Battery terminal grease

[Bowdrie]

Been following along.
As others have said. You want to use grease? Go ahead, most anything will work, you're mostly just trying to keep oxygen away.
Me? I've had to do too much battery work to want anything to do with greases of any formulation for coating battery terminals.
It collects dirt/dust, it ends up on the cables, you try not to touch it when you remove the tops to check the water, it gets on your tools when you have to do any work, it's a royal pain to remove when batts or cables are serviced, and you never really get it all off, and silicone is the worst.
Use something you can spray or paint on that can be easily removed, I've been on boats where owners have even used nail polish, a little acetone and everything is clean and grease free.
The same for Shellac, some alcohol and it's an easy clean-up.

[CarlF]

I’ve used NO-OX-ID for many years. To cover some confusion.

1) No-Ox-ID does not conduct electricity but it prevents the formation of corrosion, oxides, and other insulators on metal surfaces. By preventing corrosion it reduces resistance and improves conduction.

2) No-Ox-ID is applied in very small amounts. Just the tiniest amount is rubbed into the metal. And it can not be easily washed off. There is no excess to get into the water. Nothing is sprayed. It has the consistency of soft wax.

3) No-Ox-ID was originally developed (and still used) for utility linemen on outside power line fittings. In my experience it lasts MUCH longer than spray products like Corrosion-X. But you can only use No-Ox on things where it can be rubbed in. A spray can sometimes reaches places that No-Ox can’t.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by CarlF

I’ve used NO-OX-ID for many years. To cover some confusion.

1) No-Ox-ID does not conduct electricity but it prevents the formation of corrosion, oxides, and other insulators on metal surfaces. By preventing corrosion it reduces resistance and improves conduction.

2) No-Ox-ID is applied in very small amounts. Just the tiniest amount is rubbed into the metal. And it can not be easily washed off. There is no excess to get into the water. Nothing is sprayed. It has the consistency of soft wax.

3) No-Ox-ID was originally developed (and still used) for utility linemen on outside power line fittings. In my experience it lasts MUCH longer than spray products like Corrosion-X. But you can only use No-Ox on things where it can be rubbed in. A spray can sometimes reaches places that No-Ox can’t.

They certainly advertise it as being "conductive". https://www.sanchem.com/electrical-c...lubricant.html. "ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE LUBRICANT" is peppered all over this web page. And yet, they do not actually state that the compound itself is conductive, nor do they state the conductivity or sheet rho of the compound. I suspect you are right.

Silly me - thinking it was conductive - just cuz they claim its "electrically conductive". Think I will squeeze some onto a sheet of paper and try to measure resistance with my ohm meter. I'll bet you are right.

It is good stuff. I ordered a rather large tube a few years ago (the smallest size available), and have gone thru quite a bit of it over the past few years as I have replaced every electrical device in my boat. All of them.

[Rob19321]

Why is Vasoline frowned upon nowadays?
Anyone point to a prior thread or pop a sentense where helps me understand.

Any and every vehicle I own/owned got a little vaso on the post before clamping the cable on. (It just fills the air voids, where moisture and air can get and start the corrosion.)

I suppose I also wipe a battery annually as part of normal maintenance so I don't get the salt air laying on top that someone on this thread noted probably caused a spark between posts.

Originally Posted by Sailing Paul

I am aware that vaseline is no longer recommended for battery terminals, but what to use instead?

Silicone grease seems to be OK and unless there is a good reason not to I would like to use 100% silicone grease as it is non-toxic. Other, supposedly dedicated dielectric greases all seem to come with warnings. Wash off immediately with soap and water, etc.

What are the views on this? Is normal, cheap, non-toxic silicone grease good enough?

What about with other contacts such as bus bars and powerpole connectors? Basic silicone grease on those as well?

[IanTrail]

Contralube 770 is designed for weather-proofing and corrosion protection of electrical power and data connections. It is crazily expensive by weight but fortunately you only need the occasional smear. It is sold in 8g sachets.

UPDATE.....

Apparently Contralube has been discontinued.

[Kettlewell]

Judging from this thread and several others I have read on automotive sites you can smear or spray just about anything on battery terminals and someone loves it!

[PiAn]

No grease at all is by far the best

[MVDarlin]

I recommend dielectric grease. Great stuff. Made for electric connections. I have used it to restore function to many cannon plugs.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by Rob19321

Why is Vasoline frowned upon nowadays?
Anyone point to a prior thread or pop a sentense where helps me understand.

