Electrical Grease

[OshawaDave]

Does anyone apply dielectric grease to the trailer wiring harness and/or the trailer shore power cable terminals? I've heard yes for corrosion preventative & no because it attracts dirt & grime.
Thanks!

Yes, to the trailer (and truck socket) wiring harness, but, no to shore power. I use it on the battery terminals as well.

[Jerry P]

Something people dont think about.
Solid vs stranded, is stranded will make a better connection unless the solid is made exactly for that. Solid wont spread when compressed like stranded wire does, so only connects where it touches instead of compressing like stranded. This is only crimped or mechanical connections, not soldered.
Aluminum has what they call cold flow. As its a softer mettle, it will loosen over time. Copper/brass, is harder and wont per say.

Nothing more fun than standing between 34,500 volts all day.
But i do love being retried....................

Fun fact........... it takes 1.414 volts of AC to equal 1 volt of DC.
Anohter fun fact....... DC uses the hole conductor/wire. AC only uses the outside. Proof is look at substations, the bus bars are pipe, hollow. Its called the skin effect.

Make it hot!

[jkwilson]

Something people dont think about.
Solid vs stranded, is stranded will make a better connection unless the solid is made exactly for that. Solid wont spread when compressed like stranded wire does, so only connects where it touches instead of compressing like stranded. This is only crimped or mechanical connections, not soldered.
Aluminum has what they call cold flow. As its a softer mettle, it will loosen over time. Copper/brass, is harder and wont per say.

Nothing more fun than standing between 34,500 volts all day.
But i do love being retried....................

Fun fact........... it takes 1.414 volts of AC to equal 1 volt of DC.
Anohter fun fact....... DC uses the hole conductor/wire. AC only uses the outside. Proof is look at substations, the bus bars are pipe, hollow. Its called the skin effect.

Skin effect is negligible at 60Hz until the wire diameter exceeds about an inch and a third. At higher frequency the effect is more extreme. Even up to 4/0 solid wire it’s non-existent at 60Hz.

If you want to get extreme, look into how electricity actually works. Power doesn’t flow in the wires at all. Electrons move relatively slowly in a wire, creating a field around the wire which is where the actual power transfer happens. The field travels close to the speed of light.

[lineman1234]

I disagree. And no reason to turn this into a contest.
I have a degree in electric, as its use for distribution. As well as the mentioned hands on over 32 years.
A private discussion is always best when debating anything.
I stand behind what i posted, for said distribution for house hold use, normal use.

[jkwilson]

I disagree. And no reason to turn this into a contest.
I have a degree in electric, as its use for distribution. As well as the mentioned hands on over 32 years.
A private discussion is always best when debating anything.
I stand behind what i posted, for said distribution for house hold use, normal use.

Nothing to debate. Skin depth at 60Hz is about 8.5mm. Wire smaller than 17mm diameter does not demonstrate the skin effect at 60Hz.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Up here we call linemen arc-angels....lol

[lineman1234]

Thats very nice.
It is an interesting profession. Seems the worse the weather, the more one is out in it, keeping or putting the power back on.
I see your from Canada. It was years ago, Canada got a nasty ice storm and flattened alot of distribution lines as well as transmission. I was next in line to go help, but the distribution part was coming along, but the transmission was flat still. So i didnt get to go. We usually do 18 18 hour days and rotate in and out. The company in worked for in New Hampshire.
I am 53 miles from the Canadian boarder where i sit right now. The Winnipeg area. Im in Minnesota.

[ajg617]

Thats very nice.
It is an interesting profession. Seems the worse the weather, the more one is out in it, keeping or putting the power back on.
I see your from Canada. It was years ago, Canada got a nasty ice storm and flattened alot of distribution lines as well as transmission. I was next in line to go help, but the distribution part was coming along, but the transmission was flat still. So i didnt get to go. We usually do 18 18 hour days and rotate in and out. The company in worked for in New Hampshire.
I am 53 miles from the Canadian boarder where i sit right now. The Winnipeg area. Im in Minnesota.

I remember that episode - 1998 and massive transmission towers on the ground. If I recall, NH then imported quite a bit of electricity from Quebec and there was concern about shortages here. Still remember the huge number of bucket trucks coming up from the Carolinas.

On the topic of dielectric grease, I tried it once on my plow harness. Last time I used it except to lube spark plug wire boots. The connections on the plow harness were a mess - took me hours cleaning it up in snow and ice only to find the connections badly corroded as well.

[Desertdawg]

I use it for my hookup to our Bulldog electrical
power box.