electrical connection lubricant

[Tugboat]

Yes you are right. That is why I use a contact cleaner first. Then the Dielectric grease keeps moisture out and helps the plug slid in and out easier. In the Jeep it is packed with dielectric grease and sealed with heat shrink tubing to make it water proof. It is also used on the ignition wires but the distributer is keep under Co2 pressure to keep water out.

[Roadhazard]

I am in the HVAC trade and we use a product called Nolox available at any electrical supply house and I have found it at Lowes too. I use it on voltages from 24v to 460V and it is to prevent corrosion caused by disimular metals.(dielectric)

[Ray,IN]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Roadhazard:
I am in the HVAC trade and we use a product called Nolox available at any electrical supply house and I have found it at Lowes too. I use it on voltages from 24v to 460V and it is to prevent corrosion caused by disimular metals.(dielectric) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
What you are describing is galvanic corrosion, it is not dielectric.
As I stated previously, using a dielectric grease is counter-productive. Even ordinary grease creates higher resistance, that's why I recommended a graphite-bearing grease, to better conduct current. Granted, that was at 7,200 and higher substation voltages.

[parmm]

Chrysler/Dodge use to make a excellent product for electrical connections. Had to buy it by the 5 gallon pail. For the life of me, I can't remember the name or it. Must be a Chrysler mechanic here somewhere!

[Joe-K]

These discussions about poor electrical contact are great. The resistance created by a poor electrical contact cause an increased voltage drop as the current through the connection that has the resistance increases.

Georg Ohm was a pretty smart guy when he said that current through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference between the two points and inversely proportional to the resistance between them. In other words, we see more voltage drop across a conductor when the resistance between them is greater.

Just last night when I plugged into a 30 amp connection, my voltage meter read 124 volts. I thought all was fine until I turn on 1 air conditioner and the input voltage in the rig dropped to 113. As soon as the electric element in the HydroHot turned on, my voltage dropped to in the 90's and the Progressive unit shut the power down.

The cause wasn't poor wiring in the campground, but a very worn out receptacle in the pedestal. The resistance in the connection between my cord and the receptacle dropped quite a bit of voltage which also caused the receptacle to get quite hot.

In this case, a contact cleaner might have helped a little with the connection, but a dielectric may actually have hurt things a bit. The dielectric greases are great for preventing corrosion, but don't help a lot for improving a bad connection.

[Ray,IN]

Joe-K, those worn-out CG receptacles have caused me to replace several 30A RV cord plugs. Carrying a 50A&gt;30A adapter really helps when encountering a worn-out 30A, because the 50A receptacle is usually less worn.