Electrical contact grease?

[Stormin Mormon]

You know, I'm also surprised no one mentioned WD.

A friend of mine really likes Caig Deoxit, for corroded terminal cleaning.

[gregz]

There is not too much stuff that actually cleans. Most of the cleaning is by rubbing. An oil or alcohol will help move the grime around. Deoxit is pretty good stuff to have around. So is CRC 2-26 .

Two things that can clean are acids like Tarn-X or olive oil. The oleic acid in olive oil, or plain oleic acid eats corrosion. Needs to be flushed after cleaning.

Greg

[gregz]

Deoxit is only a 5% solution. For better results, the red 100 % solution, I would recommend. It's not a spray. More oily, and but not good for certain environments That could collect dust.

Greg

[Fred McKenzie]

Trader4-

I agree with Bud. Grease may prevent future problems, but it won't fix a bad connection.

You need to determine exactly where the bad connection is. It could be a quick-disconnect that is sprung, or it could be a defective crimp where the terminal attaches to a wire.

Fred

[Jeff Wisnia]

Stabilant was developed by my college buddy from the 1950s, William M.D. "Mike" Wright.

It's still being produced and sold:

Jeff

Jeffry Wisnia (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE) The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

[Jeff Wisnia]

I've had a brush top can of Thomas and Betts Kopr-Shield grease for probably 30 years now and always paint a bit of it it on automotive bulb and connector contacts when changing out things.

Works for me:

Jeff

[dpb]

...

...

Of course, a conductant is _not_ what OP wants here in all likelihood. Virtually all current connectors include both terminals any more so if fill it up w/ a conductor he'll short them out for sure. The days of the old single-wire "hot" bulb connector w/ chassis ground are long gone.

[trader4]

Or it could be neither, just the point where the connector mates. Put some dielectric grease on it and it's working.

[trader4]

Thanks, Brass Rat 78 here

[gregz]

Any conduction taking place, is a very small distance. It will not out short out connections. Never fooled much with stabilant. What you get is a highly diluted solution, mostly alcohol.

Greg

[dpb]

Don't know about that; I thought the point of "conductive" grease _was_ the conductivity. But the spacing between conductors ain't all that much in some of these connectors. I'd not take the chance meself.

But, I've not had any use for any and so don't know actual datasheet spec's...

[trader4]

+1

It would seem to me if you had a grease type compound that was conductive, the smaller the distance, the worse the problem. If I have two conductors 1/16" away from each other it's going to be easier for the conductive stuff to connect them than if they were 1" apart. I would think you'd only use the conductive stuff where there is good separation and you can keep the stuff where it needs to be. With many auto type connectors, you can't do that.

I wound up cleaing the connector with electrical contact cleaner, then working the connector on/off a dozen times, then applying dielectric grease. It's working fine as of now.....

[bud--]

"Stabilant 22 is an initially non-conductive block polymer that when used in a thin film within contacts switches to a conductive state under the effect of the electrical field. The field gradient at which this occurs is set such that the material will remain non-conductive between adjacent contacts in a multiple pin connector environment."

It is now also available diluted with alcohol.

I make no claims about effectiveness of the stuff.

[dpb]

I'd never previously actually looked at the datasheet for Stabilant--

The Stabilant isn't actually a conductive grease of which one normally thinks; it's as Gregz says above a dilute solution in a carrier of a polymer and it has very unusual properties in that it is only conductive under an applied field if I read their (limited) top-level stuff correctly.

I was thinking (and writing) of an actual bulk grease that is electrically conductive such as Conducto-Lube or the like that are full of Ag or C or other various other conductive materials depending on the target application and serve also as the water displacement that the Si lubes do for plug boots, electrical connectors and the like. But, these latter non-conductive greases don't actually help the connection, it relies on physical contact to locally displace them for the actual electrical contact but they remain in the overall connector to keep out dirt, moisture, etc.

But, while Stabilant would serve well for the connection, it's price overkill for automotive connectors so I was pretty much discounting its actual use for your purposes, simply cautioning against slopping a bunch of a conductive paste grease in there thinking one would want it to be conductive but not thinking about having both polarities in the same connector before doing same.

Perhaps that clarifies the difference some and covers both ends of the spectrum...

[dpb]

On 1/24/2014 9:31 AM, bud-- wrote: ...

...

See my above amplification -- it's entirely different animuhl than of which I was cautioning.

[clare]

The stabilant was described as "electrically neutral" - it "enhanced conductivity" of connections and "stabilized" the connection.

[dpb]

...

Well, yes, as the followup says it's a very odd piece o' work and isn't a bulk grease at all and has the unusual property that appears only conductive w/ applied load.

As said in that follow-up that's a completely different piece o' work than what was cautioning against...

[gregz]

Volkswagon dealers and NAPA used to carry Stabilant. A long time ago, called Tweek, by audio company.

I'm not sure if i ever measured my cramolin copper loaded grease. I think it might be best for static elimination. A long time ago something about railroad tracks was mentioned, can't remember where or who.

Greg