DaveC wrote:
On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 02:05:25 -0700, Jim Gregory wrote
(in article ):


Clean electrodes with fine emery cloth. Smear throughout with Vaseline. It
will delay corrosion.


Vaseline, being a grease (and insulator), impedes current flow, no? Why are
so many folks recommending a non-conductive grease? (As always, I presume I'm
missing something, and have something to learn...)

The reason for greasing contacts is to keep oxygen away from them,
preventing corrosion. The pressure of the contacts will displace the
grease and allow current to flow. I know it sounds iffy, but it works.
It's especially useful on cars for corrosion-prone things like
headlight connectors, tail light sockets, battery posts, and ground lugs.

There's special grease sold for this called "dielectric grease", but for
your application Vaseline will work fine. The grease is deliberately
*not* made conductive, because that could cause shorts on
multi-conductor connectors. (A "dielectric" is an insulator -- think of
a capacitor dielectric.)