Carl Turner Wrote:
<<<SNIP>>> found pipe cleaners that have wire bristles in with the cotton
fluffy part which gives a little better brushing action as I polish out the
inside of the connector. <<<SNIP>>> removes all sorts of black stuff from
inside the connector. <<<SNIP>>>  for the male side of connectors I usually
just use a stainless steel brush or a little piece of Scotch-brite to
polish them out a bit.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Carl-
The ten commandment forbid me from coveting your wife, or coveting your
goods. But they don't condemn me for wanting to have enough leisure time
(like you), that I can clean and polish (with pipe cleaner) the spade
connections on my Van. I'm not sure I would spend my time DOING that, but
just having the time would be great!

Cheers,
G. Matthew Bulley
Principal
Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
Communications for Organizational Development
www.bulley-hewlett.com
(888) 468-4880 toll free

-----Original Message-----
From:   Carl Turner [SMTP:CarlMarin@AOL.COM]
Sent:   Thursday, October 29, 1998 12:54 PM
To:     vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Subject:        Re: Electrical Connections/ Silicone Sprays/ Pipe cleaners

In a message dated 10/29/98 12:49:36 AM Mountain Standard Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:

> Subject: electrical connections
>
>  Is it a good/bad idea to apply dielectric (non-conductive) grease on all
>  your engine wiring harness connections to help prohibit corrosion and
make
>  for increased ease of on/off?
>
>  TIA
>
>  Bill

Probably not a bad idea Bill.  I use the dielectric grease on my ignition
wires, smearing a thin film inside each of the boots before I press them
on.
Provides a little moisture  resistance I figure.  What I use on other wires
and connectors is I give them a shot of silicone spray and wipe down
leaving
them looking OEM fresh and a little easier to pull on and off in the
future.
I use the silicone spray on just about everything plastic or rubber
including
hoses to ward off the ravages of time.  Look for a silicone spray that
doesn't
smell like WD-40 though.  I figure this stuff isn't as good for plastics as
the stuff the evaporates away cleanly with little smell.  I use this same
silicone spray on all the exterior rubber and plastic trim, keeps it
looking
good and doesn't attract as must dirt as products like Armor-All.
  Different
brands of silicone spray have different amounts of silicone in them.  Just
spray a bit on your fingers in the store and see if it feels nice and
slippery.  I think I checked some Pyroil brand recently and it didn't seem
to
have any silicone in it at all after the liquid evaporated!  Beware. I'm
using
Prestone brand now, seems like okay stuff.  CRC had a really good silicone
spray but I can't find it locally anymore.  Gunk-SolderSeal brand is an
example of the WD40 smelling stuff I avoid.

On the electrical connections I found another trick that works well for
cleaning up the female side of cruddy spade connections.  I found pipe
cleaners that have wire bristles in with the cotton fluffy part which gives
a
little better brushing action as I polish out the inside of the connector.
 I
use CRC "Lectro-Motive" electrical component cleaner on the bristle pipe
cleaners and it removes all sorts of black stuff from inside the connector.
 I
think using a garden variety Brake-Kleen type no residue spray solvent
would
work just as well.  BTW, for the male side of connectors I usually just use
a
stainless steel brush or a little piece of Scotch-brite to polish them out
a
bit.

Good luck!

Carl Turner
84 and 85 Westfilthias