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Lifespan of lithium grease for seal lubrication.

Lifespan of lithium grease for seal lubrication.

Lifespan of lithium grease for seal lubrication.

(OP)

I'm designing a watertight pushbutton.  It has 2 pieces of machined stainless steel (303).  One piece looks like a piston and the other is it's housing with a positive stop.  For the seal, I have a neoprene washer with a beveled outside edge (to minimize friction).  It is sort of like an o-ring setup, but the pointed edge makes it easier to depress and rebound.  I'm using lithium grease as a lubricant and it's working well, but I'm concerned about how long I can expect it to keep lubricating the seal.  A tiny bit of grease still tends to seep out of the front of the button after playing with it since yesterday morning (I'd estimate 300-400 cycles).  I didn't put much in it to begin with, so I'm not sure if it's just excess or what.  Has anyone had experience with a situation similar to this?

It's also doing something that is most likely not going to be acceptable.  After letting the button sit for 30 minutes or so, the button takes a significantly higher breakaway force to depress it.  Could changing over to a different lube help?

Thanks in advance.
 
 

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