# Electrically conductive grease



## asdasd123123 (Apr 21, 2008)

Well, I've got a little problem with conduction.

I'm trying to figure out what kind of greases I can buy, that actually conducts electricity.

It's actually not even bike related (yet, waiting for the winter )

Need it for my computer.. The graphics card has a tendency to corrode it's power cable after a few months, there's an extremely high humidity some days here in the swedish summer, and the card starts crashing, polishing the connectors a little always solves it.

*So I figure some sort of grease that conducts at least a little would be helpful.*

I tried putting a Fluke multimeter to a dot of copper paste, wich conducted absolutely nothing, even with the needles a hairs width apart.

I heard about graphite and silver grease, where the second I can't seem to buy anywhere..

Can anyone help?


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## HuffyPuffy (Jun 9, 2008)

Maybe something like detoxit gold would work. It is supposed to protect against corrosion. It is often used for cleaning and conditioning audio connectors.

Here is the website, they may have something that will work:

http://www.caig.com/


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## asdasd123123 (Apr 21, 2008)

Deoxit gold appears to be mostly a solution to remove oxides, I want to primarily make them not happen =) But most of all that gunk was hideously expensive for given amounts.

I'm more in the mood of finding a cheap DIY solution 

Does anyone have aluminum paste readily available that could check conductivity with their multimeters?


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## Bryank930 (Jun 12, 2006)

Why not just use plain old dielectric grease? Like you're supposed to use on your cars lightbulbs.. Get a packet from an auto parts store for like $1. It's also called "bulb grease", it'll keep the corrosion out of your freshly cleaned contacts.


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## asdasd123123 (Apr 21, 2008)

I want to improve connection by adding a little bit of conducting grease, to increase the area of contact. Dialectric grease can be just about anything, including vaseline, and as the name suggests, it doesn't conduct =)

I'm going to the store tomorrow and I'm bringing my multimeter >_<


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## Turveyd (Sep 30, 2007)

Why not connect it up and if the grease doesn't conduct like you claim then slap loads over the area which will act as a barrier to stop the moisture getting in.

Pack it out with these silicon bead packs that come with things aswell or something to absorb moisture ??


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## airman (Jan 13, 2004)

asdasd123123 said:


> I want to improve connection by adding a little bit of conducting grease, to increase the area of contact. Dialectric grease can be just about anything, including vaseline, and as the name suggests, it doesn't conduct =)
> 
> I'm going to the store tomorrow and I'm bringing my multimeter >_<


The problem you are having is with corrosion and you need an electrical-industry no-oxide type of grease.

Do not under any circumstances use a grease product that conducts electricity :nono: .

Just about any kind of grease will probably work, however if you go to an electrical wholesaler or jobber they should be able to help you out. There are different kinds depending on the materials in contact - copper/copper, copper/aluminum or aluminum/aluminum. If you ask at a the suppliers and they don't know what the difference is - then go somewhere else. The stuff I used to get was jet black - but I don't do that kind of stuff anymore...

For a computer, I would think all of the contacts are gold plated? It's hard to improve on that, but if you use a copper to copper type of grease it should be fine.

Good luck


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## asdasd123123 (Apr 21, 2008)

Actually the contacts on both sides are just nickel plated, hard to imagine with a server grade power supply and a 500$ graphics card but what the hell.. 

Meh, copper paste will have to do, at least nothing smells like burning yet 
Will check back when I get my new graphics card and see what'll happen there.


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## Surestick Malone (Jan 24, 2004)

airman said:


> The problem you are having is with corrosion and you need an electrical-industry no-oxide type of grease.
> 
> Do not under any circumstances use a grease product that conducts electricity :nono: .
> 
> Just about any kind of grease will probably work, however if you go to an electrical wholesaler or jobber they should be able to help you out. There are different kinds depending on the materials in contact - copper/copper, copper/aluminum or aluminum/aluminum. If you ask at a the suppliers and they don't know what the difference is - then go somewhere else. The stuff I used to get was jet black - but I don't do that kind of stuff anymore...


Agreed. If you use a conductive grease you stand the risk of connecting all the pins together electrically through the grease. 
You want a dielectric grease that _doesn't_ conduct but will seal out moisture. As above - easy to get at any auto parts store. 
The electrical connections will still be made (when you slide the connectors together enough of the grease gets wiped off the parts with metal-to-metal contact). If it's good enough to seal out the moisture and dirt that automotive connections are subjected to it should be more than enough to keep a bit of damp air out. Additionally as it's made to work in the heat of a car's engine bay you know it's not going to melt and run everywhere like other greases might when your PC's case warms up a bit.


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