Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2023 22:32:48 +0000
Reply-To: Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject: Re: Microscopic corrosion on electrical contacts
In-Reply-To: <CACvdLxNitkiPLsQmLcKphcRRnQ7sC6H13uHp8Wubjpbvyp+6ZA@mail.gmail.com>
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Dielectric grease would work just fine. Maybe better.
On Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 03:27:43 PM PDT, David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com> wrote:
So why not dialectric grease? I know the price would be greatly different, but the dg is made for the purpose. So, why vaseline? How is the DG different from vaseline?
On Wed, Jun 14, 2023 at 12:41 PM Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
I've recently been discussing microscopic corrosion that occurs on metal electrical contacts (with 2 engineer buddies, one at Apple, one at H/P). You know how sometimes something funky and unexpected happens to something electrical in your Vanagon? Might be a light bulb, might be a spade connector, might be a speaker connection, might be a door switch, might be an Emergency Flasher switch. I boldly surmise that in general, the component itself is not the problem.....it's getting electricity back and forth from it. Why? Microscopic surface corrosion....and it doesn't take much. When building a car or some electronic device, everything is bright shiny new, just attach things and everything works just fine. Over time, humidity in air and even worse when near an ocean, starts to attack this nice shiny metal. Corrosion. Increased resistance at best, failed connection at worst. Now, given that things need to be built quickly and most cost effectively, there is no corrosion prevention applied. Mostly, these situations are very easy to deal with; you clean them up, with varying degrees of intensity, and then apply a nice protective coating before connecting again.
Vaseline. A most marvelous thing. Just a tiny smooth wipe.
Yes, I've taken fuses out one by one and used steel wool to shiny up and then a very thin wipe of Vaseline on contacts and they glide right back into position. Every time I deal with some spade or barrel connector I do the same. Light bulbs?...yes, same treatment. Worried about shorting something out with grease?; nope, has never happened, and I just recently did similar corrosion fix on my Samsung smartphone battery and also HDMI connections on back of TV. I mean, I used a toothpick and magnification, didn't slather it on, but it fixed things immediately. Flashlights, battery operated wall clocks, remote controls, room thermostat....you name it.
In cases like the Emergency Flasher Switch....well, you can't readily get inside....but spray Electrical Contact Cleaner and 50 times exercising does the job. Similar with other enclosed things.
This is my opinion, and I'd love to hear comments pro or con. I'm a big believer in preventative maintenance; even if something isn't broken, if I'm in the nearby area I do everything I can to preserve it's life. It's always so easy to do at home, and always so discouraging to try to fix when on the road.
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