Proper way to apply plumber's grease to a two-handle bathroom sink faucet?

Question

I have the Plumb4orce Two Handle 4" Lavatory Faucet P4B-400CL installed in my bathroom sink. You can see the exact specifications for how it is put together at this link. Only a few weeks after installation, the hot water knob started getting harder to turn. It is now months later, and the knob now requires a lot of force to turn. I was told that I needed to apply plumber's grease, so I bought some (the lithium variety, to be precise). The problem is that I am confused by the currently available information regarding how to properly apply it.

There are some tutorials (albeit shockingly few for two-handled faucets made similarly to mine) available on Youtube, such as the one linked to here, which shows the rubber ring and the bottom of the cartridge being greased. But I invariably see comments below such videos stating that the videos are all wrong and that the rubber ring and/or bottom of the cartridge are stationary and that greasing them thus doesn't help. This confuses me, as I don't know what to believe.

I have also found written tutorials, but they don't include photographs and use terms that I do not understand in the particular context of greasing a faucet handle (I recall some saying to grease the "threads", for example, and I don't understand what that means in this context, as I see no "threads" anywhere on the cartridge).

In short, what I need is an accurate, clear, precise description of what I need to do in order to grease this faucet handle. I would especially like pictures and/or video included, but even a clear enough description in layman's terms would probably be enough.

Answer 1

Hardwicke, I opened up the file in your letter. It is the 5.1 and 5.2 cartridges that you need to lubricate. These come apart by hand and that is what you need to do. I recommend one at a time and pay close attention to put them back exactly how they were. Or the handles may operate reversed. I would not use lithium grease, rather I would recommend a good food grade product like super lube 3 oz tube synthetic grease sold at home depot. And next time consider a higher quality faucet. This would not be happening with a Moen.