Mobius D5 discoloured

[Gra]

Hi everyone,

I recently came to change the oil in my oil holder and found that my Mobius D5 had gone a funny colour (see picture).

I have had the bottle for less than a year, although there is no expiry date listed. It is stored along with my other oils and greases on a shelf in semi shade, no direct sunlight.

I will be throwing the oil away and ordering a replacement, but as I don't want this to happen again does anyone have any idea of the possible cause?

Graham

[canthus]

May be moisture has got to it.  Put a drop on a hotplate.  If it fizzes, then it is wet.  If it just gets hot and smoulders than it is dry. Always best to store bottles with lid down, as air (ie moist air) can breath through the cap, especially if bottle has a large airspace.

[JohnR725]

15 hours ago, Gra said:

I have had the bottle for less than a year, although there is no expiry date listed.

where did you originally purchase it from? I'm pretty sure all their new oils do have dates anything that's a vintage there are no dates.

then on the bottom of the technical sheets you get this. I find personally I keep all my oils in a drawer so there out of all light. Then ideally you're supposed to change the oil in your oil cups well way more often than I do. Although I was noticing it work it looks like it is time to change all my oil.

Oh one other little thing I noticed in your picture is that the plastic oil cup? I've always wondered if somehow the plastic oil cups could cause a problem with the oil? But of course of it did it seemed like everyone would be talking about it so maybe it really doesn't.

https://www.moebius-lubricants.ch/en/products/oils

 

We advise keeping Moebius products in their original packaging in a clean and dry place, protected from light, ideally at a temper-ature of 15 to 26 °C.
After opening we recommend keeping the products for a maximum of 12 months.

 

 

 

[Gra]

On 2/22/2023 at 6:55 PM, canthus said:

May be moisture has got to it.  Put a drop on a hotplate.  If it fizzes, then it is wet.  If it just gets hot and smoulders than it is dry. Always best to store bottles with lid down, as air (ie moist air) can breath through the cap, especially if bottle has a large airspace.

Thanks for the feedback Canthus, tried the hot plate test and the oil just lay there so would seem to be zero moisture content.

On 2/23/2023 at 8:26 AM, JohnR725 said:

where did you originally purchase it from? I'm pretty sure all their new oils do have dates anything that's a vintage there are no dates.

then on the bottom of the technical sheets you get this. I find personally I keep all my oils in a drawer so there out of all light. Then ideally you're supposed to change the oil in your oil cups well way more often than I do. Although I was noticing it work it looks like it is time to change all my oil.

Oh one other little thing I noticed in your picture is that the plastic oil cup? I've always wondered if somehow the plastic oil cups could cause a problem with the oil? But of course of it did it seemed like everyone would be talking about it so maybe it really doesn't.

https://www.moebius-lubricants.ch/en/products/oils

 

We advise keeping Moebius products in their original packaging in a clean and dry place, protected from light, ideally at a temper-ature of 15 to 26 °C.
After opening we recommend keeping the products for a maximum of 12 months.

 

 

 

Hi John, thanks for the input.

I have kept the oil in original bottle, just putting a small amount in oil cups as required.

As stated before they are stored out of direct sunlight but I think I’ll get a box to keep them in in future.

Then we come to the supplier, we’ll, I have to admit that I bought in off eBay, yes I know I deserve what I got, will be placing an order for replacement from Cousins.

The 9010 has not reacted so don’t think it will be the cups, also that is the colour straight from the bottle.

Graham

[JohnFrum]

19 minutes ago, Gra said:

Thanks for the feedback Canthus, tried the hot plate test and the oil just lay there so would seem to be zero moisture content.

Hi John, thanks for the input.

I have kept the oil in original bottle, just putting a small amount in oil cups as required.

As stated before they are stored out of direct sunlight but I think I’ll get a box to keep them in in future.

Then we come to the supplier, we’ll, I have to admit that I bought in off eBay, yes I know I deserve what I got, will be placing an order for replacement from Cousins.

The 9010 has not reacted so don’t think it will be the cups, also that is the colour straight from the bottle.

Graham

Here in the tropics, besides the 31C temperature, bacterial and mold degradation is an issue. Paint can go bad after a few months if you aren’t careful about handling (contaminated stirrer sticks etc). With the cost of watchmaking lubricants I use sterile extractors.
For greases, I use disposable diabetic needles to scoop out the required amount. For oils I have a cheap Chinese micropipette (0-10 uL) and a box of sterile tips. Makes filling an automatic oiler reservoir very easy and there is minimal wastage - I typically pipette 5 uL for an oiler cup. 

[JohnR725]

3 hours ago, Gra said:

I have to admit that I bought in off eBay, yes I know I deserve what I got

could be worse for eBay purchase you could've bought some anchor oil it's really cheap has really interesting properties and is all about saving money. Yes everybody objects to the cost of horological lubrication. A lot of people object to the expiring date as to what exactly does it mean. But on the other hand without expiring date how old is that bottle of oil? or if it's opened bottle no idea how old it is no idea how it's been stored no idea how much contamination yes that tends you very bad.

I have a link below interesting PDFs that you can download and number 40 is interesting. I don't necessarily follow their lubrication recommendation guidelines but a lot a good tips and on page 5 if your really obsessed about it or if you're doing this commercially recommendations on how long to keep the oil etc. I know one of the things the companies are concerned about is contamination. This is why Rolex supplies their lubrication in syringes. Unfortunately we can't afford Rolex lubrication or purchase it.

https://www.cousinsuk.com/document/search?SearchString=working