Sea Star hyd fluid

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » May 24th, '10, 12:00

Can't find the Mil Spec for the aviation hyd fluid that is the same as the sea star. Need a gallon. Anybody got the spec handy and where to order it online?

Thanks,

UV

In Memory Walter K · Post by **In Memory Walter K** » May 24th, '10, 12:13

Vic- You used to fly. Any connections at the airport. My unit is Hydnautic and when I couldn't find any more of the red stuff, a friend of mine who was a small plane mechanic bought me a gallon and told me any non-foaming hydraulic fluid will work, and it did. That was 5 years ago. I have no idea what the specs were, but if it was good enough for an airplane's hydraulic system, I felt pretty confident using it. My objective was keeping with the red stuff so I would know a red spot was from my steering. It's exactly how I found my leak. Walter

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » May 24th, '10, 12:22

Thanks, Walt....yeah, I want the red stuff. My Sea Star has a very minor leak and I have to top it off every couple of years and my quart bottle is getting low. There was a thread some time ago where someone, probably the Prince of Potions, posted the mil spec for the stuff.

UV

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » May 24th, '10, 12:34

vic i wish you were close by i would give it to you. aeroshell ,fluid 4 ,
mil - H-5606A , code 60421 . not affected by temperature change ,impervious to sythetic materials and dyed red for leak detection.

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » May 24th, '10, 12:50

Thanks, Bob, that's the stuff. I can order it from one of the aviation supply houses.

UV

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » May 24th, '10, 13:51

Just ordered a gallon - Aeroshell fluid 4 - from www.airplaneoil.com for about $34 including shipping. Seemed the least expensive. Sho' beats the ski-mask-and-blue steel revolver prices for the seastar fluid.

Thanks again, Faithful. Keep ole AJ steering straight to the Prop Stop.....she made the 4 mile trip there Sat. to the delight of the assembled crowds.....a B31 is a head turner anywhere, even with all the silicone around. We enjoyed Worm Buckets, Swamp Burgers and some good music in the sun.

UV

Bob H. · Post by **Bob H.** » May 29th, '10, 19:22

Vic, What is a worm bucket? Never heard of a boston butt until I went fishing with Harry down in Alabama, we cooked it on a green egg while we were fishing....that was some good eatn..BH

MarkD · Post by **MarkD** » May 30th, '10, 07:38

UV:

Question for you? I was told that anything other than the "Sea Star" would make the sterring more difficult. Is the Aeroshell equivalent? If so, I'll use you advice and order a gallon.

Thanks,

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » May 30th, '10, 08:46

Bob - its a rum drink like a daquiri served in a squatty styrofoam cup that they used to sell fishing earthworms in. Very smooth and a few will render you quite stupid. Boston Butts stuffed with fresh garlic is a Southern thing and a dirty little secret. You can feed the neighborhood for short money. I did a prime chuck roast from Whole Paycheck the same way the other day and it was slap yo' momma good.

Mark - the Aeroshell is the same spec as the SeaStar brand and will not affect the steering in any way, plus its dyed red and easy to see dribbles. I ordered my gallon on Monday and the Brown Truck brought it on Wednesday. Filled the SeaStar quart bottle up from the gallon Friday and topped off the system, using the autopilot to pump back and forth to get all the air bubbles out. I have the clear plastic hose attached to a threaded nipple that screws into the helm pump, and the SeaStar bottle has a spout that fits into the end of the plastic hose...probably a better way to avoid a mess? Speaking of messes, made a huge one greasing the rudder flange bearings and the tie rod ends (I have the B28 style rudders so the arms and tie rod ends are mostly hidden under the rudder shelves). I'm gonna break down and spend the 70 bucks for an air powered grease gun with a 36 inch flex hose...my arms look like I've been on the losing end of a knife fight after that exercise with the hand operated grease gun with a stiff spout.

Did my teak with the Tip Top and its the cats meow.

The oil leak has us pretty much hemmed in right now so Howdy Boating is about all that's going on down here.

UV

Rocket · Post by **Rocket** » May 30th, '10, 12:12

UV, my guys have all gone away from air powered grease guns, the battery powered cordless ones are the way to go, they don't glog, don't have a cord and just plain work better.

http://www.lincolnindustrial.com/asp/pr ... powlub.asp

Another thing we do in hard to get places is run a remote grease line to a place that is easy to access.

A final thought, we have some bushings in places that are hard to get to and we have replaced the bushings with uhmw (fancy nylon) bushings that we do not grease and change them on a regularly scheduled basis. For a rudder I would guess once every 20 years would be an appropriate schedule!

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » May 30th, '10, 12:54

replaced the bushings with uhmw (fancy nylon) bushings that we do not grease and change them on a regularly scheduled basis. For a rudder I would guess once every 20 years would be an appropriate schedule

The problem with nylon is that it absorbs water and swells. For marine applications use Delrin. I fabricated custom Delrin upper bushings on Jerry Well's B31 in '95. To the best of my knowledge, their are still there and working fine. (Last "look see" was 2005.)

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Jun 1st, '10, 13:27

Vic: You could also use grease gun or small hydraulic hoses to extend the grease nipples up to a central location to make greasing easier!

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Jun 1st, '10, 17:34

The oil spill means no more greasing...sort of like a DD that changes its own oil...everything is greased down here.

UV

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Jun 2nd, '10, 18:02

Looked into the cordless grease guns and they are too expensive, plus I've had bad luck over the years on cordless stuff with the batteries going bad and costing more to replace than the tool's worth....soooooo, the go-to place, Northern Tool, has a real nice air gun (that also has a hand pump attachment too) for the incredible price of $29.99...with both straight and flex hoses, and the customer reviews are real good. I have an air compressor here at home and one at the camp, so air is available wherever I need it. 30 bucks for this gun is amazing...but I bought a real nice air framing nailer from them for 99 bucks, expecting junk and got a massive tool that works flawlessly. Little Chinese kids make nice stuff for a dime a day.

UV

Rocket · Post by **Rocket** » Jun 2nd, '10, 21:57

Fantastic UV, nothing better than cheap and good! Remember about remote grease lines for hard to reach places, any hydraulic hose shop can make them up, the just thread into the hole the zerk normally goes into and they have a zerk on the end. Simple and good.

bertram31.com

Sea Star hyd fluid

Sea Star hyd fluid

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