Harbor Freight tools thread.

I bought the 90. It was cheap and works, but doesnt make great welds. I just bought it like someone mentioned above to play with to see if i want to invest in a nice welder.

 

Um, who doesn't carry a knife every day?

Does not compute.

 

Please, do not use dielectric grease on the inside of any electrical connection. That is not what it is for.

 

When I read that post I was wondering if I was doing something wrong...

 

Dielectric grease is electrically insulating and does not break down when high voltage is applied. It is often applied to electrical connectors, particularly those containing rubber gaskets, as a means of lubricating and sealing rubber portions of the connector without arcing.

 

Negative, when used to "pot" a crimp connector, or applied to other mechanically compressed connections like chassis grounds, it provides a protection against corrosion. The crimp and/or mechanical compression brings the metals into solid electrical connection and displaces the dielectric grease at those points...

 

well okay then....crimping a connector completely removes the grease. Sure it does. I'm not saying that the connection will fail, only that it is not a good clean connection.

 

For a sure connection always use solder

 

I needed a gag gift for my sister. One drill for me ...then a free coupon gave my sister this fine electric fly swatter.

Its no joke. I put batteries in it and it lit up a bug like a Florida bug light. I gave her a six pack of PBR with it.

 

Did you try sticking your finger in it?

 

OK, I'm sorry I know nothing about this sort of thing--it would of course be much better to have trapped pockets of air and air gap intrusions between the wire strands leading into the crimp...

 

Nope... a small screwdriver. there was a huge arc for 2 AA batteries.

 

I have. It did not feel good.

 

Leading into the crimp is not in the crimp, where good clean copper is connected. I think we don't understand each other. @Jimmyh

 

We may be talking at cross purposes. My feeling is that for many (most?) DIY automotive applications in which connections are often subjected to damp and wet environments the long term positive aspects of the grease's added protection from same, within the crimped connector, outweigh the relatively minor impact the grease might have on the electrical characteristics of the crimped junctures.

In a more controlled environment bare metal to metal crimps would have a margin of superiority, however tucked up behind the bumper of a 4x4 powering the auxiliary lighting I'd still pot the crimps with dielectric grease, most of which in addition to their arc reduction properties also have excellent anti-corrosion properties.

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"Engineering is an endless series of compromises--making what you want from what you have, or what you can get."
-Me- from an adjunct lecture ca. 1985 (one of my finer moments)

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A conductive grease would 110% be better--good luck find such a product as your FLAPS.

 

Reported for quoting yourself from an outside source.

 

Whatever...

 

Has anyone tried out a 23ga nailer from hf? They're pretty pricy so for 25$ thinking i might pick one up. Carpenter for a living but its such a rarely used gauge maybe save 75$

 

I hope you guys don't mind my opinion on this. I do not use dielectric grease on anything other than the rubber seals of connectors as it is intended. It doesn't aid the electrical connection at all and in many cases it will make it worse. I see people recommend using it on the Tacoma's loose connections as in the AC / heater blower connectors which are sloppy to begin with and the grease will only make it worse as it is an insulator.

Cliff makes a good point about the corrosion in exposed areas. However if I felt I needed grease in a crimped butt splice etc I would apply it to the opening where the wire entered the splice After the crimp is completed. I'm not very comfortable doing that either as the grease will creep into the strands and make it easier for the wire to pull out of the crimp. I have seen happen this myself.

What I would advise if you are really concerned about contaminates in a crimp connector is use a self fusing tape as in this: http://www.xtremetape.com/ This is what I use in environmentally exposed areas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoyRoBYGKPk

 

Yup. Cordless. My bad. Great info. Thanks