Figured dielectric grease was a scam for years, until my connector on a King Air started acting up in El Paso | Avionics Technicians - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals
Figured dielectric grease was a scam for years, until my connector on a King Air started acting up in El Paso
I always thought dielectric grease was one of those things old timers pushed just because they always did it, so I never bothered with it on any of my installs. About 6 months ago I was chasing an intermittent on a King Air 200 out of El Paso and it turned into a 3 day headache over a pitot heat connector. Every time I ohm'd it out on the bench it read fine, but once it was mounted and flying it would drop out. Finally pulled the pins and found green funk creeping in past the seal, and a guy at the hangar asked if I'd been greasing them. I said no and he just laughed and handed me a tube. Re-pinned it, packed it with grease, and it has not come back once. Now I do every cannon plug I touch on the ramp, even the ones that look sealed up tight. Anyone got a brand they swear by, or is the cheap stuff at the parts house the same thing?
That green funk is the whole story right there. Grease is cheap, a three day headache in El Paso is not, so just use whatever tube is on the shelf and move on. Brand does not matter nearly as much as actually putting it on.
I used to laugh at the old guys slathering that stuff on every plug too, figured it was just habit. El Paso humidity does not mess around though, and seeing that green junk on my own pins was enough to change my mind.