Graphite – properties, types, composition and application
Graphite oil is an inorganic lubricant, black or dark brown in color, with a dense and highly viscous consistency. Outwardly, it resembles the well-known grease. Graphite grease is made on the basis of vegetable fats using petroleum cylinder oil fluids and lithium or calcium soaps, as well as graphite. Lubrication is used in mechanisms that work with heavy loads – in agricultural, onstruction, automotive, oil-producing equipment. On our website you can buy graphite for making oil.
The scope of graphite grease is very wide. In production, it is lubricated with special equipment springs, low-speed bearings, open and closed shafts, various gears, valves, suspensions in large-sized mechanisms, special equipment, drilling rig supports.
Graphite oil can also be used as a prophylactic. In particular, they can lubricate threaded connections, ordinary and car locks in summer and especially in winter.
In everyday life, oil is used to protect locks, door and garage hinges – it has good water resistance and does not require frequent replenishment of the required amount.
The use of graphite oil instead of thermal paste is still experimental in nature – the thermal conductivity of graphite is not the same in different directions, and for maximum heat transfer, it is necessary to somehow orient the graphite grains in a certain way. And the composition of graphite also affects its characteristics.When protecting electrical connections, graphite grease does not create additional resistance, unlike other oils, so even power contacts can be protected with it – for example, when connecting a “positive” wire to a starter. This is a very important point – protecting the contact with a poorly conductive coating can lead to its heating and ignition of the wiring.
Due to such features of graphite, lower hardness, low coefficient of friction, high electrical conductivity close to metals, metallic luster, opacity, etc., graphite oil is a cheap and effective way to protect working surfaces from corrosion, increase the performance of working pairs, and also increase the working resource. However, when using it, remember that oil cannot be used in high-speed mechanisms and where high precision is required from working surfaces.