Because lithium grease is petroleum based, it's not recommended for use around plastics and rubber where it'll cause these to prematurely fail. These applications are better served by silicone grease. Silicone grease, on the other hand, works better in low temperature, low stress applications around plastics and rubber.
Grease is a thick and oily substance usually used as a lubricant. As a true sample of grease, it must contain either oil and/or other lubricants usually mixed using a thickener, usually a soap so as to form a solid or semisolid substance.
Greases come in different types depending on the manufacturing and preparation processes. The two main ones that most people confuse are the dielectric grease and silicone grease with some interchanging each for the other. In light of this, you can read through and get the notable differences between them.
An effective lithium grease will protect against friction and create a moisture-reducing barrier. Quality silicone spray products will also protect, waterproof and help preserve the materials in your garage door. Both lithium and silicone should withstand extreme cold and heat, which is perfect for garage door application. The silicone element means the solution is long-lasting and is able to maintain its properties throughout a variety of temperatures. White Lithium Grease.
What is Dielectric Grease?
Dielectric grease is some translucent substance that is used to seal electrical conductors to prevent dust, sand, dirt, or other foreign materials from sticking to the conductor. It also prevents the conductor from transferring a current between the contact points. Also, the dielectric grease blocks moisture, preventing corrosion in the process.
Since the grease is translucent, some light passes through it causing distortion. It is usually grey in appearance.
Wd40 Lithium
Applications and Uses of Dielectric Grease
The dielectric grease’s main uses are lubrication, insulation, and protection of hardware from natural elements and foreign materials. It can also be used for extra applications, but it is mostly used in spark plug protection so as to allow the plugs to slide into their ceramic containers and protect it from compromising foreign objects. In general, the grease is used in any situation where electrical components such as processors, cables, or terminals come into contact with moisture.
What is Silicone Grease?
Silicone grease is a waterproof grease that is prepared by combining silicone oils with a thickener. Usually, the silicone oil is polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and the thickener used is usually amorphous fumed silica. With this formulation, the silicone grease comes out as a white viscous paste with exact properties that are dependent on the proportion and type of the components.
Applications and Uses of Silicone Grease
Silicone grease is used mostly in industries, chemical laboratories, and several other consumer areas. In industries, it is used to lubricate and preserve rubber parts that include O-rings. Since it does neither swells nor softens rubber, it is used in place of greases that are hydrocarbon-based. It also functions better as a lubricant and corrosion-inhibitor for such purposes that need a bit of a thicker lubricant.
In chemical laboratories, silicone grease is used mainly as a provisional sealant as well as a lubricant to interconnect ground glass intersections.
Other uses include daily use of silicone-based lubricants by consumers. Such uses include in applications that the users believe other lubricants that include petroleum jelly may damage some products such as gaskets and latex rubber. The grease may also be useful in lubricating pen filling threads and mechanisms especially the fountain models.
Also, it can be used for sealing and the preservation of O-rings in, for example, plumbing, flashlights, air rifles, and waterproof watches. The common use is the lubrication of threads in water submergible flashlights that are used for spearfishing and diving. The reason why it is used for waterproofing is that of its thick body and the fact that it can’t dissolve in water unlike other liquids and most spirits.
For household uses, the common ones are lubricating shower heads, door hinges, threads on the garden hose, and bolts threads.
Possible Similarities Between Dielectric and Silicone Grease
Silicone Spray Vs White Lithium Grease
- The two grease types do not conduct electricity.
- They are also made to withstand high temperatures.
- They are both used for lubrication purposes in different fields.
- Both greases do not dissolve in water.
Differences Between Dielectric Grease and Silicone Grease
The main differences between the two include:
Meaning
The dielectric grease is a translucent substance used to seal electrical conductors and protect them from dust, sand, dirt, or other foreign materials that might stick to the conductor. The silicone grease, on the other hand, is a waterproof grease that is prepared by combining silicone oils with a thickener and used to lubricate and preserve rubber parts such as O-rings.
Cost of Dielectric Grease Vs. Silicone Grease
The dielectric grease is relatively pricey owing to the nature of its uses while the silicone grease is relatively cheaper.
Chemical Properties
Silicone Vs White Lithium Grease
Dielectric grease does not conduct electricity and stays pliable (it does not cure), while silicone grease does not conduct electricity either but cures to a hard form.
Thickness
The silicone grease is relatively thick while the dielectric one is less thick.
Dielectric Grease Vs. Silicone Grease: Comparison Table
Summary of Dielectric Grease Vs. Silicone Grease
Upon checking several brands of dielectric grease, you might realize that most of them are based on silicone grease. That would further make the selection and differentiation process problematic. However, with some knowledge of Chemistry with you, it would be easier to identify which is dielectric and which is silicone grease. Also, if you are in the automobile industry, it would be easier for you to identify them too since, for example, the dielectric grease is used there mostly on spark plugs.
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Some engineers see lubricants as a straightforward, messy ancillary of the industrial age. However, much like rolling-element bearings themselves, lubrication is an ancient technology that’s highly engineered in modern forms. In fact, engineers have used fluids to reduce friction thousands of years, but the advent of the oil industry in the late 19th century spurred modern bearing lubrication. Today, bearing lubricants serve several functions:
Creating a barrier between rolling contact surfaces
Creating a barrier between sliding contact surfaces
Protecting surfaces from corrosion
Sealing against contaminants
Providing heat transference (in the case of oil lubricant)
Creating a barrier between sliding contact surfaces
Protecting surfaces from corrosion
Sealing against contaminants
Providing heat transference (in the case of oil lubricant)
Lubricants take the form of either oil or grease. Oil lubricants are most common in high speed, high-temperature applications that need heat transfer away from working bearing surfaces. Bearing oils are either a natural mineral oil with additives to prevent rust and oxidation or a synthetic oil. In synthetic oils the base is usually polyalphaolefins (PAO), polyalkylene glycols (PAG) and esters. Although similar, synthetic and mineral oils offer different properties and are not interchangeable. Mineral oils are the more common of the two.
The most important characteristic when specifying oil for a bearing is viscosity. Viscosity is a measure of a fluid’s internal friction or resistance to flow. High-viscosity fluids are thicker like honey; low-viscosity fluids are thinner like water. Engineers express fluid resistance to flow in Saybolt Universal Seconds (SUS) and centistokes (mm2/sec, cSt). The difference in viscosity at different temperatures is the viscosity index (VI). An oil’s viscosity is correlative to the film thickness it can create. This thickness is crucial to the separation of the rolling and sliding elements in a bearing. Bearings in some applications use oil, but grease is the lubricant of choice for 80 to 90% of bearings.
Grease consists of about 85% mineral or synthetic oil with thickeners rounding out the rest of the grease volume.
Grease consists of about 85% mineral or synthetic oil with thickeners rounding out the rest of the grease volume.
The thickeners are usually lithium, calcium or sodium-based metallic soaps. Formulations for higher-temperature applications often include polyurea. The higher viscosity of grease helps contain it within the bearing envelope. The most important considerations when choosing a grease are the base oil viscosity, rust-inhibiting capabilities, operating temperature range and load-carrying capabilities.
Check out the 5 best bearing lubrication videos on the internet here.