Date:         Sun, 28 Aug 2005 10:44:00 EDT
Reply-To:     THX0001@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         George Goff <THX0001@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: The nature of dielectric grease; was Re:      Charging better
Comments: To: refisher@MCHSI.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

In a message dated 8/27/05 5:13:27 PM, refisher@MCHSI.COM writes:

<< I thought it was used to, say, keep yer plug boots from getting stuck, or
as a corrosion/dirt/etc. barrier outside of a connection that in itself would
not conduct the juice in that connection to something else. >>

That's about it in a nutshell.  The only time I have used dielectric grease
in a legitimate way is to ease the assembly of preformed stress cones on medium
and high voltage connections, here, medium voltage being 4 KV to 12 KV.

For every pole there is a hole and, it appears, a grease for mating the two.
To prevent oxidation in an electrical connection antioxidant greases are
used.  One brand-name is "No-Ox".  There are also conducting greases such as
"Conducto-Lube", but a Vanagon owner would never have a use for it unless he also
has use for a 20 foot long hot-stick.

The quality and, therefore the ampacity, of an electrical connection is
determined by the surface area of contact and also, as importantly, contact
pressure.  Although it is sometimes a pain, every time I open an electrical
connection on an old car, I clean it to bright metal then smear it with No-Ox.  If the
terminal is such that it cannot be scrubbed with a stainless steel toothbrush,
I give it a shot of De-Ox-Id, a product claimed to clean and protect
electrical connections.  I also tweak stab-on (spade) connectors to increase their
contact pressure.

I guess using dielectric grease to prevent oxidation is better than nothing,
but there are inexpensive alternatives made specifically for the purpose.
From my experience, dielectric grease appears to be some manner of silicone
grease and as such it seems to migrate everywhere, even where it is not wanted.

George