Dielectric grease

[Mr. Grinch]

Working 50+ hours a week delivering gives me a lot of time to think about things. My current train of thought is about where I live. I live on the coast near the ocean. Knowing the effects of salt water on metal and thinking I'll probably want to do some missions over the bay or off the coast, I was thinking that the pieces that will suffer the most are the connectors for various cables. Now when I work on cars I tend to use dielectric grease to protect the connectors. Would this work on the P3P or is the voltage and current too low and the added resistance cause issues?

What are your thoughts or experiences?

 

[Fly Dawg]

You would be better off with conformal coat, but the good stuff is hard to find. It has zero resistance and is completely weather resistant. Mil-spec version.......

 

[Fly Dawg]

To be specific......
MIL-I-46058C

 

[WetDog]

I really don't think you'll need it that much. I live in what my insurance company euphemistically calls a 'precipitating environment' (so they can bail on rust claims). 100+ inches of rain / year. On the Pacific Ocean. I have two boats, several Phantoms and a bunch of camera gear. I don't put dielectric grease on anything but main power plugs on the boats.

I fly the Phantoms over the water all of the time. It is best if you keep them out of the water, of course.

It won't hurt, but you're not going to have significant corrosion. Even if you leave it out in the rain for half the winter (ask me how I know).

What I do religiously is wipe the gear down with a damp cloth when I'm putting it away (excepting the cars and boats).

Not to worry. Be happy. Fly over the water with abandon (watch for winds). One way to look at crashing the things into the ocean is that there isn't much use actually looking for it. They sink fast. So no endless trudges over terrain. Always look on the bright side of life....

 

[Mr. Grinch]

Thanks guys it was just one of those things that came to mind not just because of the area I'm in but I also saw a phantom fire sale for parts due to corrosion supposedly so I was just trying to be proactive. And thanks for dawg I didn't know they made a mil spec with 0 resistance I might look into finding some for various things.

 

[With The Birds]

You would be better off with conformal coat, but the good stuff is hard to find. It has zero resistance and is completely weather resistant. Mil-spec version.......

You def don’t want zero resistance- I suspect you mean very low conductivity.

 

[Mr. Grinch]

You def don’t want zero resistance- I suspect you mean very low conductivity.

I think you're backwards. You'd want 0 resistance so that the electrical signals wouldn't get reduced and you want it to be conductive so the signal passes through the grease.

 

[With The Birds]

I think you're backwards. You'd want 0 resistance so that the electrical signals wouldn't get reduced and you want it to be conductive so the signal passes through the grease.

No... I got it right. The last thing you want is any conductive path between pins.

 

[Mr. Grinch]

No... I got it right. The last thing you want is any conductive path between pins.

The grease shouldn't be between the pins. It should be coating the pins themselves and the inside of the connectors. To have it spread over everything you're not doing things right. It's to prevent corrosion after all. So if it has huh resistance and it coats the surface of the pin and inside the connector signal won't get through. If I remember correctly it also isn't conductive like wire. It won't conduct over any real distance only the very small amount of space between pin and connector when inserted.

 

[With The Birds]

The grease shouldn't be between the pins. It should be coating the pins themselves and the inside of the connectors. To have it spread over everything you're not doing things right. It's to prevent corrosion after all. So if it has huh resistance and it coats the surface of the pin and inside the connector signal won't get through. If I remember correctly it also isn't conductive like wire. It won't conduct over any real distance only the very small amount of space between pin and connector when inserted.

Yes- that is precisely my concern (possible signal paths between pins) and clearly you are aware of the potential problem. More trouble than it is worth probably. I live on the ocean and spend a lot of time flying in salty air. Never had an issue with a connection failing. I do have a lot of rust on the gimble motors though.

 

[Kirby Johnson]

Yes- that is precisely my concern (possible signal paths between pins) and clearly you are aware of the potential problem. More trouble than it is worth probably. I live on the ocean and spend a lot of time flying in salty air. Never had an issue with a connection failing. I do have a lot of rust on the gimble motors though.

Not even going to try to 'splain ohm's law here, but dielectric grease is very benign. IE: I use it (among other things) on the base of 120 volt light bulbs to prevent corrosion so I can later get them out of the socket. Most bulbs today have a very cheap aluminum base which corrodes and galls easily.

 

[Fly Dawg]

You def don’t want zero resistance- I suspect you mean very low conductivity.

That is correct. Exactly what I meant, but worded backwards....

 

[WetDog]

Like Kirby Johnson says, high quality dielectric grease is awfully benign. The stuff I use is food grade. I slather it over my ROV but that *soaks* in salt water for hours at a time.

I don't think coating the power or data connectors in a Phantom with dielectric grease will create any problems, I'm just not sure it would be helpful.

One thing I have done on my P3's is to cover the vent holes with duct tape. I don't need the cooling - typically I need heating - and that hopefully keeps a large amount of mist / rain / spray out of the body of the craft.

I am totally amazed on how waterproof the gimbal is. After sitting in the rain all winter it *actually worked* despite being slightly rusty. It did have a vibration that kept it from taking high quality video, but damnit, it worked.