Suction Cup Maintenance

[Tom Stolze]

I have a couple of these suction cups for mounting cameras.
http://www.filmtools.com/filmtools-in-car-windshield-camera-mount.html

Neither of them are capable of holding a vacuum for more than 30 minutes or so now, the camera doesn't fall, but the red line on the plunger starts to show.

The simplest solution seems to be to lubricate the plunger(yea, that sounds funny) The suction cups are still in good condition and are clean.

They suggest a silicone base lubricant, yea, give that a search on Google without coming up with a freak show.

I have found a place that sells the lube from the manufacturer, but was wondering if anyone has had any luck finding something locally that works. Thanks!
http://www.vacuummounts.com/plunger-lube

 

[Jeff Duda]

Is a silicone based lubricant the only possible solution you are willing to try? What about lubricants used for automotive purposes (like axle grease or something similar)?

 

[Marcus Diaz]

In my experience, my suction mounts are usually put on the outside body of my car. Either for my GoPro or any small cameras I have. That makes any automotive lubricant such as axle grease out of the question...unless you really don't care about the paint. My advice, go to an auto parts store and get some silicone spray. Cheap, and really effective for a safe lubricant. Its recommended for automotive use...so I don't recommend getting frisky out there waiting for initiation

 

[Tom Stolze]

My advice, go to an auto parts store and get some silicone spray. Cheap, and really effective for a safe lubricant. Its recommended for automotive use...so I don't recommend getting frisky out there waiting for initiation

Sounds like a good idea, I have no problem paying for the lube from the manufacture, but @ $.70/packet, shipping will be more than the product.

 

[Todd Rector]

I have been madly googling for this type of information. I have a suction cup mount with a proprietary bracket to hold one of my HAM radio heads, but after a year of sitting in the garage it doesn't hold AT ALL now. 15 minutes at best. There is no plunger on this unit. Everything I was seeing said to make sure both surfaces were very clean and wiped with alcohol, but I have not had good results using this technique. It's like the rubber cup suddenly isn't sticky at all any more.

I am guessing no matter what, we wouldn't want to use any sort of petroleum-based product because it would tend to dissolve/melt the rubber, leaving a gooey ring on the window and possibly rendering the cup unusable once pulled off. A very thin application of silicon-based lube to the cup seems like it might help the rubber stick to the window by inhibiting air leakage. I think I am going to give it a shot and will report back.

It's hard to think about chasing today when we got a foot of snow overnight and have blizzard conditions in Iowa right now. Ugh.

TR

 

[Robert Forry]

[/QUOTE]My advice, go to an auto parts store and get some silicone spray. Cheap, and really effective for a safe lubricant. Its recommended for automotive use...so I don't recommend getting frisky out there waiting for initiation [/QUOTE]

I've done this very thing with two of my GoPro mounts, Marcus and it does the trick..

 

[Todd Rector]

Happy Update:

To recap my situation: I have a suction cup mount (Yaesu MMB-98) for my Yaesu FTM-400DR head. After a year in the garage, this thing would not stick for 30 minutes to ANY surface, despite alcohol wipes or other surface prep.

On recommendation from others in the thread, I bought a bottle of silicon lubricant (I bought Liquid Wrench brand). I cleaned the cup with an alcohol wipe, then sprayed the lubricant into a cloth and wiped the cup lightly with the cloth. I am happy to report my Yaesu has been stuck solidly to my windshield for the last 40 hours or so, even though we have had wide temperature fluctuations from 50 degrees to sub-freezing.

I highly recommend this for anyone having suction cup issues that are not plunger related.

TR