Joseph Meehan wrote:
Teh Suck wrote:

I was having some problems with a flickering light bulb and I read that
using Vaseline on the contacts can remedy this problem. I tried this
and worked great. Is this okay to use long term? Or would some kind
of grease made specifically for electric purposes be better? If so,
can anyone recommend one?

Thanks.


I would suggest that a better solution is to clean the contacts of the
lamp and the socket (center contact and threads). Of course you need to make
sure the power is off.

It is a sad fact that many lamps today are using cheap poor materials
for the lamp bases. Usually aluminum rather than the brass that works well.
They even often color it to look like brass. The result is poor contacts and
overheated sockets.

As for Vaseline, I have heard that it can cause problems (corrosion).
If you are going to use a product like that I suggest the dielectric grease
made for electrical contacts. It is available in many auto part stores in
small inexpensive sizes.



I can't see how Vaseline could cause corrosion.
That's like someone suggesting that motor oil
causes corrosion or that wheel grease causes
bearing corrosion.

At high temperatures it can char and possibly
cause conductivity problems, but in that case the
Vaseline should be the least of ones worries.