Dielectric Grease for Bulbs
Mark SimpsonDescription
Having light bulbs or even LED light bulbs suddenly stop working on your classic car can be frustrating. Often the culprit is corrosion in the bulb sockets themselves. Turn signal lights, side marker lights, taillights, and even headlights can commonly fail due to corrosion. Stop these problems before they occur with the use of dielectric grease that keeps moisture and corrosion out.
A very common problem for classic car owners to have is bulbs that won't work. In a lot of cases, it's not only just a burnt bulb, it can be corrosion in the socket. These cars have been around for 50, 60, 70 years. And things like corner marker light are notorious where they, despite it having a gasket on the lens and having a lens over the socket, they still get moisture and humidity, and they're exposed to the element. So the sockets on these bulbs tend to actually start to corrode. And really whenever you're doing any, whether it be your classic car or any car, you should always consider putting some dielectric grease on the bulb itself before you put it in the socket. Dielectric grease is not like petroleum grease. It's not like vaseline or anything like that. Dielectric grease is silicone-based. It's silicone grease and silicone will transmit electricity for short distances. And so when the contacts are in place against the bulb in the back of the socket, they will make an actual connection. But the advantage of the dielectric grease is it keeps out moisture, it keeps out corrosion, and ensures that your bulbs are gonna actually function properly. I think it's a must for classic cars, not only for your signal light, but for your headlight, and anywhere where your bulbs are gonna be exposed to the element. But also if you have a car trailer or something like that, car trailers are notorious for the bulbs not working properly because of corrosion, and an easy way to get around that is to use dielectric grease. And it'll ensure that your bulbs function properly.
There are greases that are better suited for this application, grease which is not designed specifically to impede the flow of electricity. I've been using Ox-Gard as a corrosion inhibitor on low voltage connections for many years now with excellent results. It can be found in the electrical supplies at many home & hardware stores.
Not sure this is "best practice". Dielectic grease has it's place but typically NOT over terminals or contacts.. https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/what-is-dielectric-grease/ Numerous other sites and info discourage use directly on contacts..
You cannot have a Dielectric Grease that improves a connection. Dielectric means INSULATOR and it refers to the material used in Capacitors, Transformers and many other electrical or electronic devices where we need to separate conducting layers. In addition any grease even if its claimed to have some conductive properties will have poor conductive properties as some of the material is the "vehicle" that gives it the grease consistency. We need to have maximum conduction not have it limited by some pseudo magic . No one in their right mind would have a Starter Motor or Battery Cable made of some tube filled with a conductive grease. I can see an excellent use for it in coating certain connections after they have been made but normal neutral cure silicone would do that but is hard to remove so maybe this stuff is easier and wont cause any corrosion as it cures but the label says it is a silicone compound so best of luck getting it off. Silicone is a superb insulator as it stands heat, is flexible and the silicone leads on my soldering equipment make it a delight to use
i like the idea of greasing the bulb but i noticed there was no mention of grease on the fingers and smearing the glass with it. when i install bulbs and high powered light bulbs i install them with a piece of toilet paper so i leave no oils and grease on the glass.