Light switch mk 1

[James]

Could any kind of electrical grease be used to prevent them from getting dirty?

I had to change my light switch in the middle of France at 3am — I was able to stick my hand through the little drawer to the left of the lights (late Mk1)

[Alec]

Hello James,

RS sells a contact lubricant supposed to enhance conductivity, as probably do any industrial electrical wholesaler.

Alec

[Mike Stevens]

Before relays,the switch made and broke with a load on it which could clean as it arced

This is true. All switches/relays etc have a maximum and a mininum switching current. The minimum current usually depends on the contact material in use. Gold for example will allow a very low minimum current - however, I doubt these are gold! Below the minimum current the contacts are very likely to get dirty and become intermittant.

Cleaning and lubricating them could well recover proper operation, but the addition of an some extra load may also help long term. What actual level of extra load is another matter and anybody's guess!

Cheers,
Mike.

[David Withers]

Mike,

Can you recommend a lubricant for switch contacts? My need is for a non-Triumph as it happens, i.e. Rover 75 indicator switch contacts which slide into engagement.

The original lubricant had picked up some tiny particles of copper which were causing occasional mis-operation. I thoroughly cleaned the contacts by flushing with electrical contact cleaner and all works well now, but I ought to replace the lubricant as the contacts are completely dry.

I was sold Servisol Silicone Grease as being correct for the purpose, but it is much stiffer than the original lubricant and it says on the tube that it has "high electrical insulation" and "high surface resistivity". I had asked for something that would lubricate the contact faces and suppress arcing but allow easy electrical conduction, more-or-less as described above by Alec.

Sorry about the drift from Triumphs (and hacking into someone else's thread) but switch problems aren't make/model-specific of course!

[CAR]

Mike,

Can you recommend a lubricant for switch contacts? My need is for a non-Triumph as it happens, i.e. Rover 75 indicator switch contacts which slide into engagement.

The original lubricant had picked up some tiny particles of copper which were causing occasional mis-operation. I thoroughly cleaned the contacts by flushing with electrical contact cleaner and all works well now, but I ought to replace the lubricant as the contacts are completely dry.

I was sold Servisol Silicone Grease as being correct for the purpose, but it is much stiffer than the original lubricant and it says on the tube that it has "high electrical insulation" and "high surface resistivity". I had asked for something that would lubricate the contact faces and suppress arcing but allow easy electrical conduction, more-or-less as described above by Alec.

Sorry about the drift from Triumphs (and hacking into someone else's thread) but switch problems aren't make/model-specific of course!

Some of these products from RS online may well be suitable for your indicator switch.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/?searchTe ... se&sra=oss

Colin.

[David Withers]

Thank you, Colin.

I searched the RS site at the time (about four months ago) but didn't find the items you have linked to. Perhaps I used the wrong search terms, though I can't see where I could have gone wrong with such a simple search. I then went to an industrial electrics supplier/engineer who insisted that silicone grease is the correct stuff for the job. It clearly isn't.

[Alec]

Hello David,

this particular product, if you open the specification's pdf file mentions automotive use.http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/contact-t ... t/3375925/ It is not cheap and for one off use will last several lifetimes!

I regularly use the RS website and it has many deficiencies, their paper catalogues are far more useful except that they are very large and date quite quickly.

Alec

[CAR]

I regularly use the RS website and it has many deficiencies, their paper catalogues are far more useful except that they are very large and date quite quickly.

Alec

This is so true Alec, I looked through the paper catalogues I have at work first so that I knew what RS called these greases before searching online to give David the link.

Colin

[James]

Hello David,

this particular product, if you open the specification's pdf file mentions automotive use.http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/contact-t ... t/3375925/ It is not cheap and for one off use will last several lifetimes!

I regularly use the RS website and it has many deficiencies, their paper catalogues are far more useful except that they are very large and date quite quickly.

Alec

It's not overly expensive (to my mind) but once you add the VAT and delivery on top things get a bit out of hand.

[CAR]

Hello David,

this particular product, if you open the specification's pdf file mentions automotive use.http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/contact-t ... t/3375925/ It is not cheap and for one off use will last several lifetimes!

I regularly use the RS website and it has many deficiencies, their paper catalogues are far more useful except that they are very large and date quite quickly.

Alec

It's not overly expensive (to my mind) but once you add the VAT and delivery on top things get a bit out of hand.

No doubt cleaning the indicator switch and lubricating it will still be a fraction of the cost of a new item if you could source one.

Colin