NO-OX-ID vs. Dielectric Grease: When/Where to Use Which?

[Dirk_S]

My understanding: NO-OX-ID is a conductor; Dielectric grease is an insulator.

Having just recently packed my ignition relay with Vaseline like I was teenage boy discovering steering head bearings for the first time <cough>, I decided to pick up BOTH some dielectric grease and NO-OX-ID, but to my surprise, I’m an ignorant fool. I didn’t realize they differed as they do. Considering my bikes live out in the elements all year long, what applications would I use one over the other?

…and I promise to keep the Vaseline under my bed behind the bathroom mirror from now on.

[guzzisteve]

I think you got it correct.  Try a search, Wayne O. has done more than a few explanations on the subject. Interesting reads.

[n3303j]

AMAZON among many others.

Get a can of this stuff and spray it into anywhere you want to stop corrosion. Reapply every several months. Plastic cased switches, connectors, plugs, points etcetera. It lubricates as well as protects. It will find its way into every nook & cranny. It will keep switches moving crisply and it will not interfere with conductivity. It will not harm anything.

Kept the Ural running through 5 winters of daily commute over salted roads without a single contact or switch issue. I do all the bikes because they all see weather. Stuff isn't cheap, but does the job excellently without disassembly. Used to spray it in the tailcone of my airplane. Two weeks later I'd see it on the outside at the seams. Meant it was getting into the tight seams and displacing corrosive moisture.

[Wayne Orwig]

Dielectric/silicone grease out gases. If it is near a switch or relay, the contacts can get coated with silicon dioxide or something like that. Basically, sand. And they fail.
Some manufacturers even say that the silicone gas can penetrate a sealed switch or relay and recommend you keep dielectric grease a few miles away.
I occasionally use dielectric grease to help seal something like a spark plug boot but keep it far far away from switches and relays.
I often use Caig Deoxit on a connector. Deoxit actually improves the connection by dissolving corrosion. Dielectric grease can only make the connection worse. Deoxit is pricey (cheap Guzzista) so I use a cheap cleaner first, then follow with Deoxit.
I have zero info on NO-OX-ID.

.

[MikeP996]

Interesting info that di-electric grease is bad for switches/can turn into sand.  Could you post the reference to the paper/article stating the dangers of di-electric grease for electrical connections.

I'm curious because it is contrary to the current and common use of di-electric grease on electrical connections in many applications on cars, boats, and motorcycles.  It is factory-applied before making many connections, especially those exposed to exterior conditions. 

In the salt-water marine world, where I spent a few years, dielectric grease is commonly used on almost every connection including light bulb sockets!

[kingoffleece]

Grease is cheap as chips and been around forever.  The sprays are newer tech  My friends huge professional sound company (thing stadium rock concerts) used the sprays.  Says nothing is better.  I go with his empirical experience. 

[Wayne Orwig]

Interesting info that di-electric grease is bad for switches/can turn into sand.  Could you post the reference to the paper/article stating the dangers of di-electric grease for electrical connections.

I'm curious because it is contrary to the current and common use of di-electric grease on electrical connections in many applications on cars, boats, and motorcycles.  It is factory-applied before making many connections, especially those exposed to exterior conditions. 

In the salt-water marine world, where I spent a few years, dielectric grease is commonly used on almost every connection including light bulb sockets!

Go here.
https://www.ia.omron.com/product/cautions/30/safety_precautions.html
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341120295_Silicon_contamination_caused_by_diffusion_of_silicone_into_plastic_sealed_relays
Search for silicone (dielectric grease is silicone).
I had a few other links at one time, but I am at a campground with crappy internet and can't find them.

If I had a boat I would likely apply it cautiously to connectors too. Just saying, keep it away from switches and relays.

[Dirk_S]

I’ve read around a little further in a vintage BMW forum on the topic of NO-OX-ID versus dielectric grease.

Dielectric grease seems to separate over time. NO-OX-ID on the other hand is a wax and doesn’t appear to separate over time (per their engineers).

I read this comment elsewhere about dielectric vs general silicone grease:

Silicone grease is VERY bad ! For starters it gets everywhere and migrates. NASA prohibited its use. Silicone contamination is very hard to remove. Second, when exposed to an electrical arc it carbonizes and becomes conductive ! Electric comtacts [sp] need to be lubricated with a PTFE based suspension. The carrier material is also important. Many products may contain ptfe but the carrier is a synthetic oil that also suffers from carbonisation. Nye lubricants has the correct stuff. So does kry-tox , dupont and a few others.