Any and every vehicle I own/owned got a little vaso on the post before clamping the cable on. (It just fills the air voids, where moisture and air can get and start the corrosion.)

I suppose I also wipe a battery annually as part of normal maintenance so I don't get the salt air laying on top that someone on this thread noted probably caused a spark between posts.

It is a petroleum product, and as such can degrade some plastics or wire insulation. It works as well as anything else except for that.

Dielectric grease(silicone grease) is the currently recommended product, though as you can see there are varying opinions on some other products some perceive is better.

FWIW, Dielectric grease is cheap, and easy to find in almost any autoparts store, on the isle with the replacement light bulbs and crimp connectors, for use on lightbulb and crimp connectors. It can be found cheaper in hardware stores.

[nmccubbin]

Don't worry about the "toxic" messages. None of these materials are any more dangerous to handle in small quantities than a dollar bill.
Common sense cleanliness is all that is required

Particularly since the J&J talc issue, and other crazy court decisions that made money for predatory lawyers, companies ave taken to grossly excessive warnings. It is a serious issue, because the genuinely dangerous warnings are liable get lost in the crowd

Likewise on environmental impact. The quantities involved are far below the level of scientific significance

Clean terminals, apply a little grease and you are good to go

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by nmccubbin

Don't worry about the "toxic" messages. None of these materials are any more dangerous to handle in small quantities than a dollar bill.
Common sense cleanliness is all that is required

Particularly since the J&J talc issue, and other crazy court decisions that made money for predatory lawyers, companies ave taken to grossly excessive warnings. It is a serious issue, because the genuinely dangerous warnings are liable get lost in the crowd

Likewise on environmental impact. The quantities involved are far below the level of scientific significance

Clean terminals, apply a little grease and you are good to go

Exactly plus if a compound is truly hazardous, you won't find it for sale at retail store. Industrial and trade outlets can and do sell stuff that requires caution, appropriate training and safety precautions.

[svmatilda]

In the past when setting up battery banks we would thoroughly clean and dry the terminals then bolt them up tight and dry. Once we were happy with the connections we would coat the terminals with a silicone grease such as molykote 111 compound, Dow amongst others, make a grease with the same properties and call it 111 compound.

This stuff is good for electrical connections and water proofing things like battery terminals and lugs. You can even dip stripped wire in it before putting it into a screw up connector like a anchor/nav lights to protect the wire from wicking. Great for any warm enviroment as it wont melt easily and run away as Vaseline does, and any one using lanoline can vouch for the fact heat makes it turn to liquid, and axle or chassis grease while it can handle the heat is dirty to work with and always appears to bleed oil.

111 compound is food grade so not bad to handle. We also used it as o'ring lube when putting together deep diving sonar array cables and a multitude of in water equipment that needed a tough grease that wouldnt wash out under pressure.

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by svmatilda

In the past when setting up battery banks we would thoroughly clean and dry the terminals then bolt them up tight and dry. Once we were happy with the connections we would coat the terminals with a silicone grease such as molykote 111 compound, Dow amongst others, make a grease with the same properties and call it 111 compound.

This stuff is good for electrical connections and water proofing things like battery terminals and lugs. You can even dip stripped wire in it before putting it into a screw up connector like a anchor/nav lights to protect the wire from wicking. Great for any warm enviroment as it wont melt easily and run away as Vaseline does, and any one using lanoline can vouch for the fact heat makes it turn to liquid, and axle or chassis grease while it can handle the heat is dirty to work with and always appears to bleed oil.

111 compound is food grade so not bad to handle. We also used it as o'ring lube when putting together deep diving sonar array cables and a multitude of in water equipment that needed a tough grease that wouldnt wash out under pressure.

Look it up. Molykote 111 is silicone grease, same as plain dielectric grease or plumbers grease. It's certainly the correct stuff to use, but you don't need to use the name brand.

[svmatilda]

Correct I said that:
"Dow amongst others, make a grease with the same properties and call it 111 compound".

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Rob19321

Why is Vasoline frowned upon nowadays?...

Low melting temperature?
Petroleum jelly [‘Vaseline’] is a mixture of hydrocarbons, with a melting point that depends on the exact proportions.
The melting point is typically between 36°C and 60°C (97°F - 140°F).