Several months ago, I complained about a number of things, but particularly the squeak in my mechanical knee. I asked if anyone had any ideas about what to do about it. I specifically mentioned that I did not want to hear about WD-40, because it's a solvent and I have been warned against using it for this purpose as it may actually be strong enough to dissolve some part of my not exactly inexpensive artificial leg. One of my kind commenters recommended a product for bicycles called "Bull Shot," insisting it was a lubricant and not a solvent, but suggesting I consult my prosthetist before using it.
I looked for it all over and did not find it. I did find a number of similar products. Unfortunately, many of them were lubricants and solvents combined, designed to cut through crud and also keep bike parts moving smoothly for a long time. Equally unfortunately, perhaps, I am not the sort of person who goes running to the doctor every time I want to try something with my body, and I am also not the sort of person who goes running to the prosthetist every time I want to try something with my prosthetic. My warranty is long used up, and I know what the thing is made of, how it works, and some rules about what not to try myself. So after consulting with two different bike store owners, I decided to take a risk and try something.
And actually, it turned out quite well. The product I purchased, from Ray & Sons, the people who were so kind to me last summer and who sold me my beautiful, beautiful tricycle, is called White Lightning. A 4 oz. bottle of it cost $8.95, and it seems to have worked perfectly well so far, with no bad effects I can discern.
Now, before we go further, it should be noted once again that I do NOT own a C-leg or any computerized prosthetic bits at all. If you do, you absolutely should NOT try this without talking to your prosthetist first. Randomly dribbling liquids into computer parts has been known to have very unpleasant consequences. When your computerized whatsit costs $25,000 or more, you can expect the consequences to be proportionately amplified.
This product is described on its label as "Self-Cleaning Wax Lubricant." I discovered as I was applying it that it smelled suspiciously of WD-40. However, again, it seems to have done no harm to any part of my mechanical joint, so whatever it is, I have chosen not to worry about it.
I applied just a drop or two to the back of my knee joint, like so:
Then I applied just a drop or two to the front of my knee joint, lifting the plastic patella forward for access, and only dribbling a little down the front in the process of taking this picture.
I haven't heard a squeak out of it since.
Now, one reason I waited such a long time to post about this is that my squeak disappeared almost as soon as I complained about it here last March and didn't come back until this September. I do not know why. I never know why the squeak comes or or why it goes, except sometimes it seems to relate to a buildup of schmutz. The schmutz looks like fabric lint, and its accumulation may have to do with me wearing long pants during the colder months of the year, but really, I do not know. I do know that the squeak has only left by my agency for longer than an hour or two at a time after I applied White Lightning.
I applied this stuff once, back in September. More than two months later, still no squeak. I can only draw one conclusion: White Lightning works great!
As always, please let me know your results if you try it yourself. And as always, I assume no liability for your results if they suck, though I'm happy to take credit for them if they rock.
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Reminder: You only have 2½ days, approximately, to enter my midway contest! Don't miss this rare opportunity to win a small but beautiful piece of original artwork to be created by me, just for the winner, of a nature and at a future date which will be revealed Tuesday along with the answer to the puzzle and the winner's name. (You know, don't miss the chance unless you hate my art, of course, in which case you should totally sit this one out.)
Incidentally, where a contestant lives will not determine eligibility to win, unless s/he lives where such contests or the importation of small works of art one at a time is prohibited by law, something I would have no way of knowing and will assume not to be the case unless otherwise informed.
(Can you tell I spent a lot of my life working for lawyers? And yet I try so hard to talk like a normal person. And yet that just seems to make it worse somehow.)
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