So—NO-OX-ID being conductive seems good for direct electrical contacts, but maybe not inside multi-pin connectors. Dielectric grease should be OK for terminals with a good connection (displaced by force), but better on the outside to prevent electric leakage.

Now back to recommendations for all other products ;)

[n3303j]

Grease goes where you put it.
ACF-50 goes everywhere it might be needed.
I put that s#it on everything.

[Dirk_S]

Grease goes where you put it.
ACF-50 goes everywhere it might be needed.
I put that s#it on everything.

I have an unused bottle of ACF-50 that’s been sitting. Maybe I’ll start using it. Guess my last bit of Fluid Film gets relegated to the sidecar wheel well and underside.

[Frenchfrog]

I'm very impressed with ACF 50!

[bigbikerrick]

I have never used ACF 50, but just ordered a spray can of the stuff to try it. Do you guys spray it all over the bike, or just inside electrical connectors, etc?
Rick.

[n3303j]

It's expensive to coat the whole bike.
I shoot it into all the switches about 4 times a year.
Bikes were uncovered in the weather daily before I retired.
Shoot it into connectors and sockets when they are accessible but not more than a couple of times a year.
Shoot it into body crevasses that might be hiding damaging moisture.

[Wayne Orwig]

I have never used ACF 50, but just ordered a spray can of the stuff to try it. Do you guys spray it all over the bike, or just inside electrical connectors, etc?
Rick.

I have heard people imply that they give the entire bike a bit of a spray for storage. Pretty pricey stuff to do that. I have used it and had no issue. It tends to migrate and coat things.
Sort of related, the automatic steps on my RV would moan and scream when they extended or retracted. I tried all sorts to lubes; simple grease, silicones, spray lithium, etc. But they all washed away after a few months. ACF50 hangs around for over a year. So there is that.

[DoubleGuzzi]

I have heard people imply that they give the entire bike a bit of a spray for storage. Pretty pricey stuff to do that.

Yup and Yup. In my condensation prone, Winter cold garage, I thought it prudent for the Carbon Shine. It does seem to go through the can quickly, compared to my previous Motorex Gloss & Protect (renamed Protect and Shine). I started using the Motorex product as it was recommended for the black chrome headers on the Triumph 900 Trident. The guys on here persuaded me to try out ACF-50.

[kingoffleece]

Our UK friends may pipe up here.  There are services there that mask the bike and spray the entire thing (not brakes, tires) for those who must the biker in winter.
We used it on snowplows in northeast winters.  I question whether anything is rougher on metal and connections that the ever present salt brine a plow sees everyday.

[DoubleGuzzi]

Our UK friends may pipe up here..

The UK has to be the worst country this side of The Pond, when it comes to Winter preparedness. Salt can be laid anywhere from late November, through April and snow/icy spells are intermittent. A heavy snowfall (for the UK) typically lasts for less than a week, except on higher ground of say 2,00ft. The rest of the European continent and Scandinavia are considerably better at managing cold conditions.
In the '70s/early '80s car underseal seemed to be a 'thing'  though like Winter tyres they are still available but get little attention/marketing.
 

[Frenchfrog]

The spray cans are a more expensive way to buy ACF 50.I got a bottle and spray pump a few years ago and even though i've used it quite often still have tins left...only used it on vapour blasted alloy components as a whole though as down here there's never any salt on the roads.If I was back in the UK or in Ireland then I'm sure the whole of my bikes would have been coated with the stuff in winter just like in the various videos

[DoubleGuzzi]

The spray cans are a more expensive way to buy ACF 50.I got a bottle and spray pump a few years ago..

Yeah, I wanted to try it before committing to larger quantities/cost. I've had a Motorex can last quite a few seasons, unlike the ACF-50. 
It never rains in Ireland!  /joking, of course.
 

[SIR REAL ED]

Due to the high cost of ACF-50, any Wild Guzzi forum frequenter who sprays their bike down with ACF-50 for the winter should be immediately and forever kicked off the forum!!!!

Rules!  It's what separates us from the animals!

Kerosene is much cheaper!!!!

Spraying down WD-40 is borderline a capital offense!!

[bigbikerrick]

Thanks for the info on ACF 50, guys.  I am in  southern Arizona so salt on the roads dont exist. I am looking more for something to spray in the electrical connectors of my old convert, and eldorado, to prevent  any electrical issues. FWIW, the handlebar push switches on my goldwing  are known to get "sticky" where they wont work until cycled in and out a few times. Would the ACF 50 work in this application as well?
thanks Rick

[n3303j]

Yes. Excellent for switches!

