Originally Posted By: Carbon
Originally Posted By: pottymouth
I would recommend against using dielectric grease on the actual contacts. By definition, dielectric materials do not conduct electricity. Your plug will probably still fire, but the resistance in the connection is likely to be increased. This is not a good thing.
I understand your thinking. In the case of a spark plug, the metal is going to press against metal and make the film so thin that the high voltage will pass no problem.
Now for lower voltage connections, the worry seems justified. However many even fill RF connectors with that stuff, and I have not heard a resulting problem -- yet. The theory is that you are displacing air and water.
The phone company uses gel-filled connectors for reliability. That is a low voltage situation, and they are very tuned in to the best ways to make connections.
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en...ificationChart/
I have no doubt the plug will still fire. It still makes little sense to me to use a non-conductive product when conductive greases are available. You get all the benefits of protection from corrosion and the lowest possible resistance short of soldering the contacts together. Any electronic supply hous will have it, many hardware stores and there are also online sources.
Higher resistance will cause additonal heat. Not a good thing.
I know that many people use dielectric grease on everything and report no problems. OK by me, but I prefer to do things the best way possible.