Effects of hydrogen in sealed electrical contacts

Hydrogen has been an integral atmospheric component of sealed electrical contacts for decades because of its effect on reliability. It is well known that hydrogen is a needed component to prevent high contact resistance due to carbon-spot formation. This hydrogen benefit has been attributed to hydrogenation of hydrocarbons (HC), enhanced volatilization of previously deposited carbon, enhanced catalytic activity, and thermal cooling. By a variety of physical and chemical laboratory techniques, this paper shows that the hydrogen is not itself directly active. However, some of the hydrogen is converted to water during the glass sealing process. It is this water which plays the active role in the process of quenching carbon formation from hydrocarbon impurities and also acts as a diluent of HC's adsorbed on the contact surface and in the arcing volume. This limits the carbon accumulation on the contacts and increases lifetime reliability