[Healeys] voltage drop dielectric grease part1

[Richard Ewald]

I wrote this in response to Richard Mayor's question, but got bit by
the 3kb limit last night so I will break it up into 2 parts

Assuming we are talking about a regular tin to tin connection and not
gold or something else exotic, you would apply the grease before.
Here is the reasoning:
Tin is conductive, tin oxide is not conductive.  When exposed to air,
the surface of tin rapidly becomes tin oxide.  A proper connection
when connected will scrape the tin oxide off of both the male and
female and leave direct tin to tin contact.  There is a risk with tin
connectors.  if there are small movements due to heat or vibration the
male and female connectors can move very slightly in relation to each
other and a layer of tin oxide can then build up between the two parts
of the connector.  This can cause an apparent open circuit even though
the connector is connected.
(more to follow!)


On Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 5:08 AM, Robert Duquette
<robertduquette at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> I "think" that as long as you have a "tight" electrical connection you are
> alright to put it on first.  I've used it on battery connections primarily
(
> before reconnection ) and all was good.
> http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-dielectric-grease.htm
>
> Robert