Di-electric grease on new electrical connections?

[MGPilot]

I've worked on a lot of old cars over the years where corrosion in electrical connections can be a real issue.

I have two new motorcycles.

While the connections are new and clean, would it make sense to put a light coating of di-electric grease on many of the connections to keep moisture away from the surfaces?  Or would the grease itself dry up and create issues over time?

[oldbike54]

 Chuckie will be along shortly to explain why you don't want to do that 

 Dusty

[thepittsburghguzzi]

I'm curious to hear what Chuckie has to say. I was considering doing this to my Classic to prevent corrosion. Moisture and grime could eventually sneak into the connections if there isn't a grease buffer there, so I'm wondering where the harm is. 

[chuck peterson]

Apparently, from what I've read here...diaelectric off gasses something harmful...DeOxit does better

[oldbike54]

I'm curious to hear what Chuckie has to say. I was considering doing this to my Classic to prevent corrosion. Moisture and grime could eventually sneak into the connections if there isn't a grease buffer there, so I'm wondering where the harm is. 

 When Chuckie gets done , Wayne Orwig and Kiwi Roy will step in and finish the job  C'mon you guys in EST , wake up , get to work here 

  Dusty

[Dilliw]

This will be fun.  For the record I have seen Wayne use the stuff.   

[Zoom Zoom]

Look for something called "terminal grease", not dielectric grease. Dielectric will eventually insulate the connector itself, rather than protect it.

Wayne Orwig explains it much better, but that is the jist of it.

John Henry

[rocker59]

deoxit

http://www.caig.com/

[guzzisteve]

 :Beating_A_Dead_Hors e_by_liviu

This will be fun.  For the record I have seen Wayne use the stuff.   

[jetmechmarty]

I have a couple of 35+ year old Japanese motorcycles that I ride.  They were build using inexpensive unplated wiring and cheap connectors.  I never put dielectric grease on any of it with the exception of the spark plug boot.  From time to time I have taken everything apart and cleaned it with proper solvent. 

I took a trip over 2,000 miles last spring on my 1980 Yamaha.  I attended a rally.  One of the riders had just reterminated the wires and replaced the connector to his alternator.  He did this just before his ride down from Canada.  At the rally in New York, his battery quit charging due to no input from the alternator.  I had a look at it for him and found the connector was overheated and melting.  It was also full of dielectric grease.  Cleaning up that mess on the side of the road was no easy task.  That stuff doesn't like to come off with common solvents found at the parts store down the street.  It's been said on here before.  Dielectric grease is an insulator.

Dielectric grease makes a great o'ring lube!

[sign216]

For low voltage connections (i.e. not the spark plug) you want electrically conductive grease, like Ox-gard, Noalox, No-ox-id, etc.  Found in hardware stores wiring sections, used on aluminum to copper connections in house wiring, where the dissimilar metals accelerate corrosion.

This stuff conducts electricity instead of insulating it, and still protects the joint from corrosion. 

[Triple Jim]

I often use a little general purpose grease on connections that might be exposed to the weather, and have never had any problems with doing that.  I always put some on tail and turn signal bulb bases, and it works well for keeping them from corroding over the years, even on boat trailers.

I've used Penetrox on outdoor electrical connections in commercial applications.  Burndy makes several type of Penetrox, for use on different metals and combinations of metals, so you'd need to get one suitable for copper-copper connections for most motorcycle connectors.  Penetrox E is made for copper-copper.  Other types are for things like joining aluminum wiring to copper terminals.

Edit:  Typed in parallel to sign216's similar post.

[Wayne Orwig]

I spread that $hit on everything.

Here are my thoughts:
http://hogmountain.homenet.org/Dielectric_grease.htm

If you are at any rallies, let us know so we don't park too close.

[Dilliw]

I spread that $hit on everything.

Here are my thoughts:
http://hogmountain.homenet.org/Dielectric_grease.htm

If you are at any rallies, let us know so we don't park too close.

Ahh, he woke up!  And that's exactly where he used the grease- on the spark plug boot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-542IYGBbpg

[MAC]

I just purchased a Dobeck controller for my Norge.Dobeck says do not put dielectric grease on the terminals,it can cause a short.It is meant to weather seal the connector.

[oldbike54]

 Vaseline .

