Greasing up switches and connectors?

[DaveC]

This stuff is for putting on contacts:

http://www.electrolube.com/products/contact-
lubricants/sgb/contact_lubricants/

Fercryinoutloud! Have you seen the product selection guide for those? ::

http://www.electrolube.com/pdf/electrolube-product-selector-brochure.pdf

I went cross-eyed at the first chart.

 

[Phil Allison]

DaveC wrote:

And by extension, oil is better at preventing corrosion while not sticking up
things.

This research found that simple mineral oil reduced contact resistance
dramatically:

http://www.te.com/documentation/whitepapers/pdf/p154-74.pdf

** The "Conclusions" section backs up what products like WD40 have been claiming for decades.

--------------------------------------------------

CONCLUSION

We have shown that all of the more commonly
used non-noble contact materials experience large increases
in resistance during fretting action (small
amplitude cyclic motion). The results of our tests were
such that a warning could be issued concerning the indiscriminate
use of such materials in applications
where fretting action could occur on electric contacts
as a result of vibration, mechanical motion, or differential
thermal expansion. Resistance increases noted
during fretting action are felt to be due to trapped
wear debris composed mainly of oxides. This process is
commonly referred do as "fretting corrosion." Lubrication
has been identified as a very good deterrent to
fretting corrosion; the important mechanisms imparted
by lubrication are postulated as: first, a reduction in
wear; second, that the treatment aids in the selfcleaning
and flushing of wear debris from contacts; and
finally, and perhaps most important, liquid lubricants
have the ability of excluding oxygen from the contact,
thus preventing oxidation of wear debris and freshly exposed
contact material.

--------------------------------------------------


..... Phil

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Wed, 9 Mar 2016 15:09:49 +1100, Chris Jones
<lugnut808@spam.yahoo.com> wrote:

This stuff is for putting on contacts:
http://www.electrolube.com/products/contact-lubricants/sgb/contact_lubricants/

Link for the USA:
<http://www.electrolube.org/products/contact-lubricants.html>

The web page says it's for putting on contacts but offers no
explanation of how it works or what's in it. The MSDS pages say
"contact the factory". At least that TDS is available. Picking one
version (CO70 oil) at random:
<http://www.electrolube.com/core/components/products/tds/044/CO70.pdf>
I see that the active ingredients are a "Blend of synthetic fluids",
which is a rather useless description. I guess you'll just have to
rely on the word of the manufactory that the contact oils and greases
actually do something in an unspecified manner.

If it is in a dusty environment, it would be a good idea to seal out the
dust from the switch or connector.

That's always a good idea. I used to maintain the processes
controllers at a canning plant. If any kind of dust or aerosol got
into the contacts, the switching current would burn the solids to a
crisp. Eventually, that would produce a layer of insulating carbon.
We eventually pressurized and locked the NEMA enclosures, which ended
that problem (and others).

I believe that modern automotive
connectors tend to be sealed with o-rings or similar.

Probably true. Lets see what they look like:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=automotive+connectors&tbm=isch>
Oddly, I don't see any visible o-rings, but they might be hidden
inside the connector. There also seem to be a few molded rubber
seals.

I would not use silicone grease, oil or gel near anything electrical
with relays etc. for the reasons that Tauno Voipio explained in the
S.E.D. version of this thread.

<https://groups.google.com/d/msg/sci.electronics.design/j4LskBMCJ7w/Rbjrl1LAIQAJ>
If you have an army of assemblers using silicone bearing hair spray in
close proximity to your switch contacts, you should switch them all to
Brylcreem, also known as the "greasy kid stuff", which is based on
mineral oil and bees wax.
<https://kitsadnauseam.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/greasy-kid-stuff-the-brand-that-viral-marketing-built/>



--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Chris Jones]

On 08/03/2016 05:53, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sun, 6 Mar 2016 13:05:41 -0800 (PST), stratus46@yahoo.com wrote:

On Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 9:11:03 PM UTC-8, DaveC wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Dielectric means "insulator" in this case, which is not exactly what I
would want in an RF connector.

Jeff, I think he means he uses it under the boot, not inside the connector...

Dave

I actually put it directly on the center conductor after the connector is attached and then screw it on the fitting. While the grease is an 'insulator', the metal parts touch and the grease prevents moisture getting to the wire. I did not put any grease on the rubber boot except for any residue that was on the outside of the connector.

G˛

http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-dielectric-grease.htm
"Besides being used to seal rubber covers on electrical
connections, dielectric grease also prevents corrosion
when applied directly to metal connectors. Though it
works well for this purpose, it can sometimes cause a
connection to stop working if not all of the grease is
pushed out of the way between the points of contact
inside the connector."

Wiping off silicone grease from a connector pin is difficult, messy,
and requires solvents. If you read other articles on the electrical
uses for dielectric grease, you'll find that they all discuss how it
is applied to everything EXCEPT the conductors. For example:

http://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/fyi-about-dielectric-grease-electrical-components-979955/#post10895971
"one thing people have tried is dielectric grease on various
electrical component connections. this is NOT a good idea!
dielectric grease or "tune up grease" as you may find in auto
parts stores is ONLY meant for high voltage connections such
as spark plug wires, that is about the only place it belongs
on a car.

using it on electrical connections, eventually you may as well
pitch the harness into the garbage.. it's almost impossible to
get the stuff out once it's in there, dielectric grease does
not conduct electricity very well and will in fact cause
resistance issues and eventually failed connections."

etc...

This stuff is for putting on contacts:
http://www.electrolube.com/products/contact-lubricants/sgb/contact_lubricants/

If it is in a dusty environment, it would be a good idea to seal out the
dust from the switch or connector. I believe that modern automotive
connectors tend to be sealed with o-rings or similar.

I would not use silicone grease, oil or gel near anything electrical
with relays etc. for the reasons that Tauno Voipio explained in the
S.E.D. version of this thread.

 

[David]

"DaveC" wrote in message
news:0001HW.1C8B4B670002EE5111CD2E3CF@news.eternal-september.org...

Cleaning up an old rotary mode switch used for 5v logic levels. It has some
kind of grease in it.


…which has always confused me: grease is an insulator (well, the grease in
this switch is—just tested and it’s infinite ohms).

I read that dielectric grease is good to keep contacts sealed against the
elements that have high physical pressure (which overcomes any separation
provided by the grease) but that signal and other low voltages grease is
contra-indicated.


=========================================================================

Here in the UK, Electrolube manufactures a contact grease

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/111883046769

Electrolube has been selling this for 60+ years

Hope this helps