Electrical contact grease?

I have a car fog light where the problem is the electrical connector between the housing and the cable. It doesn't appear badly corroded or anything. But when it's assembled, wiggling the connector makes it go on and off.

The way it's designed I can't really get at it to clean it with emery cloth or anything. I have some electrical contact cleaner I'm going to try. But aside from that and also with a view to the future, what do you guys use for that kind of application? Some kind of grease like product that would prevent corrosion but conduct electricity would seem to be what I need. Any products to recommend?

Reply to
trader4
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Hi, There is such thing as Silicon dielectric paste.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

The silicon dielectric paste will not conduct electricity. It is for keeping the moisture out of connections.

I have not tried it, but most auto parts places such as AutoZone should hav e this. VersaChem Sure Connect - Bulb Grease Part # 15319 Says it is good for bulbs and other electrical connections. I am not sure

if it actually conducts, or just lets the contacts wipe it off as you slide them together.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

Hmm, What do you think dielectric mean? I used it all the time in my working days. Regarding cleaning the pins you can find a pointied small brush.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Dielectric is used for AC circuits (mostly at RF). Often the grease is used in RF connectors to keep water out.

As the circuit is an auto fog light, which most likely operates at DC, the dielectric does not come into play.

Not sure what you think it means, but it does not mean water prof or anything to do with water.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

I have a car fog light where the problem is the electrical connector between the housing and the cable. It doesn't appear badly corroded or anything. But when it's assembled, wiggling the connector makes it go on and off.

The way it's designed I can't really get at it to clean it with emery cloth or anything. I have some electrical contact cleaner I'm going to try. But aside from that and also with a view to the future, what do you guys use for that kind of application? Some kind of grease like product that would prevent corrosion but conduct electricity would seem to be what I need. Any products to recommend?

After you get it to work OK Slide a piece of proper sized shrink over it and use heat gun to shrink. This is a permanent cure to keep moisture out. There is also shrink tape available. WW

Reply to
WW

As a side note... it's good practice to avoid emery cloth on or around any electrical equipment... (especially if commutators, slip rings, brushes, high voltages, bearings/bushings or easily shorted circuitry can become contaminated).

Microscopic emery particles (extremely hard, abrasive and electrically conductive) tend to embed themselves into copper, brass and other soft materials, and can really raise hell far as tracking & arcing go. Once contaminated, removal by other than part replacement is usually not practical or possible.

If abrasive papers must be used, sand paper such as non conductive aluminum oxide should always get the nod.

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Even then grit removal is very important.

Erik

Reply to
Erik

di·e·lec·tric noun

  1. a nonconducting substance; insulator.
  2. a substance in which an electric field can be maintained with a minimum loss of power.

I was somehow mixed up about this too.

I wouldn't go that far. Dielectric grease has lots of uses. Spark plugs are pulsating DC.

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Dielectric grease is electrically insulating and does not break down when high voltage is applied. It is often applied to electrical connectors, particularly those containing rubber gaskets, as a means of lubricating and sealing rubber portions of the connector without arcing.

A common use of dielectric grease is in high-voltage connections associated with gasoline engine spark plugs. The grease is applied to the rubber boot of the plug wire. This helps the rubber boot slide onto the ceramic insulator of the plug. The grease also acts to seal the rubber boot, while at the same time preventing the rubber from becoming stuck to the ceramic. Generally spark plugs are located in areas of high temperature, and the grease is formulated to withstand the temperature range expected. It can be applied to the actual contact as well, because the contact pressure is sufficient to penetrate the grease. Doing so on such high pressure contact surfaces between different metals has the advantage of sealing the contact area against electrolytes that might cause rapid galvanic corrosion.

Another common use of dielectric grease is on the rubber mating surfaces or gaskets of multi-pin electrical connectors used in automotive and marine engines. The grease again acts as a lubricant and a sealant on the nonconductive mating surfaces of the connector. 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.

Silicone grease should not be applied to (or next to) any switch contact that might experience arcing, as silicone can convert to silicon-carbide under arcing conditions, and accumulation of the silicon-carbide can cause the contacts to prematurely fail. (British Telecom had this problem in the 1970s when silicone Symel® sleeving was used in telephone exchanges. Vapour from the sleeving migrated to relay contacts and the resultant silicon-carbide caused intermittent connection.)

