Originally Posted by
ala_xfire
Dielectric Grease vs Conductive Grease
This guy seems to know his stuff.
syfi, you stated
According to the above author, neither dielectric or conductive grease increases conductivity.
But what do I know. Where's onehundred80 when you need him ???????
You don't want to increase conductivity, you already have good flow. You want to prevent corrosion causing resistance which causes the contacts to heat up and melt.
In the article he states...
I use it for plug-in connections, in particular in my automotive hobby. I also use silicone dielectric grease for battery terminal connection preservation, coating it directly on the battery post. I use it in liberal amounts on ground connections, to inhibit corrosion on stainless-to-zinc (galvanized), lead-to-lead, stainless-to-copper, and stainless-to-aluminum electrical connections. I have never found a problem with silicone dielectric compound increasing resistance or increasing wear. We use it in new equipment production to lubricate and preserve contact plating in very low current meter switches. It has never caused shorts across insulation, I use it on spark plug HV boots on race engines and in high voltage connectors.
It's real intent is to prevent corrosion and plating in the contact. Corrosion will increase resistance which causes the connection to heat up. They used it for many years (long ago) in outdoor streetlamp sockets to prevent plating of the contacts from the higher heat that the bulbs put out.