No more car battery terminal corrosion! or "The 3 types of electrical grease and their applications!

From your article

That statement in bold from the article is not true!! My test show that the Branched Carbon Conductive Grease is Much More highly Conductive than NoAlOx !

So maybe I will prefer the MG Carbon Conductive grease!!

Probably why Neverseize works also, metal particles suspended in grease until mechanical action forces them together.

Guess it comes down to run out and buy something or use what you got.

Don2222- Super High conductivity may not be needed on a circuit connection capable of passing hundreds of amps. The circuitry inside an electronic device is a different story.

They mean in use under pressure, the Noalox is non conductive when its NOT under pressure, a electrical connection or in our case a battery terminal gives it its conductivity.

I love these post as it always seems like I learn something, this is an interesting link.
http://www.sw-em.com/anti_corrosive_paste.htm

Yes, that is true. Low or Non conductive grease is used on High Voltage or High Current connections. That is why non conductive grease like the electricians NoOx is used on 100 and 200 amp main circuit breaker wires in home circuit panels. Also why the automotive permatex non conductive di-electric grease is used on spark plug wires.

However in low voltage and low current devices the higher conducting carbon conductive grease is recommended. So I would say the application should dictate what to use.

My original problem that started this whole issue was with the safety switches in the wood pellet stove. They are low current at 110 volts. On my 3rd season with a new stove the spade lug connection failed and the auger was dead as a door nail. So to prevent this in the future I went with the carbon conductive grease.

See all the troubleshooting pics and detail here. I also though it would be good on the battery terminals. Since battery terminals can also be high currect when starting the car, then either should work. I just like the high conductivity factor for the low current draws you get while driving in the daytime.

See pellet stove issue here with pics and detail of troubleshooting
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/80407/

I wasn't criticizing, glad you went through the trouble to suggest it in the first place, reading this thread will give people several choices when they have battery cable issues to deal with.
Thanks.

Hi OldSpark

Interesting article. I like how he said dielectric grease was no good and praised the anti corrosive zinc paste until 07 when he put the meter on it LOL

I guess that is in the low conductive catagory!

So it seems we all lerned something here. Thanks everyone

There are 3 catagories of electric grease.

1. Non conductive
Example: Automotive Permatex Di-Electric grease and Electricians NoOx

2. Low Conductive
Example: NoAlOx and anti corrosive zinc paste. Probably many more

3. Highly Conductive
Example: Branched Carbon Conductive Grease such as MG Carbon Conductive Grease

So maybe the Carbon Conductive Grease can be used in all but High Current and High Voltage connections, but the non conductive grease is not good Between contacts!
Also Hig Conductive Grease is not good where it can bridge power to ground and cause a short. Like in mutiple pin connectors.

Thanks again everyone for your comments!!

Here's the problem, grease gets old and when hot especially can drool away from the connection. What happens when you have a slug trail looking slime of this grease between the connection and a ground source? Wouldn't that provide a path for current flow? A short?

Especially in a plug type connection where multiple wires are being connected in one plug I would be very light on the amount of this conductive grease beign applied. Only the lightest film and even then, it's pretty risky that you'll cause more harm then good. There's a reason dielectic grease is used in this application, you don't want the grease to conduct power away from the connection. The metal tabs inside the connector will touch each other and provide that connection, the grease's job is to prevent oxidation from getting into the metal connection.

Very Good point, I have only been using the conductive grease in single pin connectors so far.

That one of the reasons they gave for useing the Noalox in some cases, I believe it was in the first link I posted.

One more point I want to make after using Ideal NoAlOx and MG Carbon Conductive grease is that the MG Carbon Conductive grease is thicker and not as drippy as the NoAlOx.

Whatever that point is worth! LOL

Yea the Noalox can seperate also and you have to mix it when you use it.

Don2222, I checked in our area, nobody carries it. They say this works too. http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_Battery-Terminal-Protect-7-5-oz-CRC_7071027-P_N3016_A|GRP2005_____

zap

Don, I suggest a better way to do this is to look at voltage drop across the battery connection under starter load. We did this at a repair shop that I worked at back in the 80s. You simply monitor the voltage between the battery post and the installed battery terminal while someone cranks the car. This measures the resistance of the connection under actual operating conditions.

If I recall correctly, the type of grease made little difference. We tried wheel bearing and dielectric grease and vaseline petroleum jelly. All gave similar results.

There is alot of current with a car battery so the type of grease does not matter as much. However when you get down to the application of the grease, the non conductive grease should only be put on top of the connection to keep out the moisture. The Carbon Conductive Grease can actually be put between the connectors. Therefore I like the conductive grease better.

Personally, I've had good luck with simple vaseline, in the contact space, not around it. The contact is designed to have one surface scrape the oxide off the other side, so a small cold weld forms between the two pieces of metal. This happens just as well with grease in there, and the weld is then thoroughly protected from future corrosion attack.

Yes, it is much better than nothing!

A few drops of oil is all I've used for decades, works for me.