SRC Forum - Message Replies

Forum: Reliability & Maintainability Questions and Answers

Topic: Reliability & Maintainability Questions and Answers

Topic Posted by: Reliability & Maintainability Forum (src_forum@alionscience.com )
Organization: System Reliability Center
Date Posted: Mon Aug 31 12:47:36 US/Eastern 1998

Original Message:

Posted by: Jason Wojciechowski
Date posted: Mon Mar 5 16:21:44 US/Eastern 2007
Subject: Electronic Connector Lubricants
Message:
What reliability issues must I be concerned with when using electronic connector lubricants? Could anyone point me to some literature or provide any suggestions. Thank you in advance.

Reply:

Subject: Electronic Connector Lubricants
Reply Posted by: David Dylis (ddylis@alionscience.com )
Organization: Alion SRC
Date Posted: Mon May 21 11:08:14 US/Eastern 2007
Message:
Connectors can corrode causing degradation of the electrical signal. The use of gold or other nonoxidizing metals, or increasing the contact pressure on each mated terminal, can minimize fretting corrosion. Lubricants such as synthetic hydrocarbon and silicone greases can sometimes achieve similar results. Lubricants also reduce the force needed for mating and unmating connections and prevent corrosion of the metal surfaces. One issue with lubricants is their failure at elevated temperatures. Therefore, matching the temperature of a lubricant to the temperature extremes in which a component must operate is essential to selecting the right lubricant for an application.

A paper was presented at the Aging Aircraft Conference that addresses that reliability of connectors and lubricants. This paper is located at the following URL:

www.agingaircraftconference.org/all_files/20/20c/123_doc.pdf

If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me.