Dielectric grease for 30 amp plug and receptacle?

ksg5000 wrote:
Dielectric grease doesn't conduct electricity and probably shouldn't be used on electrical plugs. I suggest using a conductive grease such as Noalox which is inexpensive and can be picked up at any Big Box store. Hope this helps.

Conductive grease sounds like a really bad idea to me for electrical plugs. If any grease bridged between the plug's pins, you'd have current leaking through it and heating things up.

The act of inserting the plug into the socket serves to move dielectric grease from the actual points of contact in practice, so the electrical conductivity of the connection isn't noticeably impaired in practice. Its purpose is mainly to prevent corrosion on the rest of the contacts--which is sometimes valuable, but won't do anything useful to correct sockets that are loose or pitted or already corroded, which is likely the problem here.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
To The BS crowd

Am i the only one who stopped about right here? So negative man i used to value what you said and i quickly learned to skip it.

Please don't use any grease or anything else that will leave a mess for the next camper. I won't be happy if my shore power cord gets all gunked up because the guy before me used grease.

wopachop wrote:

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
To The BS crowd

Am i the only one who stopped about right here? So negative man i used to value what you said and i quickly learned to skip it.

Agreed. Not sure where the attitude is coming from.

I've repalced 30's a few times too. Also a 50 though that's rare

THe 50's are normally running light (the rig rarley goes over 30 amps per leg it's a 50 amp RV) but the 30's are often running close to spec .

One thing that helps is to treat the plug every time you pull it with DE-OX-IT
De-OX-IT actually reverses corrosion and helps to lift it away. Now one word of caution
De-Ox-it comes in assorted "Flavors' 5, 10 20 50 90 The number indicates the strength of the solution (5%, 10% and so on) and of course the price.

One source for DeOxIt spray

Note that I said it helps. I have yet to find a Cure.

Thanks again for the DeOxit tip. I sure miss having a Radio Shack nearby, they probably carried it. As silly as it sounds, I wish I had a 30 amp female to 30 amp male connector to insert between my trailer plug and the campground receptacle. I always insert a 50-30 adapter when 50 is available. Some of these thirty amp pedestals are in their thirtieth year of abuse.

Limit the loads to 24 amps.

Use deoxit d-100

https://www.amazon.com/CAIG-LABORATORIES-D100L-25C-Contact-Cleaner/dp/B0000YH6F8/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=deoxit+d100&qid=1603153893&sr=8-3

When I read nonsense about silicon grease causing too much resistance in an mircro circuit it turns my attitude rancid. Few people actually try what they preach. There are greases that contain aluminum, boron and other conductive compounds

It is very difficult to mate a good plug with a good receptacle in many campgrounds. It becomes a fight between which damages what first.

Having had living on a tropical coast for 40 years, I have far too much experience dealing with corrosion. I had to suppress it or go broke. It's the school of the hardest knocks. $$$$$$$$$$

So when I read the nonsense in this thread about silicone lubricating grease being inappropriate I decided to extrapolate the idea of grease causing excessive resistance in a connector. Silicone grease would have been a more intellegent choice but I decided to make it grody.

Many autos running around with digital interface problems would have eliminated them from the factory had a preservative been applied before the vehicles aged.

With any quality connector the prongs can be spread increasing pressure of the wipe upon insertion or disconnect. With a diesel truck the TTMA 7 or 9 pin connector can have a split. Insert a knife a spread the individual pins. With Molex or Weather Pak and variants pins can be spread increasing wipe pressure.

Combine wipe pressure with a preservative and a very effective long lasting connector junction can be created.

When UL gave an OK to use an insert wire into hole then tighten screw, they reduced miswire fires by twenty percent.

When I was running my RV park I used to thermal scan operating temeratures of plugs into receptacles. I found temps 60 degrees above ambient on some rigs that were almost brand new. I spent many a half hour at dusk repairing rig plugs for free. Most of the problems were the stranded 8 gauge wire was not making good conduct with the screw sleeve in the plug. I had brought along a dozen make-up plugs from the states just in case. BTW this service was free. The plugs cost label price. My receptacles were yellow nickel plated Marinco.

I am also an OEM for CAIG Products. Not allowed to repackage or resell. The blue compound is priced like liquid platinum. So if I offended anyone with a small tantrum in the earlier post. Sorry. I am not a BS'er and have no tolerance for it.

Thanks for the tip about using a thermal scan tool.

Dielectric grease, or tune-up grease, is a silicone-based grease that repels moisture and protects electrical connections against corrosion. ... The grease does not conduct electricity, so it shouldn't be applied directly to the mating surfaces (pins and sockets) of an electrical connection.

Since many of the 30 Amp power receptacles in RV Parks are loose and worn out I use a 50 to 30 Amp adapter. I plug in to the 50 Amp receptaacle for a secure and tight connection.