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Silicone greases provide parts lubrication and electrical insulation for applications that require resistance to demanding temperatures, pressures, and loads. These industrial lubricants have excellent fluidity at low temperatures and exhibit low volatility and good thermal stability at high temperatures. Compared to petroleum-based lubricants, silicone greases also have a wider useful temperature range.  

Specialty Silicone Products (SSP) supplies silicone greases, lubricating compounds, and pastes. Some of SSP’s silicone lubricants are filled with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) for enhanced lubrication properties. A synthetic fluoropolymer, PTFE also withstands a wide temperature range and provides excellent moisture resistance. PTFE-filled silicone greases are a good choice for aircraft, automotive, marine, steam generation, and other applications.

Synthetic Oils and Silicone Greases

Most greases are made from petroleum oils that are thickened with soaps. To impart particular properties, synthetic oils can be used instead. These oils are divided into various families. Examples include polyglycols, organic esters, and synthetic hydrocarbons. Compared to petroleum oil, all of these synthetic fluids maintain low viscosity at low temperatures and have high oxidation stability at high temperatures.    

For engineers and sourcing managers, choosing the right type of industrial grease can be challenging. That’s why it’s important to recognize that silicone greases can support temperatures from -150° F to 600° F under various pressure and load conditions. Silicone greases also offer water-washout resistance, support reliable electrical connections, and contain no harmful or flammable petrochemicals.

Most SSP silicone greases are thermally insulating and electrically insulating. Two products, SSP-1405 and SSP-1405-L, are highly filled with zinc oxide and are thermally conductive. SSP-1405-L is used with mounting studs for transistors and diodes, thermocouple wells, and thermal joints. Applications also include shock and heat dissipation in transistors.

How to Choose the Right Silicone Grease

During product selection, engineers and sourcing managers who need to source silicone greases must ask and answer a series of questions. For example, do you need reliable lubrication at lower temperatures, excellent performance at higher temperatures, or both? Do you need a light, medium, or heavy-bodied grease? Unworked penetration, a measurement a grease’s stiffness or body, is given as a range.

As an experienced supplier of silicone greases, lubricating compounds, and pastes, SSP can help you to choose the right product for your application. Download SSP’s Product Selector Guide for product numbers and descriptions, key features and benefits, typical applications, and product data. This technical resource also indicates which SSP products are offsets to Dow Corning and Novagard products.  

Choose Silicone Greases from SSP

Do you need silicone greases for aircraft or marine cables, mine fuse parts, motors, utility meters, or starter drives? How about silicone greases for HVAC fans and motors, chain drives, door and window mechanisms, steam generator connections, or molten salt pumps? Perhaps you need PTFE-filled silicone greases for insulating electrical connections, or for lubricating plastic parts instead.

SSP supplies a wide range of silicone greases, and in packages ranging in size from small 5.3-ounce tubes to large 55-gallon drums. To learn more, contact SSP on-line or email Dominic Testo.