How to Improve Reliability of Electrical Connectors
Electrical connectors in commercial vehicles often face failure due to demanding operating conditions with exposure to water spray, road salt, shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures.
Connector Failure from Environmental Exposure
Exposure to water, salt water, corrosive chemicals, aggressive gases, oxygen and particles can accelerate the failure or malfunction of electrical connectors. These contaminants can lead to short-circuits through water, or loss of electrical continuity from contact surface corrosion. For more than 25 years, OEMS have been using the industry leader in dielectric grease, NyoGel® 760G, to lubricate and protect electrical connections.
Connector Failure from Vibration and Temperature Cycling
Metal-to-metal fretting wear at the electrical contact surface occurs from shock, vibration and the small micromotion of thermal expansion and contraction.
As fretting (micromotion) occurs in a system, oxidized metal wear debris particles can be created. For electrical terminals and other components, fretting corrosion creates an insulating layer between the contacts that causes increasing contact resistance within the connector interface, and can eventually lead to open circuit or over-heat conditions.
Nye's Application Development & Validation Testing Lab developed a Fretting Tester to determine the number of cycles an electrical contact can sustain before contact failure. The graphic illustrates a comparison of results gathered from the fretting tester using 2.8 mm standard USCAR contacts, tested with NyoGel® 760G and without grease (unlubricated).
NyoGel® 760G - A Proven Solution
NyoGel® 760G ensures performance, reliability and longevity of electrical connections in many different applications, such as telecommunications, airplanes, automobiles, commercial vehicles, appliances, boats, solar panels, wind turbines, and industrial machinery. To learn more about this product, download the 760G Overview.
Click here to fill out a form for a 25g Tube sample of NyoGel® 760G. For more information, please contact Brian Kinkade, Nye's Market Development Manager, at +1.774.473.8179.
