Unique Wear-Resistant Silicone Lubricants Bring Aerospace Technology to Automotive Components

    FAIRHAVEN, Mass.--Nov. 1, 2001--Nyosil-M25, a specialty lubricating oil by Nye Lubricants, Inc., was once an esoteric fluid used only in elite military and aerospace applications. Now, it's strutting its stuff in underhood automotive connectors and potentiometers, making sure they take the heat and measure up to the 100,000-mile quality standard of today's leading automakers.
    Nyosil-M25 is a unique silicone fluid, technically a chlorophenylpolydimethylsiloxane. Chlorine puts this silicone in a class by itself. Like many other silicone oils, Nyosil-M25 offers excellent thermooxidative stability, low volatility, minimum change in viscosity with temperature, and a broad serviceable temperature range from -70(degrees) C to +200(degrees) C. In addition, because it is halogenated with chlorine, it also provides excellent wear prevention for metal-on-metal components under boundary conditions, an operating environment where other silicone fluids tend to fail. In a Four-Ball Wear Test (25(degrees) C, 600RPM, 1hr. 50 kg load), a nemesis for most silicone oils, Nyosil-M25 had a wear scar of less than 0.6mm.
    The base fluid for Nyosil-M25 was developed 50 years ago by General Electric Silicones and marketed as GE SF-1250. GE also synthesized GE F-50, a marginally different chlorophenylpolydimethylsiloxane that met Mil S-81087C. The latter fluid is no longer commercially available. Like both GE fluids, Nyosil-M25 is recommended for a variety of aviation and aerospace components, including servomechanisms, gear boxes, bearings in precision instruments, electronic equipment, electrical motors, clocks, and timing devices.
    More recently, Tier One automotive suppliers have also recognized the advantages of Nyosil-M25, more specifically, a UV version that contains a dye that shows up under ultraviolet light to speed quality inspections. Nyosil-M25UV prevents or retards fretting corrosion on tin-lead crimp connectors for underhood applications, where the lubricant must survive 150(degrees)C. Nyosil-M25's unique wear-prevention characteristics enable connector manufacturers to cut costs by using Nyosil-M25 instead of perfluoropolyether (PFPE) lubricants, which withstand temperatures as high as 250(degree)C but cost three times as much as Nyosil-M25. Some connector manufacturers have explored the possibility of using Nyosil-M25 as a stamping fluid. In theory, using the same oil as both stamping fluid and contact lubricant -- instead of a separate, lower quality stamping oil -- simplifies production and eliminates the potential for cross contamination that sometimes results in circuit continuity problems in the field.
    Nye also formulates two greases with the Nyosil-M25 oil. NyoGel 781A, a soft lithium soap-gelled grease serviceable from -70(degrees) C to +200(degrees) C, is suitable for lightly to moderately loaded rolling element bearings. Nye Fluorocarbon Gel 813-1 is a PTFE-thickened grease frequently used to meet the wide temperature and low starting torque requirements of automotive sensors. Because of its low surface energy, the grease re-wets surfaces well and keeps a constant film of lubricant on the conductive ink.
    For more information about the Nyosil-M25 family of lubricants, contact Nye Lubricants (www.nyelubricants.com), 12 Howland Rd., Fairhaven, Mass. 02719. Telephone: 508-996-6721. E-mail: techhelp@nyelubricants.com.
    Nye Lubricants is an engineering company dedicated to formulating high quality synthetic lubricants. Its products are specified in a full range of industries, including automotive, aerospace, appliance, aviation, electronics, medical instrumentation, office automation, paperboard manufacturing, photonics, recreational equipment, semiconductor manufacturing, telecommunications, and textiles. Founded in 1844, Nye maintains regional engineering offices throughout the United States as well as a network of distributors in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America.

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