Contact lubricants

Electrolube have been the leading supplier of contact lubricants since their invention by the founder in the 1950s. They increase the reliability and lifetime of current carrying metal interfaces, including switches, connectors and busbars.

Electrolube has earned an unsurpassed reputation for the manufacture and supply of specialist lubricants to the automotive, military, aerospace, industrial and domestic switch manufacturing sectors. The range has been developed over the years to accommodate many advances in such rapidly advancing industries; combining excellent electrical properties and lubricity, to improve movement and ‘feel’ characteristics, with plastics compatibility.

Contact lubricants are specially formulated greases and oils that reduce friction and enhance the electrical performance of current carrying metal interfaces in switches and connectors. Electrolube products are electrically insulative in thick films, preventing tracking. In ultra thin films, i.e. between closed metal contacts, they allow the current flow, owing to the ‘Quantum Tunnelling Effect’. They also exhibit a neutral pH thereby avoiding surface corrosion.

The effectiveness of even perfectly designed switches can be improved by contact lubricants and, when considered at design stage, significant production cost savings can be achieved by the use of less expensive plastics and contact metals.

Tests have shown that contact lubrication can extend the lifetime of switches by more than 300%, producing excellent performance under all circumstances and preventing the need for expensive maintenance.