Hmmmm,,,,are you just a bit curious about what the heck this post will say next,,,,cause your dirty little minds are now spinning all around Vaseline and boats?
To clarity, I’m talking about Vaseline (as in petroleum jelly), not the Stone Temple Pilot (STP) version of Vasoline (the song). And because I’m feeling pretty exposed this early in the post,,,,this post isn’t about kinky stuff either; it’s all about lubrication of parts and O-Rings.
Without knowing it, two small black rubber O-Rings have been the bane of my existence for the last couple years,,,,as they’ve been responsible for not working correctly within their blue plastic housing homes (also above). See, the old ones are probably metric and purchased out of the US,,,,while the actual correct sizes are much thicker. See, the two blue plastic housing’s contain filters for my freshwater maker, which salt water enter’s and gets cleaned while it’s going through that part of the system. But we haven’t used the system in several years, so the O-Rings that were the wrong size have just been sitting in the housings,,,,,slowly letting water get out of the housing and causing a slow continual leak into the bilge,,,especially when the powerful freshwater pump was on and the various manifolds were all activated. We also found that a small valve within the fresh water making system was in the wrong position, which has also contributed to allowing water to get through the old O-Rings and housing and into the bilge,,,,slowly, over time. As soon as we shut the valves, all leaks went away and water stopped, problem solved.
What does this have to do with Vaseline and O-Rings? Simple,,,,,,lubricate ANY new or older O-Rings with Vaseline to keep them soft and pliable and extend their shelf life. The Vaseline and O-Rings generally won’t be exposed to the elements, so the substance does double duty to keep the O-Rings softened and form an extra amount of petroleum barrier coat, increasing the overall seal.
Again,,,,no boat should go without a small tub of Vaseline in it’s tool kit or medicine cabinet,,,,cause you never know when you might need some lubrication for an O-Ring.
Keep following us to see my lovely couple days in the bilges, under the sinks and attempting to fix the Sealand pump on my boat head,,,so much fun!!! If you like us, follow us!
