Have you ever used GP grease to protect your 12 volt battery?

[seadoosnipe]

And, Gibbo1974, a second on that clean the bat cables. :agree:And, I recommend that you add a little pat of grease to the ends of the bat cables, and all in the little bolts that hold them on. This will make the connections a bit better. And, remember, so long as the bat cables are hooked up, the computer will cycle, looking for the DESS key, and will drain the batt in a while. If you are not using it, unhook the bat, and place it on a batt tender.

Like Rookie said, your bat may have gone bad. Long slow drains on the bat, that knock them flat tend to hurt them.

Nate

This post is part of a thread Nate responded to where the thread author has found his fix. But, Nate and I have had discussion via PM about the use of grease to protect your battery post from corrosion. I've only used that red battery protectant on my batteries along with a little baking soda and water to clean them.

I'm going to copy and past one of our PM's to see what others think. Because standard grease is not a good conductor of electricity, I thought it may be a bad idea. Nate says he's used it for a long time. So, post here and tell us what you think!

The below is a copy of Nate's PM to me...........:cheers:

I want to break down my reply just a little bit, because there are several components:
1.) I use Die-electric grease, on HOUSEHOLD connections, like breaker boxes, and especially where the 0000 wire pwr source comes into the house. These are what I consider EXTREMELY important, (and could cause fire etc.)
2.) I have never used die-electric grease on batteries (yet).

The reason for this, is that the household wiring stuff is way over in the household electrical shed, and the auto parts stuff always contains some u-joint, wheel bearing, or chassis grease.

So, really, I don't have a GOOD reason not to use Die-electric on the battery posts.

HOWEVER.... I have been doing it for 27 yrs now, and have found that:
A well cleaned battery post, that has ANY kind of grease, will maintain connection for about 5 yrs, (on a car or truck) with ZERO maintenance. Whereas, without grease, it will last about 3 yrs, and the last year of this, the connection is in the process of failure, ie, dropped voltage, and rotting bolts. These numbers are estimated average numbers.

After using the auto grease, the connections will clean EASY, and the bolts will not be corroded away at all. Thus, I don't have to go get more. (spell trip to town...) And, after a simple brush down, and spray with any kind of aerosol, like wd-40, silicone spray, or brake parts cleaner, and then scraping down to bare metal, and re-assembly with fresh grease, it certainly is BETTER than a dry connection. If you have any warnings to the contrary, please let me know.

So, I said all that to say, die-electric may be better, but NLGI-2 grease, of ANY kind is better than a dry connection, and most of the time, that is handy, whereas the proper stuff is somewhere else.

On the properties of grease, somehow I think the die-electric grease can take more heat, but I am not sure of that.

My philosophy is SOME grease is better than NONE. (I completely cover all the metal, with grease, inside and out)
I really don't like to "jiggle the battery lead wire" at every stop in town, and that is how I got involved it greasing them!

So, let us know what you use and what you think. If you've ever used a standard all purpose grease, I want to hear from you!........:cheers:

 

[Nate Surveyor]

Thanks Mr Snipe. I just got in the door, as wet as an old mean rooster, who is late for supper. Got soaked and so did all the equipment at work today. Stopped by the forum, and wa-la! You done posted it!

I would appreciate ANY feedback, (either positive or negative, ((no pun intended!)) on the content of this discourse of PM's.

I think it will finally come down to: "What kind of grease is BEST?" because I have already persuaded myself that SOME grease is better than none!

Thanks Mr. Snipe for bringing this up.

Nate

 

[Gunsrunner]

I think the difference is that normal grease(lithium,zinc,graphite,copper based) will conduct electricity so if you dont keep the battery top clean then you could get a contact between posts that will slowly drain the battery.
Dielectric grease does not conduct so there is no chance of a connection.
But, i agree that any grease is better than no grease, in the fact that it stops air/water from getting to the terminals and causing corrosion.

 

[rookie101]

I have used grease off and on for a number of years on battery connections, and inside trailer plugs. Seems to work great for keeping corrosion to a minimum. And I agree with Gunsrunner that the main difference is that dialectic grease is specifically formulated not to conduct electricity. Although most common grease for the most part is not going to conduct, it just isn't certified not too.