@donc do you have a link to that article? You don’t lube the seals with every fill. If you do that you are risking over lubing.
it seems to be the right thing to do, not real difference from what we do when adding a new CO2 cart
Oiling the seals and o-rings of a PCP airgun | Blog | Pyramyd AIR
Though I shoot MOSTLY spring-piston airguns, I do have some PCP's.
One of the MAIN aspects about rebuilding/re-sealing a PCP is to LUBE each ORing as you install it. I USED to use SuperLube:
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Lube-91003-Silicone-High-Dielectric/dp/B002KH0YDY?th=1
There are others, Parker has one and there are others.
They are cheap, widely accessible and useful.
BUT for the last couple of years, I have been using Teflon oil:
https://www.amazon.com/MicroLubrol-HPL-105-Performance-Centistokes-Comparable/dp/B01I8NBW9S
This simplifies my life because I can use this oil almost for everything.
The PROBLEM with silicone oil is that if it gets between moving aluminum and steel, or between moving aluminum parts that are anodized, it can break into silicates and silica. It will cause galling and destroy the parts. So, be careful.
In the context that Mr. Gaylord uses it, it is OK, though the REAL reason why lubricants aid in the sealing process is because they allow the Oring to MOVE and DEFORM a little better than a dry Oring. "Small imperfections" will ALWAYS cause a leak that no amount of oil can cure.
In the case of CO2, PART of the function of the oil was to prevent the BUNA in the ORings from adsorbing (yes it is adsorbing, not absorbing, that is a different process) CO2 into the molecular matrix. The use of Orings with hardness's in the Sh 75- 90 a solves this problem better.
HTH, keep well and shoot straight!
HM
@hector_j_medina_g So the Micro- Lubrol can be dispensed via fill probe very sparingly?
Regarding adding silicone oil to the fill port, I tried this approach in my first PCP but when I eventually took it apart, I could not find any evidence that the silicone oil atomizes and migrates through the system. There was a little bit just beyond the check valve on the air tube walls but everything else was bone dry as best I could tell (e.g. wiping a finger on metal surfaces and then observing the surface with light reflecting at a shallow angle).
In other words, applying it to the fill port will lubricate the O-ring on the check valve, but little else of any significance.
Static O-rings should be lubricated with silicone grease during assembly, and need no reapplication unless or until disassembly/reassembly...if even then.
Dynamic O-rings can be lubricated with either silicone grease or silicone oil. Grease for slow-moving parts, oil for fast-moving parts (e.g. seals of a hand pump) or areas that can be refreshed frequently (bolt or breech O-ring).
Silicone oil is sold inexpensively as "silicone shock oil" for RC cars or treadmill oil. Silicone grease is sold inexpensively as automotive dielectric grease.
Not ideal, but yes.
MOST of the faults are at the check valve. So that ORing will get some oil.
The real "best practice" is to disassemble and lube EACH ORing as you re-assemble.
Sorry, but there is no shortcut to the insides of airguns (in general).
Keep well and shoot straight!
HM
When I bought my Career II 707 carbine years ago, from John Burroughs, he recommended using a drop of "air tool" oil in the charge port prior to filling, every 6 months... I guess that would also depend on how often you shot it !
I also apply a little pure silicone grease to the o-rings on the fill probe.
@donc Did you post the question on his blog ?
I found this article in his blog...
https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2024/11/oiling-the-seals-and-o-rings-of-an-airgun/