Electrical

Contact Cleaning

Contact Cleaning

>This morning I put dielectric grease on all my relays; now my interior
>lights will not turn off when they are in the open/close door mode. Any
>suggestions. Prior to the coat of grease, I never had any problems.

OK, all; too much with the dielectric grease already. It's a good idea to clean and lubricate your electrical contacts, but not with this material.

The word "dielectric" means "insulator". Dielectric grease was developed to provide a thermal path (conducts heat) that did not also conduct electricity between power transistors and metal chassis, because many transistors use their cases as an other-than-ground electrical contact but still need to use some big chuck of metal as a heat sink.

Yes, this grease is nice and gooey, conducts heat, and will protect surfaces from corrosion, but IT DOESN'T CONDUCT ELECTRICITY!

To clean, lubricate, and enhance the function of electrical contacts that are supposed to be in a conductive relationship (e.g., relay pins and sockets, fuses and their sockets, bulbs and their sockets, power connectors), use a product like Caig ProGold (http://www.caig.com/c-pg100.htm), which you can buy in all sorts of convenient packages from the manufacturer or most big electronics supply houses.

This stuff is also useful in audio and video systems; spray or wipe it on the plugs and sockets, then plug everything back in. Corrosion is blocked, not electrical current.

Leonard Laub
Editor, 928 Journal (928journal@928oc.org)
'87 928 S4 stick (black and ever so slightly enhanced)
928 Owners Club (http://www.928OC.com)
PCA Metro New York Region

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