Reply to
micky

That was my concern too, but googling a bit it seems the concept here is that the contacts push the grease out of the way and make a connection anyhow. The dielectric grease then keeps moisture, salt, etc out of there. It must work because the companies making it, Permatex, Loctite, etc say it's for this application.

They don't say if it conducts, but I'll bet it's the same stuff, dielectric and it won't conduct. If it did, you'd have problems with the bulb grease winding up bridging between where you don't want it to go. ie the sides of the bulb and the tip, and creating a short.

I found I have a small packet of dielectric grease left from changing spark plugs and I'm going to try it. It's also possible something more is wrong, ie that where the wire in the fog light housing connects to the connector is bad, but I can't get to that part, as the backside is inside the plastic housing. Wiggling the wires though on that side doesn't change anything. Only if I wiggle the connector itself when it's joined.

On the subject of connectors, I hate those guys at BMW sooooo much. I've never seen a car with so many different types of connectors. And almost all of them, you could look at it for 5 mins and still you can't figure what you need to push, pull, etc to make it disengage. It's like they tried to put every possible kind of these in there that they could find...... You can't even figure it out when you can look at it right in front of you and many of them are in spots you can just barely get to at all.

Reply to
trader4

Think about it - if it conducts electricity it will short out between the power pin and ground - so OBVIOUSLY it HAS to be non-conductive.

Reply to
clare

Not even if you disassemble it more than you want to?

I don't know any names, but auto parts stores have this. A few years ago, Pep Boys had a display right on the parts counter of 4 or 5 stacks of small containers of various greases. One is the one you want, and t he labels make it clear. If they don't have the tiny size, which is probably big enough, they surey have the next size up. Bulb grease, like Ralph says, but I agree with you. It doesn't have to go between a bulb and a socket. It can surround the metal parts of a faulty connector. Hmmm. Maybe the smallest size won't be enough, although I think it will be.

Reply to
micky

A dialectric is a "polarizable insulator" in "simple" terms.

Reply to
clare

Is the wire-to-contact a good connection? Probably is.

Possibilities for cleaning the contact include real small file (needle file) or sharp surface (nail ground to be a chisel?).

Is there enough spring tension to keep the contacts together - bend a contact?

If you get a good contact a little dielectric grease can keep water and other deteriorating agents out.

The only goo that I know of that is supposed to conduct is Stabilant 22. Spendy, and I don't know if it is still around.

Reply to
bud--

Deoxit to clean it - spray on; make/break contacts a few times to clean off . Let dry then apply dielectric grease (available in tubes at your local a uto parts store in the same section as the RTV etc. - sometimes called "tun eup grease" as it is often used in spark plug boots to keep them from stick ing to the porcelain) and reconnect. Drive happy for another 10 years or s o.

good luck

nate

Reply to
N8N

Not by definition, no, but the dielectric grease sold in your FLAPS is silicone based and definitely waterproof. Works great for the OP's application.

nate

Reply to
N8N

And that stuff didn't really conduct - it just made a highly conductive connection. I used to use it on computer chips on socketed motherboards. and "spendy" hardly described it!!!!!! A little went a long way when diluted in alcohol and applied with a fine syringe, but you still flinched when you wasted a drop!!

Reply to
clare

I actually have cramolin copper grease. Other than that, grease does not conduct and can cause problems with low pressure. I've seen silicon grease supplied with lamp kits before. Nor a grease, tweek, or stabilant 22 is supposed to conduct. Is a light oily substance.

I've seen a lot of problems with cheap halogen lamp connections. Crimps often fail on those cheap units.

Greg

Reply to
gregz

There was an electrical cleaner called blue stuff. I managed to buy a couple spray cans before they were off the market. Mini scrubbers. Tiny shells.....from an old post if mine.....

I don't see anything like Blue Stuff. Well I guess one can try making his own by getting some white grease spray and Diatomaceous earth, mixing with a little blue coloring and there you go.

greg

Reply to
gregz

After reading all the responses so far, it seems that since no one has mentioned it yet, there must be something that WD-40 cannot fix? :-)

Reply to
willshak

WD-40 would work OK as a cleaner if you don't have any Deoxit, but Deoxit (or "tuner cleaner") is far preferable.

nate

Reply to
N8N

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