They never gave me a problem when I asked for it from a local Honda dealership. That was around 18 months ago, less than a year after I bought my first Mad Catz TE (which is sitting in a box waiting for 3 components — MC Cthulu, LS-40-01, and an Art Hong Plexi — to complete its transition to a multi-console joystick… In the meantime it has brother and sister joysticks that are being used).
Honda was happy to sell me a tube of the grease after placing a special order for it…
I’ve only used a little once but one tube should be more than enough for a lifetime of gaming.
I don’t know why they wouldn’t want to sell dealer equipment to paying customers. It’s not like someone’s going to make an explosive of this stuff or <GASP!> lubricate wheelchair wheels or take care of squeaking car doors!
I don’t know that having either G-30M and G-40 makes much difference.
The only credible thing I’ve read is to stay away from organic-based greases. They WILL corrode metal joystick shafts and destroy plastic parts over time.
Stick with formulations that are synthetic, silicone-based. They don’t have to be Shin-Etsu… There should be plenty of greases that are safe to use but everybody is being Chicken Little because we can only get confirmation that the Shin-Etsu and Dow Corning greases are safe.
Oh well…
… This is definitely one of the areas where the Slag Coin joystick FAQ is wrong… people have sworn by the document like it’s an absolute and have used lip balm/Chapstick to lubricate joystick pivots. Lip balm should be one of the worst things to use since it’s organic-based unless they changed the formulation last time I checked…
They say (more or less) about every 6 months, but as for a lonely joystick, i don’t know. Maybe the grease doesn’t evaporate, for example, there are many Neo-Geo AES original sticks just for collection purpose not being used and they stands smooth still.
Both 2 greases are different and temperature rating is not the only difference, they also looks different at first sight. G-30m does dry faster, although they result in same effect when applied, G-40M is higher recommended since it will lasts for longer time, i can say that from my own experience. Molykote 44 is really very similar and feels like G-40M in touch comparison, so i recommend it for Sanwa as a really great alternative lube.
But the point is not just about the grease be safe or not, every grease is different and may cause different feeling comparing with how the joystick used to feel when it was new. Sanwa/Seimitsu make arcade parts, they are not lubrication PRO, neither of them knows about how each grease will work better, last longer, which one evarorates faster, etc. They choose a specific qualified grease that works well and good enough for their pieces, which i will always recommend for who that wants back the feeling like new.
I recommend Shin-Etsu G-40M or Molykotte 44 for Sanwa. Seimitsu sticks has different pivot quality, i highly recommend the original Shin-Etsu G-501 for them, is great, works flawless and lasts long long time…any other grease (G-40M, G-30M, Molykote 44 and other silicone based greases) have not worked well enough on Seimitsu’s plastic bearing.
Poor english but i hope this post can still helps sometime.