[n3303j]

Due to the high cost of ACF-50, any Wild Guzzi forum frequenter who sprays their bike down with ACF-50 for the winter should be immediately and forever kicked off the forum!!!!

Rules!  It's what separates us from the animals!

Kerosene is much cheaper!!!!

Spraying down WD-40 is borderline a capital offense!!

Spray it down with kerosene then hone it to a shine with a brick. Real Jethro technology.

[moto]

I use petroleum jelly (Vaseline) except to coat spark plug boots, where the dielectric grease gets used for its dielectric (electrical insulating) property. The purpose of most lubricants around contacts is to prevent corrosion. Vaseline works well. My belief, as untutored as most, is that petroleum jelly is what comes on the connections from the factory.

There is a cult of dielectric grease that is hard for me to fathom. I guess part of it is that dielectric grease is more expensive than vaseline and therefore its overuse denotes refined taste.

[DoubleGuzzi]

For decades, I just spray WD40 into switchgear and connectors, with cheapo Vaseline substitute for battery connections and where white grease was found on connectors.

[SIR REAL ED]

Spray it down with kerosene then hone it to a shine with a brick. Real Jethro technology.

Not a brick!  Marble!  Much smoother!

Preferably sourced from a ancient castle in Italy!!

[MikeP996]

The grease used on factory electrical connections is Di-electric grease.  Di-electric grease is NOT petroleum based, has a higher operating temp than "normal" grease (Won't melt/run) and has no ill effect on rubber/plastics.

As far as sprays, CorrosionX was the most widely used such spray in the Marine environment.  But for electrical components routinely exposed to rain/salt spray Di-electric grease was used for those connections.

[kingoffleece]

hysical properties

Petroleum jelly is a mixture of hydrocarbons, with a melting point that depends on the exact proportions. The melting point is typically between 40 and 70 °C (105 and 160 °F).[8][9] It is flammable only when heated to liquid; then the fumes will light, not the liquid itself, so a wick material is needed to ignite petroleum jelly. It is colorless (or of a pale yellow color when not highly distilled), translucent, and devoid of taste and smell when pure. It does not oxidize on exposure to the air and is not readily acted on by chemical reagents. It is insoluble in water. It is soluble in dichloromethane, chloroform, benzene, diethyl ether, carbon disulfide and turpentine.[1][10] Petroleum jelly is slightly soluble in alcohol.[11] It acts as a plasticizer on polypropylene (PP),[12] but is compatible with a wide range of materials and chemicals.[13] It is a semi-solid, in that it holds its shape indefinitely like a solid, but it can be forced to take the shape of its container without breaking apart, like a liquid, though it does not flow on its own. Its microstructure is made up of partially crystalline stacks of lamellar sheets which immobilize the liquid portion.[14] In general, only 7–13% of it is made up of high molecular weight paraffins, 30–45% of smaller paraffins, and 48–60% of small paraffins.[15]

Depending on the specific application of petroleum jelly, it may be USP, B.P., or Ph. Eur. grade. This pertains to the processing and handling of the petroleum jelly so it is suitable for medicinal and personal-care applications.

[moto]

The grease used on factory electrical connections is Di-electric grease.

Could you post references to papers and articles backing up your blanket assertion?

[MikeP996]

"Could you post references to papers and articles backing up your blanket assertion?" 

My point was that if there is grease there, it is dielectric grease and yeah, that statement DOES fall under the category of a "blanket assertion." ;)   Certainly it's possible, though seems unlikely to me, that some manufacturer may use a grease OTHER than a di-electric grease for that purpose.   But here are examples from factory service info:

Honda specifically states:  "Lithium Dielectric Grease 08798-9001 3720976 White grease used to pack electrical connectors for moisture and corrosion protection."   

Porsche has a similar statement for their Di-E grease, part number 00004321083. 

Subaru recommends DI Electric Grease Part Number: SOA569W099

A couple of service manuals I have for various cars/motorcycles just state "di-electric grease" with no particular brand cited.  Permatex 22058 comes up regularly and was ubiquitous among techs at the marinas I worked around.

But again, I agree that my statement, "The grease used on factory electrical connections is Di-electric grease." is improper and comes across as categorically saying that any grease used by any factory on the electrical connections is di-electric grease.  And that might not be true.  Heck, maybe some vehicle maker uses Vaseline!!!