Has Anyone Tried Electrically Conductive Grease

[Anonymous]

Don's post about electrically conductive adhesives reminded me of something I have been meaning to post / ask.

1/32 scale slot car track pieces use a formed male / female arragement similar to track using track pins to conduct electricity around the layout. In a slot car forum I visit the moderator, who I beleieve to be a manufacturers rep, sugested a small amount of conductive grease be placed inside the hollow end of the rails before assembling two track pieces. Claimed it would just about eliminate conductivity problems from cropping up in the future. Especially for layouts that have to be taken down to store.

I was wondering if anyone has tried this on toy track. Sounds like that is the purpose of LGB Paste for garden layouts. Just courious as the slot racers that have tried it seem to swear by it.

Just in case this post confused the issue be sure to check out Don's post asking for info on Conductive Adhesives.

Thanks,
Steve

[jefelectric]

I use the LGB paste indoors on my Realtrax connections.

[thor]

Is it the same stuff you use between a chip or a transistor and its heat sink?

[ChiefEagles]

I use die electric grease on all connections when wiring electrical pannels and etc. Use it for automotive, farm tractor, boats and riding mowers. Never thought of using it for electric trains. Think it will work great.

[lionelsoni]

Thor, heat-sink compound is not usually electrically conductive, although some are.

Frank, "dielectric" means "insulating".

[4kitties]

I would think that even a light film of grease on the center rail would attract all manner of dirt, but if the grease were conductive it probably would counteract any problems caused by that dirt. My experience has been that indoors I don't have conductivity problems in O gauge. However, when I briefly tried setting up a point-to-point run on my screen porch, nothing I had would run reliably. The LGB Paste might have helped with that, but I wonder what it would do to traction tires, and how much it would reduce traction.

This thread reminded me that many years ago when I was in HO scale, I tried a trick that many modelers swear by. I had one of the early Atlas Alco S2 switchers made by Roco, and it sparked and hesitated terribly no matter how much I cleaned my track. I read somewhere that hair clipper oil would fix the problem. I didn't have any clipper oil so I tried a drop of good old Labelle #7 on each wheel. The conductivity problem immediately went away and never returned even after many years. I suppose the oil wouldn't be real good for traction, but my layout's mild grades didn't make that an issue.

Joel