Greasing cordless tool battery terminal

O

OilUzer

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Aug 1, 2017
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Do you guys grease your cordless tool battery terminals after a few years?

Just bought a new toy (Cordless circular saw) and the battery terminals or the metallic bars on the saw which glide into the battery had some (I assume dielectric) grease on them.

I have 4 other cordless tools from Makita and don't recall seeing any grease on the tool battery terminals.
Maybe it's due to the environment the saw operates in with the dust and everything ... then again you would think grease attracts sawdust!

Anyway, do you guys grease or not?Made me wonder if I should start doing it. I only grease my trailer & car towing adapter pins with dielectric grease.
 
I don't grease them, (afraid of dirt/dust sticking to it) but I did give then a cleaning/treatment with DeoxIT. They are much easier to push in and out of the tool/charger now.
 
twoheeldrive said:
I don't grease them, (afraid of dirt/dust sticking to it) but I did give then a cleaning/treatment with DeoxIT. They are much easier to push in and out of the tool/charger now.
Click to expand...
That's a great idea! I usually clean and grease all connections but didn't think about using deOxit on the tools. I will try this tomorrow...
 
I work with a group of ten guys and each guy has a Milwaukee cordless drill/impact set. Some of the guys also have quite a few more cordless tools, such as power hacksaws and a few other specialty tools. We use them hard. We've had a few failures of the tools when it comes to bearings and another guy abused his drill so hard that the smoke came out of it....
But we've never had any problems with the contacts.
 
I was wondering the same thing, OP. In automotive work, my stuff doesn’t get dirty, but my tools that I’ve been using for construction type work, with wood dust and cement dust, have gotten dirty, and don’t go in/out as smoothly.

I wasn’t planning to grease the terminals, because I don’t know that I want dielectric grease or even conductive grease on those terminals, given the tiny contact areas. I don’t think the terminals are the cause. If anything, I’d chase any big grit with a toothpick and be done. I was thinking of a tiny bit of superlube grease or their silicone oil on the sliding tracks. Those parts I think contribute more to sliding friction, and can be kept clean.
 
I've used dielectric grease on my boat and utility trailer adapter pins for many years with no issues. I think due to exposure to water it may not be a bad idea.

@JHZR2 As far as cordless battery terminals, I am also hesitant to use grease. Maybe best is to clean but a very tiny amounts of dielectric grease may also not be a bad idea against corrosion. idk, that's why I posted.

However, few facts FYI:

-1-
My Toyota Tundra (purchased new) came with dielectric grease on trailer adapter/plug pins. The connector pin holes were filled with grease.

-2-
My boat trailer adapter had grease also but can't recall if my utility trailer had it or not. I greased it myself.

-3-
My Makita saw also came with grease on the saw battery terminals. I don't recall any grease on my other Makita tools but not sure if I was paying attention or not.
 
I wouldn't use dielectric grease either. Just too messy for something like a battery that goes in multiple tools and frankly multiple chargers. Sure in a pure sterile world it wouldn't hurt but the nature of such tools with chips and dust everywhere, dirt on one would be dirt on all in short order.

That said one of my ancient 9.6V Makita drills (right) - one of the tabs got worn and oxidized, nothing short of opening the drill body could fix it. My guess is some dielectric grease would have at least delayed the issue.

drills1.jpg


Also, when/after I clean my DeWalt and Milwaukee tools and batteries I spray a little pure silicone spray on the terminals. Pretty much invisible and never seems to have dust sticking to those surfaces.
 
One thing to note is that dielectric grease will NOT block the contact even though it is a non conductive material. The pins or contact points will still make contact and conduct current regardless of the grease.
 
OilUzer said:
One thing to note is that dielectric grease will NOT block the contact even though it is a non conductive material. The pins or contact points will still make contact and conduct current regardless of the grease.
Click to expand...

Agreee 100% the battery and tool interface is an interference fit, and woukd move any grease aside.

The problem is that the contacts are pretty well hidden, and grease in there is likely to hold grit, making it harder to clean out.

I like the idea @Pablo presented, with silicone spray. That could flush dirt out, and leave a cousin of dielectric grease, in a much thinner layer. It would also let the plastic glide on itself, which for me has been the bigger issue.
 
JHZR2 said:
Agreee 100% the battery and tool interface is an interference fit, and woukd move any grease aside.

The problem is that the contacts are pretty well hidden, and grease in there is likely to hold grit, making it harder to clean out.

I like the idea @Pablo presented, with silicone spray. That could flush dirt out, and leave a cousin of dielectric grease, in a much thinner layer. It would also let the plastic glide on itself, which for me has been the bigger issue.
Click to expand...

Silicon spray is a good idea, I would rub a little on the surface. Dielectric grease is also silicon based.

I was also concerned that the grease may dry out inside the battery and/or inside the charger or leave a mess so I cleaned some of the grease off my saw even though I've never seen one dried.

My saw didn't come with tons of grease but I could see it on the battery rails.

Like engine oil, maybe this is another case of trying to outsmart the designers or ocd ... lol
 
OilUzer said:
Like engine oil, maybe this is another case of trying to outsmart the designers or ocd ... lol
Click to expand...

ive been doing a lot of construction recently and some of my slide on battery packs have become more difficult to get in/out or on/off. So there’s something to be said at least about getting it all clean now and again.
 
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