Plastic electrical switch lubricant

TimV · May 29, 2022

Picked up an old B&D 12v cordless drill at a yard sale for 5 bucks. Battery charges and holds a charge but forward-reverse switch was stuck in reverse. Disassembled it and the actuation lever moves a switch in a circular track to change directions--sort of like pressing a piston to move the crankshaft a few degrees each way. Can move the switch with pliers but it's stiff enough that the plastic pieces have too much flex to move it when everything's assembled. Wondering what people have used with success in similar applications. Don't care for WD-40 as it usually gums up more things than it fixes long-term and the plastic parts mean anything overly aggressive might also cause more problems than they solve. Love zoom=spout turbine oil but don't know how it would work on plastic and directly in contact with electricity. Any thoughts from those with experience in such things? Not looking to replace parts--5 bucks is plenty to spend on a drill this old, small, and cheap to begin with, and if worse comes to worse I'll put it in forward, reassemble it, and just use it that way.

Steve@Advance · May 29, 2022

I would put whatever I had, maybe some silicone grease like goes on spark plug boots.

It's probably going to need to come apart to get the grease into where it needs to go. If it won't come apart, then try the oil.

kcm.MN · May 29, 2022

Silicone grease. Petroleum lubricants tend to break down plastics and rubber.

Michael Soldan · May 29, 2022

You can buy silicone spray that will likely fix your problem

Phill Tibbetts · May 29, 2022

Electrical contact grease

Charles in Aus. · May 30, 2022

I use silicon spray as well , if anything is going to work it will .
Some plastics deform and swell over time , you might need to pare a little off the mating surfaces .

TimV · May 30, 2022

Ended up using silicone spray--I would have just tried it to begin with, but the only can I had is elderly enough that there was almost no product in it, and the propellant was depleted enough to not even get that little bit out, and so with no one coming up with anything better I pulled the old trick of popping off the nozzle, putting a tubeless valve stem over the output tube and forcing some air in with the compressor. Got enough out to dribble some in to the switch (didn't dare take it apart far enough to be able to get any sort of grease in as the plastic's old and brittle and breaking it would probably mean the whole project would get abandoned, as it's not worth sticking any parts into it) and worked it back and forth to free it up enough to work. Still stiff, but I reassembled it as I'd mentioned--with the switch in forward--and it's entirely possible I'll just use it that way in the limited use it's apt to get.

Plastic electrical switch lubricant

TimV

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Steve@Advance

Well-known Member

kcm.MN

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Michael Soldan

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Phill Tibbetts

Member

Charles in Aus.

Well-known Member

TimV

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