OT for a design group magic stuff

There are other sources that are slightly less expensive. I haven't used them. If desperate, try begging for free samples: etc... search for "damping grease" or "damping oil".

Unless you are fixing optical equipment, or want to make controls "feel" expensive, you probably don't need damping grease.

WD40 does one thing very well (displace water) and most everything else rather badly. Imagine a 2N2222 transistor with the same recommendations. The 2N2222 can be used in 2000 different applications, just like WD40". Sure, the 2N2222 will function in many applications, but it's nowhere near optimum for many other applications. Same with WD40, which somewhat works, which is my definition of mediocrity.

Drivel: No discussion on electrical, electronic, or mechanical chemistry is complete without someone mentioning or recommending WD40.

"Entertainment Tonight"

Thanks for the excellent article. I especially liked the graphs showing the reduction in contact resistance. I found the same effect on gold contacts used in pcb connectors.

I use vaseline. It is similar to mineral oil but it is much stickier and lasts longer.

I find vaseline useful on battery connections where it helps reduce corrosion and oxidation that lead to intermittents. It is also very useful on usb connection to remove dirt and corrosion and provide lubrication for sliding contacts.

Vaseline is very sticky and hard to remove. Here is an excerpt from a Wikipedia article:

------------------------------------------------------------------------ Petroleum jelly is very sticky and hard to remove from non-biological surfaces with the usual and customary cleaning agents typically found in the home. It may be dissolved with paint thinner or other petroleum solvents such as acetone,[21] which dissolves many plastics.

Petroleum jelly is slightly soluble in alcohol.[22] To avoid damage to plastics as well as minimize ventilation issues, isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol can be used to remove petroleum jelly from most surfaces. Isopropyl alcohol is inert to most household surfaces, including almost every plastic, and removes petroleum jelly efficiently. While alcohol causes fewer ventilation problems than petroleum solvents, ventilation is still recommended, especially if large surface areas are involved.

Petroleum jelly is also soluble in lower molecular weight oils. Using an oil to dissolve the petroleum jelly first can render it more soluble to solvents and soaps that would not dissolve pure petroleum jelly. Vegetable oils such as canola and olive oil are commonly used to aid in the removal of petroleum jelly from hair and skin.[23]

The point is you use vaseline as a preventative. You apply it right at the start, and not afterwards when the connections have deteriorated to the point they are starting to cause problems.

It is similar to a car engine. If you tried to build one and run it without oil, it wouldn't last long. But if you add oil first, it can run for hundreds of thousands of miles.

So go ahead and put vaseline on all your electrical contacts. You will be surprised at how much longer they last.

On a sunny day (Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:30:11 -0800) it happened Jeff Liebermann wrote in :

Yes, OK. Just to stay on topic, I found some stuff on ebay to fix my keyboard keys, became more quiet and some were stuck (because of cookies??) Super Lube Synthetic Grease With PTFE For Crown Gears Guide Posts Plastic Safe No longer see it on ebay... But it works.

On a sunny day (Wed, 08 Nov 2017 20:29:43 GMT) it happened Steve Wilson wrote in :

Wow if that works you deserve an award. USB connectors I see as totally an utterly unreliable shit. So I will try some vaseline. Bad USB connectors and stupid renumbering of devices is one of the reasons I moved everything to ethernet. But those rtl-sdr USB sticks still cause problems.. As well as my LED USB light and and and ..

FYI, if you look up the MSDS for Deoxit, it contains mineral oil + some custom chemical.

Cheers

No, I'm looking to fix a Nikon camera lens.

have you see this page:

Cleaning, Care, and Maintenance of Microscopes

Mineral oil doesn't stick like vaseline and doesn't last as long. I know, because I use it to lubricate the sealing rings on my Presto sterilizers and other sliding surfaces. And who knows what custom chemical is used, or why it is needed. It probably there to boost the price.

Vaseline is very similar to mineral oil. Vaseline is cheap, non-toxic and non-corrosive, and it works. It sticks much better than mineral oil. If Deoxit uses mineral oil, why pay the premium?

LOL! The MSDS shows 40% to 70% mineral oil, 10% to 30% inert gas, and 3% magic trade secret chemical.

I doubt the 3% secret ingredient has much to do with the performance.

Here's the urls for the MSDS of various Deoxit products. They are all identical.

The secret ingredient might be something like tolyltriazole. Back around the year 2000 a chemist posting as " Uncle Al " mentioned it as the ingredient in silver polish to prevent tarnish.

Dan

I wanted to report that I used some WD-40 on my flakey usb connector and it fixed it. We'll see for how long. (sprayed wd-40 into tin cup and used a swab to clean contacts with it.) I'm pretty sure Phil A. would approve.

George H.

A master mech engineer once told me that grease is basically a chemical sponge whose function is to contain oil and keep it in place. No idea if that's true, so take it for what it cost you.

Clifford Heath.

WD-40 is mainly kerosine, a distant relative of mineral oil. It is a very poor lubricant and won't last long.

I cannot think of an application where WD-40 is the best to use. Even in outdoor locks that are exposed to rain, you would think that kersoine would work well. However, it doesn't last long.

It turns out a 50-50 mixture of automobile transmission fluid and acetone is far superior. I use it on my mailbox lock and also on a dumpster lock that is exposed to rain. See

"what is the best penetrating oil?"

MSDS is never informative; the manufacturer's sales strategy for glues and greases doesn't require that you be well-informed, just enthusiastic. Confusion just leads to more sales...

Don't be too sure that the 3% isn't significant: doping of semiconductors teaches us that 0.000 001 % of the material composition can be important.

I doubt that semiconductor doping profiles have any connection to lubricating connector contacts.

Lubricants are liquids. Semiconductors are solid. Lubricants work on friction. Semiconductors work on electrical conductance.

There is no correlation between the two.

Both assertions are false; PTFE (Teflon) is a lubricant, and I'm aware of liquid metals, liquid insulators, liquid semiconductors. Aren't you?

We've been discussing Cramolin, Stabilant-22 and other materials that DO include liquid semiconductors. Look here:

Basically, yes, as I understand it. Most grease is a combination (emulsion) of an oil and a thickener (often a soap of some sort). The thickener gives grease a high viscosity under static conditions, so it doesn't flow away. Under shear force the viscosity drops, allowing the oil to flow and lubricate properly.