On 13 Jan 2014 at 21:06, Michael Ross wrote: > Why would anyone want to put an insulating paste in an electrical > connection when a conductive material could be used instead?
If you're talking about Noalox and its ilk, try sticking the probes of your ohmmeter in a glob of that "conductive material" and see what you get. I think you'll be surprised. Same deal, BTW, with computer processor heat and Artic Silver and its imitators. I know, it seems intuitive - add highly heat-conductive metal to the heatsink grease, and it should conduct heat faster, right? But when you actually test it, as a computer hobbyist website did years ago, you find that plain white silicone grease works just about as well, at a fraction of the price. I wish I'd bookmarked that website; now I can't find it. <tinfoil_hat>Maybe that's because one of their advertisers suggested that such reports aren't good for business.</tinfoil_hat> FInally, note how you're supposed to use Noalox and similar glop. You coat the AL wire with it, WIREBRUSH THE WIRE, and then complete the connection. The idea is that the abrasion removes aluminum oxide, and the Noalox excludes air so new oxide won't form on the wire inside the connection. AL is very often used in electrical service entrance cable, and probably millions of house main electrical panels have been installed that way with no problems that I know of. David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
