On 2013-04-26, Joe Gwinn wrote:

[ ... ]

The general solution is to fill such spaces with a compound he calls
"slush", which is composed of 6 parts stockholm tar, 3 parts boiled
linseed oil, 1 part Japan drier, and 1 part spar varnish. I assume
that this is a traditional recipe, handed down in one form or another
since the age of sail.

Also widely used is straight lanolin.

I developed a similar trick in the 1970s to slow automobile
battery-post corrosion down: I smeared the post and the inside of the
clamp with silicon dielectric grease,

Good approach -- but that is "silicon*E*" not "silicon".
Silicon is a crystalline substance somewhat like glass except that it is
not transparent to visible light. (Silicon and Germanium are transparent
to certain ranges if infrared light, however, and have been used to make
lenses for IR imagers. (It is also used, in precisely impure forms, to
make transistors, rectifiers, and integrated circuits.)

Silicon is a element -- silicone is a family of chemicals in
which the silicon elements take the place of carbon in organic
chemicals. Thus a grease is possible there, while pure silicon, if
crushed to make filler for some other carrier would be very abrasive.
:-)

Picture silicon breast implants -- hard as a rock. :-)

pushed clamp onto post, and
tightened. This ensured that the space between post and clamp was
filled with silicon grease, preventing wicking of acid into that space.
I should have patented it - now kits to do the same are in every auto
parts store. But it seemed too simple and obvious. I bet a thousand
people had the same experience.

So many things that could have (and should have) been patented. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

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