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Substitute For Dielectric Grease In 2022 : What Should You Use?

Substitute For Dielectric Grease In 2022 : What Should You Use?

Automotive garages worldwide use dielectric grease as a popular lubricant for automobiles. To ensure additional protection to the battery terminals, spark plug bulbs, and other electronic connections of the car, you would need dielectric grease.

With a proper lubricant, all the parts of the car, along with its components, would benefit from additional protection. This would leverage the lifeline of the vehicles. Dielectric grease happens to be a common oil or coolant in the automotive market.

Now, as an automobile owner, you might be looking for viable alternatives for dielectric grease. Materials like Vaseline, conductive grease, or silicone grease often become popular lubricants. So, we will discuss the viability of using these substitutes of dielectric grease in automobiles.

What is dielectric grease?

Dielectric grease serves as an excellent compound for electrically insulating automobiles. It also has several industrial uses in the motor and electric industries.

The sheer range of qualities that dielectric grease provides makes it a better pick than other lubricants. One of dielectric grease’s best features is that it doesn’t break down under high voltage. This makes it a great lubricant for electrical connector insulation.

These connectors primarily have rubber gaskets. With this grease, you can seal and lubricate the rubber parts of these connectors.

What are the benefits of using dielectric grease?

Applying the recommended amount of dielectric grease and following the right procedure, you can enhance the performance of the vehicle. It remains unmatched when you consider its capabilities to prevent corrosion. Here’s why automobile owners prioritize using dielectric grease in their vehicles.

  • Compared to any other metal, dielectric grease works best in savers and plastics
  • It ensures that the electrical connectors of the car or the parts can withstand high temperatures
  • Using dielectric grease secures the vehicle against various types of dangers like fires
  • The grease delivers top performance even if you apply it to high-voltage areas

Substitute for dielectric grease

When it comes to lubricating automobile parts, dielectric grease happens to be one of the best choices. Using dielectric grease, you would be able to achieve the best insulation for electrical connections. However, you might consider using some of its substitutes, although most of them wouldn’t match the qualities that dielectric grease offers.

1. Silicone-based grease

Silicone-based grease turns out to be the closest alternative to dielectric grease. When you lubricate different parts of your car or truck, this grease is handy. In fact, it serves as one of the best insulators.

Silicone grease offers high thermal conductivity. The instability is relatively low, and its fluidity is quite impressive. So, if you are willing to go for a substitute for dielectric grease capable of performing at a wide and high temperature, you can vouch for silicone-based grease.

However, you cannot use any type of such grease for a specific task. Therefore, you need to make the right purchase when you get it. Particularly, it offers significant water resistance.

Silicone-based grease couples up as an excellent sealant. So, it would be wise to choose silicone-based grease as the first substitute to dielectric grease.

2. Conductive grease

Conductive grease serves as another great alternative to dielectric grease. When you look out for a capable insulator for the connectors in your car, you can use conductive grease.

It secures different parts of the car from water damage and dust. With conductive grease, you can significantly prolong the lifeline of your vehicle.

Conductive grease comes with a thin metal base that can spread evenly. It gets into all the voids and fills them, enhancing the vehicle’s overall performance. Using this grease in the right way, you can obtain the best results.

When you apply pressure to conductive grease, it spreads evenly. It has got some fine metal powder. This powder fills the hollow areas or pores. Automobile owners often use specialized grease of this type with copper or aluminum blocks on various surfaces.

However, they fail to achieve such an improvement from this measure. The grease does away with a high proportion of the suspended powder. The remaining powder is not capable of withstanding the drop in voltage. So, you need to use the grease directly to achieve the best results.

3. White lithium grease

While looking for viable substitutes for dielectric grease, you cannot possibly overlook white lithium grease. Across the world, various garage technicians have stated that this type of grease works as a perfect alternative to dielectric grease.

When it comes to metal applications, white lithium grease proves to be the most effective option. This explains why car mechanics use it in heavy-duty areas. It functions just like gel, creating strong insulation between any surface.

Moreover, this type of grease turns out to be ideal when it comes to withstanding extreme temperatures. It is practically invincible when considering perils like dust, rust, and water. The grease primarily contains lithium soaps that come from fatty acids.

4. Synthetic grease

This effective lubricant for automobile parts comes devoid of any petroleum content. It secures the plastic from dissolving issues. Synthetic grease is versatile indeed, and contains PTFE Polytetrafluoroethylene micro powder along with a liquid base.

It adds a decent mechanical stability to the vehicle. Apart from this, it proves to be environmentally friendly. Therefore, it makes sense to use this grease as an alternative to its dielectric counterpart. It offers great security against friction, wear and tear, rust, and corrosion.

Synesthetic grease works perfectly across all extremities of temperatures, ranging from -45 degrees to 450 degrees. Besides, it is non-toxic and can be used in any other material like plastic or rubber.

The company has attributed some of these brands with an H1 rating. Synesthetic grease does not stick to the surfaces. Neither do they roll nor melt, or evaporate under extreme heat.

They wouldn’t even separate from any of the surfaces. Considering these impressive properties, it would be wise to go for synthetic grease as an alternative to dielectric grease.

5. Vaseline

While Vaseline doesn’t really come under the category of a grease, it still serves as a substitute for dielectric grease. You can temporarily use Vaseline as a dielectric grease alternative if you run out of other options.

As an isolator and lubricant, Vaseline performs pretty well. It secures the electronic components and connectors from water, rust, dust, and dirt.

However, using Vaseline as an alternative to dielectric grease has a downside. It is not a good conductor of heat. You can use Vaseline on surfaces like wood, conditioned leather, plastics, and some other industrial materials like keyboard switches and stabilizers.

Can Vaseline be used instead of dielectric grease?

Vaseline comes at a relatively lower price as compared to dielectric grease. When you directly compare these two lubricants, dielectric grease holds the upper hand.

Although you can temporarily use Vaseline instead of dielectric grease, it has a low melting point. So, it won’t be able to bear extreme temperatures.

Eventually, it would dry out and run when you expose it to heat. On the other hand, dielectric grease doesn’t work as an electric conductor. If you soak anything in Vaseline, which is petroleum jelly, it would burn in heat.

The prevention strength of dielectric grease is also superior to that of Vaseline. So, the latter would not last as long as dielectric grease. Considering Vaseline’s drawbacks, it would be wise not to use it in place of dielectric grease.

Dielectric Grease vs Conductive Grease

Both these categories of grease work as good isolators. The prime difference between conductive grease and dielectric grease is that, the former contains fine metal powders. Dielectric grease would be a better option in situations where you don’t need any conduction. Moreover, it works better in decaying places.

Dielectric Grease vs Vaseline

You can use dielectric grease primarily for sealing electrical circuits and components. This would help you prevent rust, water, and dust. On the other hand, Vaseline works as a viable lubricant to stop the ingredients from eroding.

Dielectric Grease Vs Silicone Grease

When considering waterproofing options, silicone-based grease is an excellent alternative to dielectric grease.

So, it would be your first pick when considering different electrical connectors for insulation. On the other hand, dielectric grease proves to be highly effective against moisture and salt dripping.

Conclusion

Now that you know the viable alternatives for dielectric grease, you can make the call per your requirements.

We have carefully discussed the closest substitutes for dielectric grease. Each of these lubricants has its perks and drawbacks. Hopefully, you have found the right alternative that would suit your particular needs.