Electrical & Mechanical Grease

1. Do not publish your email ID on any public forum, you will be vulnerable to 'spambot's

2. As Del says (why OT, it was a perfectly good answer) graphite-based greases are conductive.

3. Electrical grease is ubiquitous in the electrical industry, and used quite a bit in switches with knife-contacts. i used a Dow Corning grease, the exact grade slips my mind right now, i can find it if absolutely required. Here is a link to help you get started. dowcorning

4. i dare say that mechanical greases will result in lower friction and also give longer life, since making it electrically conductive has to be something of a compromise. Just my opinion, could be wrong.

What will happen if we use mech grease on electrical contacts ... Why would you do that when the right grease is available ? Probably it will be an insulator ? Or at least, if not, heavy carbonisation when arcing ? i don't know...when i first heard of electrical grease in 1968, i used it without any thoughts of other options. Mind you, no Dow Corning in India at that time. We had to use good local ones.

DC4

It was OT, cos originally I only wrote that hilarious first line

Does the word dielectric mean anything? (non conductive) Grease comes in all "flavors" like Baskin-Robbins, each formulated for specific applications. I've found that a silicone based ptfe aerosol lube works best on sticky plastics like pushbuttons & contactors. Always test the lube on a non-critical area first to make sure you don't melt (dissolve) the material to be lubricated. Of course, following the manufactures recommendations usually works out for the best.

NEVER clean a crane contactor with brake cleaner from a ladder and then energize it. Unless you want to re-wire the whole panel after you get the fire put out.

Gotta love this site... anyone for some spam & eggs?

There are actually three types of greases. Mechanical is formulated for lubricity and corrosion resistance under various conditions, electrical is formulated for similar reasons, but is made somewhat electrically conductive by the addition of electrically conductive particles, and thermal grease which is comes in electrically conductive and dielectric varieties and is designed to as a heat transfer medium. Examples of particles added to greases include oxides of zinc and beryllium for thermal conductivity, and silver for electrical conductivity.

Generally we have used petroleum gel for Electrical contact points for increase Lubrication , decrease contact resistance and minimised sparking.If we used mechanical grease at Electrical contact Points, Electrical flashover occurred at that points.