Showerthought: Those white lithium grease tubes we all use are probably making things worse

I was cleaning out my dad's old toolbox last weekend and found a tube of lithium grease from like 1987. It got me thinking about how much the plastics changed in consoles between the NES era and now. I see so many folks on here recommending white lithium grease for everything from disc drive rails to controller triggers. But I've fixed maybe 40 PS4s this year alone and the ones that came in with sticky buttons or drive issues? Almost all of them had that white goop inside. It gets thick and gunky after a year or two, especially if you live somewhere warm like I do in Phoenix. The right stuff for plastic on plastic is a dry lube or silicone based grease, not the automotive style stuff. Anyone else notice this pattern in their repair pile?

2 comments

2 Comments

finley_lopez981mo ago

Wait, isn't the problem more about people using the wrong kind of white lithium grease? The spray stuff and the tube stuff are totally different, the tube is way thicker and meant for metal.

shah.olivia1mo ago

Yeah the tube stuff saved my garage door opener. I was using the spray can version on the tracks and it was gumming up after a few months, just turning into this sticky mess that actually made the door drag. Switched to the tube kind, the real thick paste, and I just dab a little on a rag and wipe it onto the roller bearings and hinge points. Been doing that for two years now and it stays slippery, doesn't drip everywhere, and the door doesn't sound like a dying cat anymore. The spray is fine for cables or springs maybe but for anything that actually slides metal on metal the tube is the only way to go.