[ARC5] Ordnance Grease LAS

[Ben Hall]

On 12/21/2014 2:40 PM, Roy Morgan wrote:
> LAS
> Grease, ACFT, Ordnance
> MIL-L-19701  (NORD)
>
> I’m wondering if it’s good for boatanchor/ARC-5 lubrication purposes.
> I have no gattling guns or other aircraft ordnance systems at all.

Hi Roy,

Sounds like you now have an excuse to go buy an aircraft machine gun. 
"Really honey...I've got the grease...I just need the matching machine 
gun..."  ;)

Heh heh heh.

Looking up the Qualified Products List (QPL) doesn't give many clues. 
The last QPL shows Royco 601 as satisfying the requirements of 
MIL-L-19701...but it appears that this is not a current Royco (bought by 
Anderol) product so I couldn't find a technical data sheet that would 
hint on the make-up of this grease.  (IE:  is it lithium-soap, synthetic 
vs. non-synthetic, etc...)

The mil-spec itself is a little bit helpful as it notes the composition 
of the grease.  The main components are:

a)  Isodecyl perlagonate, lubricant grade - a plasticiser
b)  Bis (2-ethylhexyl) sebacate, lubricant grade - a plasticiser
c)  Dimethyl silicone fluid - a silicone oil
d)  Slightly phenylated silicone fluid - a silicone oil
e)  Lithium stearate - one of the components in white lithium grease

While I'm not a chemist...what I see above is a silicone oil that's been 
"thickened" with plasticizers with a little bit of one of the components 
of lithium grease in it.

So...bottom line...my thoughts would be this:

Some people *hate* white lithium grease.  I'm not a fan myself, as I've 
had it harden up over time when I've used it.

Some people also *hate* silicone oils, being that once you get some on a 
piece of metal, you'll never get it off so you'll never be able to paint 
that piece of metal.  That always seemed like old-wives tale to me, but 
I'm not a paint guy.

Being that the can is from 1967, you've got somewhat of an idea of how 
this stuff will age over time.  If its not hard in the can after near 50 
years...it's probably going to stay like the way it is for the rest of 
our lives.

Being that it was intended to be a semi-fluid grease per the mil-spec, 
some separation is normal.

Bottom line, it's probably not the best grease out there for general 
use.  But it's probably not the worst stuff out there for general use 
either.  If it was me, I'd prefer new manufacture synthetic grease (like 
the tube of Mobil Mobilith SHC 100 I use in dynamotor bearings that is 
sitting next to me) over this stuff.  But...I'd use this stuff over 
Wally-World generic white-lithium grease any day.

thanks much and 73,
ben, kd5byb