# Contact surfaces: Dielectric or contact never yields a solid answer



## impulse (Jul 5, 2014)

For actual surface mating the claim is dielectric grease on tight connections yields the same resistance but does the copper metal particles in copper based contact grease offer better connectivity across a larger surface area or is it as equal or worse? 

Online results make it confusing. The only site I found that strictly states dielectric is better is the first google result that comes up when searching differences which appears to be a personal opinion article written by some grandpa where he says "My first experience with silicon grease was in the 60's"...."I still use it today..." but forgive me for not trusting an opinion article but what I'm looking for is the actual science and not just "I measured the resistance" personal anecdotes because there are always factors involved and temperature changes so I wanted to be sure.

I get dielectric grease works on mated surfaces. So does WD-40 and Vaseline. For that matter I'm sure there are people out there that can attest from experience that a rubber glove prevents STD's too but my question isn't about passing along the current or to say what's "acceptable" but rather maximizing the effectiveness of contacted surfaces and how much of that actual surface passes full current between the two types of greases in all weather environmental conditions?


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