Thermal Grease

[dogwood]

Is thermal grease the right name for the stuff you put into an aquastat well to help the aquastat bulb make better contact with the well's wall. I need to pick some up tomorrow at the plumbing supply store and would like to ask for the right thing. Are there any brands any of you normally use or could recommend?

And if any of you happen to know, should the grease be put in the well on the top of a Solo Innova for the overheat aquastat. or in the other well that holds three different bulbs in it. The instructions don't say and I forgot to ask the BioHeat tech the other day when I called with another question.

Mike

 

[Dune]

An aquastat should come with a bit of grease, perhaps it is in a pile somewhere?

 

[in hot water]

I get it at HVAC supply places. I'll bet automotive and electronic stores would have it also. Get a small tube, it doesn't seem to have much of a shelf life.

hr

 

[dogwood]

Thanks Dune and HR. Dune, I found out Honeywell doesn't provide the thermal grease with their aquastats any more. Apparently they used to. The three aquastats I have from them all came without. I'll have to try another plumbing supply place in Roanoke. My usual supplier said they didn't stock it, and every other plumbing supply place was closed on Saturday. Appreciate the picture HR.

Mike

 

[welderboyjk]

I got a tube just like that from Grainger. It was called thermal mastic paste. IIRC they have a heat insulating and a heat transferring variety.

 

[dogwood]

Thanks for the lead welderboyjk. We do have a Graingers in town.

Does the stuff any of you use set up or harden in the well? I read online some types do not harden, so you can replace an aquastat without having to replace a well it has adhered. Sounds like this would be a sensible thing. Maybe that's the difference between thermal grease, thermal compound, thermal paste and thermal mastic. Would there be any advantage to a hardening type, or are all types really the same? I was also told to look for thermal grease with a metallic content as it conducts better.

Any thoughts or experience dealing with this matter. I know its a small detail, but the devil is usually in the details.

Mike