to us.
Make the best of it that we can.
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Great find! Other than not knowing it's NLGI rating, I'd imagine that is a very suitable grease for you. Hopefully it's easily source able down your way. But I am retracting my earlier belief that NLGI 2 is fine (though many here seem to be using it) due to it perhaps being TOO thick inside the cylinder. More research to follow...
 
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F6Hawk said:
I feel your pain. It's almost as hard to get a straight answer about grease as it is to figure out which Foster fitting to get, eh?

Yes, renewable is oil-based, but it's vegetable oil, not petroleum. Silicone is synthetic, and safe for SCUBA, hence my desire to use it over most others (plus I have some on hand from my SCUBA tank visual inspection kit).

I've never used a NLGI 0 grease, so cannot claim it is too thin to use, and if that's what the Omega Trail folks recommend, it must be legit. Will keep researching...
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Since the original grease is vegetable oil based, I don't think it would be wise to use silicone lubes, unless it was torn down and all the old lube removed. Mixing types of lube is usual not a good idea.

So IMO it would be best to stick with something like Grassguy12200 recommends a NLGI 0, food grade vegetable oil based grease.
 
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One more thing to consider, the "piston rings" for both the large low pressure and small high pressure piston are not o-rings. They are a hard plastic(polymer?) type of material. More like a automotive piston ring but made of plastic. Going from memory here but I have a rebuild kit for the CS4. I will try to find it, maybe get a pic ***EDIT: it may be the GX E-L2 I am thinking of. I have both the CS4 and EL2 and rebuild kits for both. I think I may be confusing the two.
 
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Here is a photo of the sealing rings that are not made of rubbery like materials. So I think it's best to use a similar lubricant to what the factory uses and not silicone.

PXL_20240313_033635338.jpg
 
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BlackICE said:
Since the original grease is vegetable oil based, I don't think it would be wise to use silicone lubes, unless it was torn down and all the old lube removed. Mixing types of lube is usual not a good idea.

So IMO it would be best to stick with something like Grassguy12200 recommends a NLGI 0, food grade vegetable oil based grease.
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Mixing silicone and food-grade grease would not be an issue, unlike certain petroleum greases. However, now that I have seen the grease that @Grassguy12200 posted, I agree that silicone grease (unless one can find NLGI 0) is probably too thick.

ETA: OTOH, there are a BUNCH of members here using Super Lube NLGI 2 grease, and so far no one has had any issues.
 
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Right...I found this grease locally.
Says 'mineral oil'...so is that bad? Or do I need 'synthetic' instead (but NOT silicone)?
NLGI 0, 1, 2 available.

https://abindustries.co.nz/products/no-tox®-hd-food-grade-grease

General Description
No-Tox HD Food Grade Grease is a high performance, adhesive, general purpose grease
developed for the food and beverage industries. No-Tox HD Food Grade Grease, formulated
with the highest quality USP white mineral oils and food grade additives, meets NSF H1 and
FDA requirements for materials that may have incidental contact with food as defined under
Title 21 CFR, 178.3570. It is Kosher and Pareve approved, as well as Halal certified.

Thanks.
 
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BlackICE said:
Here is a photo of the sealing rings that are not made of rubbery like materials. So I think it's best to use a similar lubricant to what the factory uses and not silicone.

View attachment 445187
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So are the 2 large "seals", a plastic of some sort?
Are the 2 large seals, identical, and of the same size?
Does 1 piston, require 2 seals?
Sorry for all the questions, but Im learning, and Ive never had one apart.
 
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SpringerScooter said:
So are the 2 large "seals", a plastic of some sort?
Are the 2 large seals, identical, and of the same size?
Does 1 piston, require 2 seals?
Sorry for all the questions, but Im learning, and Ive never had one apart.
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I don't have said kit in hand, so cannot speak as to the material, but they are identical and there is one seal at the top and one at the bottom of the outer piston.
 
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SpringerScooter said:
So are the 2 large "seals", a plastic of some sort?
Are the 2 large seals, identical, and of the same size?
Does 1 piston, require 2 seals?
Sorry for all the questions, but Im learning, and Ive never had one apart.
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The 2 large seals are different sizes. The smaller one just fits into the ID of the bigger one.
 
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BlackICE said:
The 2 large seals are different sizes. The smaller one just fits into the ID of the bigger one.
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Thank you.
They indeed look different dimensions, and thats why I asked!
This contradicts what F6Hawk has reported, and he actually had a compressor unit somewhat disassembled, and apart., although I dont believe he removed his functional piston from his cylinder, for obvious reasons.
He also reported his as being rubber o-rings, and yours seems to be a nylon or plastic material of some sort.
Im more confused than ever, and I suppose that seal material and fitment dosent really even matter, until it matters, and that could be years down the road!
Im also assuming that GX included your seal kit , along with your compressor purchase.
If so, its great that they do this, and I suppose in the near future, that a schematic or parts diagram will surface online.
Thanks again.
 
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So a second question or point: ***These are really two(2) stage compressors***. At least to my way of thinking. GX is counting the gear reduction as a "stage". CS 2, 3 and EL2 have a single gear reduction between electric motor and crank shaft driving pistons where the CS 4 has two(2) steps downs in the gear ratio driving the connection rod > piston assembly. Not a bad thing, just a point of interest to me. This is my main takeaway from all these post regarding the GX CS "x" series. Comments or corrections welcomed
 
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SpringerScooter said:
Thank you.
They indeed look different dimensions, and thats why I asked!
This contradicts what F6Hawk has reported, and he actually had a compressor unit somewhat disassembled, and apart., although I dont believe he removed his functional piston from his cylinder, for obvious reasons.
He also reported his as being rubber o-rings, and yours seems to be a nylon or plastic material of some sort.
Im more confused than ever, and I suppose that seal material and fitment dosent really even matter, until it matters, and that could be years down the road!
Im also assuming that GX included your seal kit , along with your compressor purchase.
If so, its great that they do this, and I suppose in the near future, that a schematic or parts diagram will surface online.
Thanks again.
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Well no, F6Hawk is still correct. There are both polymer rings and rubber o-rings. It is a combination. This pic shows the "crank-to-piston shaft" relationship
 
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