The Use of Lubricants in Different Situations

Lubricants are used on elastomers to simplify installation, but it should be noteed that:

Any petroleum lubricants will damage the o-rings of ethylene propylene rubber and make them swell. This fault usually occurs within five days. The flexible seal assembly "locks" and prevents the lapped surfaces from remaining together. Silicone grease prevents some of the rubber bellows in the seal design from sticking to the shaft. The proper lubricant is designed to "swell" the bellows and attach itself to the rotating shaft. If the coating is to be sealed, the presence of silicone grease will cause "orange peel" on the coating surface.

Should some lubricant be painted on the mechanical sealing surface before pressing them together? The answer is no!

In some cases, lubricants can cause injury:

In low temperature (cold) applications, lubricants can freeze and damage soft faces. You must remove all lubricants that the manufacturer may have placed here. A clean lubricant that is compatible with the sealing material will not cause any harm, but this usually evolves into a bucket of grease that contains dirt and contaminants. The carbon/graphite surface used in most sealing applications is close to the hard surface (such as silicon carbide). Graphite will seep out of carbon/graphite and deposit on a hard surface.

Carbon graphite is a natural lubricant. For many years, carbon/graphite brushes have been used in electric motors, and no external lubrication source has been used.

The key to this self lubrication is that carbon can form a strong chemical bond with gases such as water vapor. The adsorbed gas then weakens the interlace adhesion and releases graphite, thereby reducing friction. Carbon/graphite is easy to absorb many other types of vapor and gases, in some cases, if there is no absorbable gas or the supply is in short supply, inorganic compounds can be added to carbon/graphite, which is also a solution for dealing with dry hot air.