 Dusty

[pehayes]

CAIG DeOxit.
I have both the spray and the tiny bottle of liquid.  I prefer and commonly use the tiny bottle so I can control where it goes and where it doesn't.  Should last a lifetime.



Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Triple Jim]

CAIG DeOxit.
I prefer and commonly use the tiny bottle so I can control where it goes and where it doesn't.  Should last a lifetime.

I need to get a bottle.  There have been plenty of times that I coated a lot of unrelated parts with spray.         But then when it's something like a potentiometer with a small opening in the housing, a blast from the sprayer is the only way to get the stuff where it's needed without a lot of extra work.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Needless for me to say that Wayne has it covered.  Oh, yeah.. put Dielectric grease on everything. I'll get another Guzzi that won't run.. cheap. 
And DeOxit? I can't begin to tell you the things it's *fixed* for me.

[canuguzzi]

For low voltage connections (i.e. not the spark plug) you want electrically conductive grease, like Ox-gard, Noalox, No-ox-id, etc.  Found in hardware stores wiring sections, used on aluminum to copper connections in house wiring, where the dissimilar metals accelerate corrosion.

This stuff conducts electricity instead of insulating it, and still protects the joint from corrosion.

  :1:

[MGPilot]

Any product should be used sparingly. The logic for dielectric grease being nonconductive is that it doesn't create a short. I have Deoxit. Which you use may depend somewhat on the physical nature of the connection.

Or.....like everyone else, wait or the toast to burn and just scrape it afterwards.

[pikipiki]

My alternator connector had been smothered in some kind of grease, it heated up. which was confusing when it looked like someone had made a lot of effort to keep it right, cable tie secured too

[Gliderjohn]

Seriously, what was di-electric grease developed for?
GliderJohn

[swordds]

I use Tef-Gel on my sailboat fittings and electrical connectors, cost a lot but a little goes a long way and many boaters (including myself) share by it. Available in a syringe applicator or small jar,it is not an insulator.

[Wayne Orwig]

Seriously, what was di-electric grease developed for?

I first encountered it long ago as an anti-corona sealant to be used on color TV sets. The 24,000 - 25,000 volt high voltage connection would sometimes be a leakage problem. Dielectric grease would insulate it.
When they started using the high voltage ignition systems and large spark plug gaps on cars, some manufacturers had you apply some to the spark plug boots and at the distributor. Again, a great high voltage insulator plus water resistant. I also read an article from Chrysler or Ford, where they warned of the damage it would do to the electrical contacts and how they had found that the vapors can travel a long distance inside the wire insulation and damage a contact. I had not had any luck finding the source of that article though.

[John Ulrich]

CAIG DeOxit.
I have both the spray and the tiny bottle of liquid.  I prefer and commonly use the tiny bottle so I can control where it goes and where it doesn't.  Should last a lifetime.

$14.99 delivered from Markertek   

[LowRyter]

Corroded fuses were the cause of the fuel pump "failure" on my EV.  It wasn't until I had a break down a Cedar Vale that Rudy was checking the fuses that we figured it out after an intermittent year of putting up with this.

I found some Electrical Contact Cleaner and Lubricant at Radio Shack.  In fact I purchased it a couple years prior to "fix" the scratchy crossover switches on my 40 year old stereo speakers.

I had never encountered corroded fuses before and didn't even notice it when I was examining them when I was troubleshooting

No problems in a year's time after cleaning the fuse block and replacing the all the fuses. 

[MGPilot]

I use Tef-Gel on my sailboat fittings and electrical connectors, cost a lot but a little goes a long way and many boaters (including myself) share by it. Available in a syringe applicator or small jar,it is not an insulator.

Thanks for this suggestion!  Seems perfect for what I had in mind.

[Groover]

Lots of great suggestions. I'd like to also suggest ACF-50 as an options.


http://www.amazon.com/Lear-Chemical-ACF50-Anti-Corrosion-Lubricant/dp/B000P1C8UO/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1457359933&sr=1-1&keywords=acf-50

[MGPilot]

ACF-50 and Corrosion X are popular with the aviation crowd.....and actually with the Amphicar crowd. I have only seen them used on structural parts rather than electrical connections, but people may simply not be leveraging their full capabilities.