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grounding wires

Discussion in 'Early CJ5 and CJ6 Tech' started by army grunt, Jan 17, 2014.

  1. Jan 17, 2014
    army grunt

    army grunt Member

    Georga USA
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    Whats a good way to coat the ground wires from tail lights to frame?I have cleaned to bare steal with wire brush, an plan to bolt with self tapping bolt. That said should I simply coat it with primer an paint over it?
     
    army grunt, Jan 17, 2014
    #1
  2. Jan 17, 2014
    timgr

    timgr We stand on the shoulders of giants. 2022 Sponsor

    Medford Mass USA
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    JMO - cleaning to bare steel is probably overkill. I would drill through the steel after it was painted, and use a star lock washer between the terminal and the body or frame. I don't think there is any harm in painting over the screws, but I also think it won't help the grounding any.

    My first choice would be to use a ring terminal with teeth on the ID, often called a shake-proof terminal. Waytek has them, shown at the bottom fo this page.
    http://www.waytekwire.com/products/1433/Ring-Terminals/ You could dip the terminal after crimping in plasticoat or nail polish or glyptal or similar if you were concerned about the end of the wire corroding.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2014
    timgr, Jan 17, 2014
    #2
  3. Jan 17, 2014
    Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

    Tantallon, Nova...
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    I normally apply some battery grease in the barrel of the lug before crimping & spread some more around the area it's being attached to. The idea is to keep moisture out of where the lug/wire/body/frame metal are making contact I don't think paint or any other coating will guarantee that & could make matters worse by holding in any water that does penetrate..

    I'd also suggest a pice of heat shrink ocver the lug barrell & an inch or so of the wire for stress/vibration relief.

    H.
     
    Howard Eisenhauer, Jan 17, 2014
    #3
  4. Jan 17, 2014
    timgr

    timgr We stand on the shoulders of giants. 2022 Sponsor

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    Not disputing what Howard wrote, but what the heck is battery grease? Other than just grease? I have a tin of Stalube all-purpose grease that I would bet is basically the same stuff.

    There is also dielectric grease, but it is specifically used for its insulating qualities. That would work too, but it's expensive for this purpose. You could also use thermal grease that's used between your computer CPU and its heat sink. It's just a sticky grease with metal oxide powder mixed in, and is likely the best conductor of any grease.

    I agree about the heat shrink tubing. And I wrote plastikote, but I meant plastidip.
     
    timgr, Jan 17, 2014
    #4
  5. Jan 17, 2014
    Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

    Tantallon, Nova...
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    It's not regular grease, & not dielectric grease, probably isn't actually "grease" at all. This is the "industrial strength" version that gets used in the telecom industry-

    http://www.sanchem.com/aSpecialE.html

    but automotive grade stuff is available at any autoparts store. I'm sort of surprised you've never heard of this stuff Tim, on vehicles it's primary use is to prevent corrosion around battery terminals, hence the name "battery grease"

    H.
     
    Howard Eisenhauer, Jan 17, 2014
    #5
  6. Jan 17, 2014
    timgr

    timgr We stand on the shoulders of giants. 2022 Sponsor

    Medford Mass USA
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    Hmm. We have Noalox that they use on aluminum wire here, but I've never heard of such a product used on battery posts. And it's typically called a paste, not grease. To me, grease is a hydrocarbon, at one with wax and oil. Just different molecular weights and linking.

    I use Deoxit ProGold on potentiometers and such. http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/.f

    This is interesting - http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.185/.f
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2014
    timgr, Jan 17, 2014
    #6
  7. Jan 17, 2014
    Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

    Tantallon, Nova...
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    Yes, i've seen the no-al-ox, as you say it was designed for aluminum building wiring. I've also seen penetrox (sp?) which is a copper based product that gets used on copper wiring connectors & is occasionally seen smeared on switch (as in really big AC electrical transfer switchs) contacts. Both are messy & hard to get off your clothes :(.

    I've been using No-Ox on stuff for 30 years & it works just like the web site says it does, great stuff.

    Although I really have nothing to back this up I rather suspect that people use the term "di-electric grease" in automotive forums as a generic term for battery grease & that actual products sold for the purpose of corrosion resistance for battery terminals & protection of other automotive connections are not di-electric (i.e. insulating/non-conductive) at all. Real di-electric grease is quite distinctive in having the appearance of uncured clear silicone sealant- that doesn't match at all what comes out the little tubes of battery grease you get at the local FLAPS..

    H.
     
    Howard Eisenhauer, Jan 17, 2014
    #7
  8. Jan 17, 2014
    timgr

    timgr We stand on the shoulders of giants. 2022 Sponsor

    Medford Mass USA
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    Interesting. I worked parts counter on and off for about 10 years, and I've never heard of battery grease. We sold the felt disks that are supposed to prevent corrosion of the posts and terminals, but nothing that I recall that resembles a smear. Maybe that was too long ago...

    The "dielectric grease" that comes in a little packet with HEI modules and such looks to be just a lightweight grease. It has the consistency of vaseline, but I'd presume that it has a much higher liquification temperature. I have a tube of what Permatex calls dielectric grease at home that I will look at later. As I recall, it has the jelly-like character that you describe.
     
    timgr, Jan 17, 2014
    #8
  9. Aug 7, 2014
    cookieman

    cookieman Member

    Colton,Calif
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    I made my own, I just use a good grade of grease mix in arm&hammer baking soda until it's heavy paste. Then coat the posts with it. been working for years
     
    cookieman, Aug 7, 2014
    #9
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