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Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:01 pm

I use dielectric grease on light bulbs, and that's about it.

Can I use it on other stuff like spade connectors, and fuses, to help prevent corrosion and the nasty green fuzz? What do y'all use dielectric grease on, and what DON'T you want to use it on.

Thanks!

Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:12 pm

I use it on all electrical connections--especially spade connectors.

I also use it on the inner contact points of my wiper motor.

Tim

Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:28 pm

Thanks, I had to do some research on the internal contact points of the wiper and actually came across your post on the subject of rebuilding that motor. Guess what project just got added to my list :-)

Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:37 pm

To split hairs, dilectric grease is meant to prevent contact from what I've heard, but silicone grease is excellent for preventing oxidization and maintaining good contact, regardless I put that sh*t on everything, greasy with some contact beats dried up and funky with no contact anyday. :D

Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:50 pm

I use it on the inside of each end of the spark plug wire boots, it prevents the rubber from becoming one with the cap/plug and allows you to remove the wire w/o separating the boot/connector from the wire. I suppose you can use it in the other places mentioned.

Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:43 pm

Have your lady help you put that wiper motor back together. I had a hell of a time trying to replace the armature into the brushes. Then, I held two brushes while my wife held the third , and I managed to drive the armature back into place--fighting that pesky magnetic pull all the way.

And busdaddy, I used dieletric grease on the driveshaft/drive gear face of my wiper motor--where those three brass finders contact the metal section of the circular face of the drive gear--and that grease did nothing to prevent the flow of current. Without dielectric grease in that area, those contacts would wear much faster.

I also put a dab of dielectric grease on that horn contact arm in the steering wheel--you know the bent arm that'a soldered to the switch? It also keeps the wear down.

My two-speed wiper motor runs so much faster now. You would think that years of not re-lubing would ruin the internals, but not so in my case, at least. My wipers go nice and fast since now, since doing the wiper motor r&r. Of course, I also cleaned and lubed all the linkage points, including the drive gear shaft as it passes through the drive housing.

Tim

Wed Apr 01, 2015 5:29 am

Hmm. I did a little independent research.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicone_grease

Quote: ... It is not recommended to be applied to the actual electrical conductive contacts of the connector because it could interfere with the electrical signals passing through the connector in cases where the contact pressure is very low. Products designed as electronic connector lubricants, on the other hand, should be applied to such connector contacts and can dramatically extend their useful life. Polyphenyl Ether, rather than silicone grease, is the active ingredient in some such connector lubricants.

Maybe I'll see if I can find some actual "connector lube". But then it's probably okay for cleaned contacts in good shape.

Wed Apr 01, 2015 6:31 am

contact grease.

I sold this stuff for years to electronics manufacturers. Electrolube makes excellent products, although a little spendy.

http://www.electrolube.com/products/contact-lubricants/cg52b/contact_lubricants/

Wed Apr 01, 2015 7:27 am

Thanks pb_foots. Once I knew there was such a thing as contact grease I was able to look that up too.

Well, here's where I stand after trolling the internet for a while on dielectic and contact greases (for anyone curious).

For the practicle purposes of protecting connections, connectors, and contacts, the silicone dielectric grease is probably just fine. I think it's probably fine to use as a general purpose lube and corrosion protector for and around all the electrical related "stuff".

If a connection is loose it could contribute to an issue, but on a nice tight connector or contact it should just squish out of the way and not cause any conductivity issues. A loose connection or contact in and of itself is an issue anyway, so in my view that's a net no-change situation.

The specific contact grease might be better for some of these things because it includes metals (like an anti-sieze) and can actually aid in conductivity. In fact I wonder if copper based anti-sieze could be used for connectors like the spade terminals.

Anyway, the contact greases seem to be metal specific in that you'd rather not use an aluminum based contact grease for copper connectors and so on. McMaster sells several varieties but you're right, they aren't cheap anywhere I find them. Though, I imagine a little dab would do ya. I'd actually be a little concerned about these contributing to arcing or creating connections between stuff I don't want connected because I tend to be heavy handed with stuff like this. For anything I'm trying to do on my autos this just seems well beyond what is really needed.

So, for my money I'll just keep a large thing of the dielectric or plain silicone grease around and use it for all my 'lectrical stuff (more than just light bulbs) from now on.

I did also come across some contact cleaners and motor cleaners in spray cans that I think could really come in handy to clean up stuff that I can't get to easily though, so I might hunt down some of that.

Thanks y'all.

Wed Apr 01, 2015 12:01 pm

I'd be careful with conductive contact grease in places with multiple connections nearby: what if it conducts from one pin to another? for example shorting a light bulb socket. I think the idea behind dielectric grease is that it's not conductive (hence the name). No idea HOW conductive it is just throwing it out there as a possible problem.