josby

I need some sort of lubrication for the horn ring assembly (metal-on-metal). I took it out because of a problem with the horn intermittently working and the grease that was on there was dried out and dirty. So, I wiped it off and then sanded the buildup off of the horn ring and the button that presses against it so they are nice and shiny again.

But, putting them back together, I am not sure what to use. My first thought was "dielectric grease", so I tried that. Nope, that was worse than before I started this project. So I looked up the word dielectric and it means "a nonconducter of electricity". Oops. =)

I looked at NAPA and didn't see anything. The guys there recommended dielectric grease.

So, I went home and tested ever grease I could find by putting a layer of it in between two pieces of metal and running an ohmmeter across them. Nothing I found worked.

Any ideas?

NHVett

There is a grease that is/was used to assure contact for aluminum wiring when it is attached to switches, outlets etc. It used to be a common component when aluminum wiring was used in residential wiring. You can still get it at electrical supply houses, but better yet, just talk to an electriction and maybe you can "cumshaw" a little. As far as I know, aluminum is still used for service entry cable, as well as the conductive grease.

1CanuckVette

I believe it's called dielectric grease, most auto supply stores should have it. Call around and ask. :cheers:

65Z01

Anti-seize is a grease with Al particles and may do the trick.

Sharky Guam

If you cannot find dielectric grease, use Vaseline. Use it sparingly since it runs with heat. we have been using it for years with good results. :seeya

65Z01

:eek: :D

JasonL

Guys, I think most of you didn't read the original post closely....dielectric grease is NOT a conductive grease. It is an insulator! It's what you use when you *don't* want to conduct electricity!!!

As for a solution, I guess I would try antiseize first, since as mentioned above, it has metal in it.

jfb

I have seen ads for a conducting grease which has a high percent powdered silver in it. You will have to be sure that the conductive grease doesn't bridge the conductors you are putting it on. I'll IM you when I can find the stuff.

1CanuckVette

I work as a technician for Kenworth, every time a customer complains of a squeaky wheel, it's the horn contact that is dry and rubbing. Used dielectric grease everytime, the sam stuff they send you to place on your new plug wires so they don't stick on the plug.
Not sure why it hasn't worked for you :confused:

Sharky Guam

dielectric grease is an insulator of sorts. But it does not prevent a current from going thru two metal contacts that are touching. It prevents arcing and corrosion from getting to the current and the connection. It should not insulate the two , unless there is a gap between the two. SO if you clean the terminals and they make proper contact, dielectric grease will work great as a corrosion preventative and lubricant. Of course, i am not an electrical technician or a chemist, so this is just my experience with the stuff. I hope that it helps someone to get the job done. Maybe someone else on the forum who is more knowledgeable can set us all straight. :cheers:

95BLKVette

The stuff you want is called NOALOX....it is an aluminum powder based grease that electricians use on aluminum conductor connections to prevent oxidation of the connection (aluminum oxide causes high resistance in a connection and thus heat, which causes more oxidation...catch 22 situation as the connection eventually will overheat and burn-out).

It can be purchased at any electrical supply. i've been using the same squeeze bottle for 10 years....great stuff. :D




[Modified by 95BLKVette, 9:35 PM 3/29/2002]

Ross96coupe

Radio Shack!

M2001

There's a grease (it's actually a heatsink) that's used between the mating surfaces of a computer processor and a motherboard. They're two types of this material that I know of, one is white in color and the other is silver. The silver material is the better of the two. You can get either at just about any electronic store. I still don't know why you just don't use a common grease though. I would probably use a white lithium grease for your application.

Sharky Guam

If you use a conductive grease that contains aluminum or metal particles, make sure that you use it ever so sparingly and not allow it to run from connection to conection. If you do, watch out. You might fry something.

josby

Interesting...thanks for the replies, guys.

I think I'm going to try the dielectric grease again. It's hard to dispute Canuck's experience with using it for the same thing on trucks and not having any problems. And what Sharky said about it not insulating direct metal-on-metal makes sense. If it had much of an insulating effect on that, I don't think they'd use it on spark plug boots.

Also, I wiped it all off yesterday and reassembled everything with no lubrication and it's not working any better than it was, so I can't blame the dielectric grease anymore.

This stupid horn problem is driving me crazy!


[Modified by josby, 9:55 AM 3/30/2002]

merrick

Dieletric grease should work well in that application. Just to clear it up- Dieletric grease is a silicone lubricant. Silicone is a semi-conductor. Depending on how it is used it can insulate and it can conduct. Thanks to silicone your computer fits on your desk and doesn't fill a whole warehouse.

BBA

what about removing the conductive ring and polishing it? Then the silicone would be fine to prevent corrosion and the metal would have a good conduction surface.

silver & red CE

Notto get nit picky here, but silicone and silicon are two different things. While I'm not sure what the origin of silicone is, silicon is an element on the table of elements. That's the element in computer chips, not silicone.

Eric

JasonL

Actually when you put it on plug boots, you apply it between the rubber boot and the white part (plastic?) of the plug, not between the metal contacts. Just ask the forum member who overloaded the boots with grease and then the engine ran very poorly.

If you grease a contact but there is still a direct metal-metal connection, it will probably still work. If you have no metal-metal contact anymore due to lots of grease, I doubt it will work. I don't know what the ionization voltage of dielectric grease is but I imagine it's pretty high.

If you re-read Sharky Guam's post carefully I think you will come to the same conclusion.

Just my advice for what it's worth

LT4BUD

Electricity is conducted through a joint by the metal to metal contact points and the function of the grease is to protect the joint & prevent corrosion. There are joint compounds available with conductivity or sometimes metal flakes which do help lower contact resistance a little. Bottom line is either should work in this application. You don't need a grease that conducts electricity! Joint compounds should be available at local electric supply. Main thing is to get a grease that doesn't dry out. Wonder what the shop manual says to use on horn rings????