Why put silicone dielectric in Spark Plug Boots?
Joe Zajac
Should silicone dielectric gel (in a small squeeze tube) be used in
spark plug boots? If so a dielectric is an insulator so wouldn't that
degrade the contact between the plug wire and the plug?
Thanks
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Joe Zajac ^
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Warren
Joe Zajac <z...@mars.harvard.edu> wrote in article
<33b93...@cfanews.harvard.edu>...
> Should silicone dielectric gel (in a small squeeze tube) be used in
> spark plug boots? If so a dielectric is an insulator so wouldn't
that
> degrade the contact between the plug wire and the plug?
is to help the boots come off easier in the future. If you were to use
regular grease, which probably is an insulator, problems may arise.
--
Warren Kurtz
Ford Ranger Fans On-Line
http://www.sky.net/~wkurtz/ranger.html
Rich Compelling
Nope. A dielectric is an insulator. When you put it on electrical
connectors, it prevents external contaminants from getting in between the
contacts. It does *not* prevent or degrade the electrical connection.
Different materials have different dielectric constants. Silicone grease
has a much higher dielectric constant than air, so does oil or grease. That
means that it would take a greater voltage to jump between two conductors
(like a wet plug and plug wire) with silicone grease between them then air.
The silicone grease also acts as a lubricant that aids in sealing the boot
to the plug or dist. cap. "Regular" grease can separate and "melts" at a
much lower temp than silicone, and should not be used for spark plug
connections.
Warren <wku...@sky.net> wrote in article
<01bc8670$26a5f200$1ba5...@skynet.sky.net>...
Kirk Kohnen
Joe Zajac wrote:
>
> Should silicone dielectric gel (in a small squeeze tube) be used in
> spark plug boots? If so a dielectric is an insulator so wouldn't that
> degrade the contact between the plug wire and the plug?
>
Dielectric gel is an electrical insulator. It helps to make a nice
water-tight seal between the ceramic insulator of the spark plug, and
the rubber part of the boot. This serves to keep out water.
If you get gel on the metal contact of the plug, you're still OK. The
metal sleeve will make contact with the spark plug top just fine.
The gel also serves to act as a rubber anti-sieze compound. If you
don't use the dielectric gel, the rubber boots can stick themselves to
the spark plug insulators rather tightly. This is a hassle to fix.
ENomura
In article <33b93...@cfanews.harvard.edu>, z...@mars.harvard.edu (Joe
Zajac) writes:
>Subject: Why put silicone dielectric in Spark Plug Boots?
>From: z...@mars.harvard.edu (Joe Zajac)
>Date: 1 Jul 97 16:47:24 GMT
>
>Should silicone dielectric gel (in a small squeeze tube) be used in
>spark plug boots? If so a dielectric is an insulator so wouldn't that
>degrade the contact between the plug wire and the plug?
>
>Thanks
>
>--
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-=-=
>Joe Zajac
Although it is a non-conductor, there is still sufficient metal to metal
contact, due to the spring tension in the clips, to provide a good
contact. The purpose of the silicone grease is to minimize the
infiltration of moisture into the boot and reaching the metal connections.
Moisture will cause oxidation of the contacts and deteriorate the
elctrical connection. It also makes it easier to install some types of
boots.
Aloha, Ed
C Riecke
Better yet it makes them easy to get off the next time.
Glen Grant
This is also done to keep the plug boots from baking themselves onto
the insulator . If you have tried to pull boots off plugs that didn't
have this done it can be a bitch to pull the boots off the plugs .
E. William Lawrence III
Joe Zajac wrote:
>
> Should silicone dielectric gel (in a small squeeze tube) be used in
> spark plug boots? If so a dielectric is an insulator so wouldn't that
> degrade the contact between the plug wire and the plug?
>
> Thanks
>
> --
> Joe Zajac ^
> /
> / |\
> / ||\
> / || \
> /____||--\
> "DZIADZIU" Pearson 28' {------|---->
> =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-\_________/=-=-=-=-=-=-
Yes you should use the dielectric, no it will not effect the spark
transfer from wire to plug. It will help direct the spark into the plug
and keep the wire boots from cooking themselves onto the plugs (so you
can replace the plugs someday without having to buy new wires.)
It helps keep water out, spark in, and is healthy for the wires.
Bill
St...@magnecor.com
In article <33BC66...@umr.edu>,
"E. William Lawrence III" <alison...@umr.edu> wrote:
>
> Joe Zajac wrote:
> >
> > Should silicone dielectric gel (in a small squeeze tube) be used in
> > spark plug boots? If so a dielectric is an insulator so wouldn't that
> > degrade the contact between the plug wire and the plug?
>
> transfer from wire to plug. It will help direct the spark into the plug
> and keep the wire boots from cooking themselves onto the plugs (so you
> can replace the plugs someday without having to buy new wires.)
> It helps keep water out, spark in, and is healthy for the wires.
> Bill
That's not entirely true, Silicone dielectric grease actually can affect
spark transfer if you use too much.
If you use too much dielectric grease the excess will be pushed up to the
spark plug terminal when you fit the wire and, since dielectic grease is
an electrical insulator, you can sometimes end up with a poor electrical
connection (plus, if the boot is too slippery it can sometimes pop off
the spark plug in excessive heat or vibration situations).
A little bit of silicone grease (applying a thin layer directly on the
spark plugs' porcelain is best) is a very good idea, but too much can be
bad.
It also pays to repeat the application of the grease every so often
(particularly if you have a high temperature problem), since dielectric
grease is liquidy and tends to run away over time.
Steve Brown
Magnecor Technical Information Site
http://www.magnecor.com
.
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