Tom Yang wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> Can anybody explain the function of dielectric grease? Is it conductive?
> Will it help a switch work better if applied internally, or will it short
> it out? I'm trying to fix some problems caused by Lucas design!
>
> Tom
Tom:
(Where are all those electrical engineers when you need them!)
I have always been curious about this too, since my understanding of the
word "dielectric" is that it is non-conductive, since that is what the
material used to separate the two conductor halves of a condenser is
called. However, when I questioned using it on low voltage batteries (in one
of my past incarnations as a railway signal maintainer), I was told that it
was non-conductive, but the mechanical forces of the connection were
sufficient to punch through the film of grease, and avoid any major voltage
drop. Also, it is non- conductive to avoid any leakage of the terminal
voltage to ground through the grease residue.
If this is true, then this may not work well in a switch (contact pressure
is usually pretty low and you may get a high voltage drop due to increased
resistance -no short)
There is a type of conductive grease that we used to use on relay contacts
that were subject to wear and corrosion, but I have no idea what it is
called. (I believe model railroad guys used to bum small amounts to use on
their outdoor tracks, so you might try them).
This is all I know, and maybe those engineer guys can correct my mistakes!
Ron Tebo
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