Product MSDS
Solutions to Squeak & Rattles
Unless problem surfaces are separated or a specialist physical barrier is introduced between the two materials (e.g. felts or foams), there three main factors that must be overcome when trying to solve a noise issue between to two trim materials:
- Surface grain frequency
- Shear strength of the microscopic grain
- Yield pressure of the microscopic grain
There are a range of products on the market that overcome the challenges of dealing with squeaks and rattles, some relatively low-tech and others that are based on different types of chemistry. Each solution can work very well and will lend themselves to particular situations but all have their own unique advantages and disadvantages.
Felts, Foams and Tapes
There is a variety of tapes, felts and foams on the market. Each type of product has it’s own composition and is suitable to a particular applications and problems. Many foams can be used on external and under bonnet applications - some foams have waterproofing characteristics and others are ideal when combating wind noise.
An overview of the different types of material and characteristic grading is below:
Antifriction Coatings & Dry Film Lubricants
A long-lasting, high performance range of products. Antifriction coatings are just that, a coating of the either surface that is causing the problem, some coatings will appear to penetrate permeable surfaces but in reality the product dries leaving a micro thin layer of active ingredient on the surface of the material - some antifriction coatings have the ability to be virtually invisible once dry on surfaces such as leather and vinyl upholstery.
When working with hard surfaces an antifriction coatings may not fully dry and may stay active or ‘grease-like’. This situation is perfectly acceptable if only a small amount/thin layer is needed and also where the passenger/driver cannot see the application directly or are expected to handle the area that the coatings is applied to.
A dry film lubricant can also be considered when working with hard surfaces. Depending on the material combination a dry film lubricant may be more appropriate. If the reason for the trim noise is down to slightly lower tolerances than intended between parts, then a dry film lubricant may be utilised due to the thicker layer that a dry film coating generally leaves. If the noise is a rattle type then the gap between surfaces needs to be eliminated. A thin felt could be used but if the tolerances are too tight, the dry film lubricant option could come into play. If working in a production environment, one important consideration when choosing between an antifriction coatings and a dry film lubricant is drying time. Dry film lubricants need to dry before parts assembly and this can cause an issue as the different dry film products take between 1 minute and 20 minutes to dry. Much depends on the ratio of carrier to active ingredient in the product, ambient temperature etc. Drying times can generally be speeded up with the application of warm air.
Greases & Oils
If you are new to squeaks and rattles, don’t think of greases and oils as a brown mineral based product or sludge. The greases and oils that we refer to are high specification synthetic products. The choice of whether to use an grease or oil depends on the type of application and practical considerations. A grease starts life as an oil, a thickener (aka gellant) is then add mixed in (eg PTFE, which is sometimes referred to as Teflon) to turn the oil into a grease, various additives can then be included in the formula to give the grease specific characteristics.
First we will consider the oils available. These products all claim to be different in someway but the quality products all use the same base oil which is call Perfluoropolyether (PFPE) - Don’t confuse PFPE with PTFE as they are worlds apart, PTFE is a type of thickner/additive. A PFPE based product is a costly substance but an has a superb temperature range, around -40ºC to over 200ºC. This temperature range makes a PFPE based product suitable for external S&R or NVH problems and even noise of damping requirements located adjacent to heat sources or under the bonnet. The PFPE products on the market are all very similar despite packaging and trademarks; all are ‘inert’ by nature and will not reactive negatively with plastics and rubbers, they are normally odourless and compatibile with most materials used in automotive production. Carbaflo is probably the best known PFPE based anti-noise substance and is the market leader. These oils are heavy products and as such are normally sold by weight, their density is usually around 1.8 grams/ml. Example would be that if you bought 500 grams of such as substance, this would only actually give you about 270 ml. Despite the cost, these PFPE based oils are very high quality and ideal for extreme environments. There are lesser known, more cost effective oils using the same chemistry that should be considered such as the Nye Lubricants product Uniflor 8470. If you have used PFPE oil based products such as Carbaflo previously for interior S&R applications you could consider a different chemical solution. The antifriction coating called PEOX DF (Gel) carries out the same kind of function as a product such as KSP105/KPL105 but at a considerably better price point. Products such as Carbaflo oil KSP105 and the Nye UniFlor 8470 do have a superb temperature range though (over 200°C), but this is not necessary in automotive applications; the automotive industry temperature requirements for interior applications are normally -40 to 125°C.
There are less viscous versions of some oils that can be applied to leather surfaces (primarily by the premium leather seating manufacturers). An example would be the Carbaflo XTR5; as before this is an expensive option and a little out dated when compared to more modern alternative water based solutions such as AC612/21.
Now onto greases. Invariably the type of product required is a specialist damping grease. There are different types of damping grease. Some use silica as a thickener, others may use a PTFE (aka Teflon). If the application involve two metal surfaces (eg seat runners/tracks) then a PTFE thickner would be preferable. The addition of PTFE turns a grease white in colour and this is not always desirable. A silica thickened damping grease is normally translucent and is generally better if plastics are involved.
Damping greases are available in various viscosities/levels of damping. In practice this means that the greases are available in different ‘levels of stiffness’; rather than becoming bogged down in viscosity figures an analogue reference is give - from VL (Very Light) through to VH (Very Heavy). Once in place, a quality synthetic grease such as NyoGel 774L or Fluorocarbon Gel 868L will last the functional life of the component if applied correctly, these greases are very persistent and do not evaporate or dry up. We strongly advise against using any silicone based greases and sprays. Silicone is very different to silica and should not be confused. Silicone products can migrate to areas that they were not intended to, which is generally only a problem for the manufacturers however silicone products can have serious compatibility issues with silicone rubbers.
That concludes our summary of solutions to S&R problems. Please consider our own S&R Kit that can be purchased at via our network of regional contacts. Please CLICK HERE to find out how to buy the S&R Kit
