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Over winter I replaced my ground strap with an aftermarket strap from Roger. The new strap is fine, but it's not the same large number of fine strands. I like the original. I also couldn't bring myself to chuck this much copper in the trash. Perhaps motivated by my CE panel work and seeing the restorative effects of Deoxit I thought I'd try bathing the old cable in CLR to remove the heavy oxidation, then follow up with electrical parts cleaner (quick drying) and then Deoxit. Today my Keurig said it was time to descale, so instead of dumping several coffee cups full of hot CLR solution down the sink, I'd put them to work on the cable in a casserole dish. The results exceeded my expectations:
Silly question: how do you protect it now? I bought a new Porsche ground strap for the Red Witch. It looks vulnerable. The old one cleaned up well in the parts washer. However, I am going to take your idea and soak it in CLR. I still have some left over from cleaning the boiler on one of my miniature steam engines.
Won't all that pretty copper just corrode again? Quickly?
The factory original is just a bare copper cable with no protection to speak of. You can easily get some heavy duty shrink wrap and go to town to protect it.
The PO of my 81 put a insulated piece of 0 gauge wire as the engine ground strap to replace the worn original.
I guess I need an education - the strap on my '87 is a flat cable, insulated, about 3/4-inch wide. It's always seemed a little on the wimpy side - not the genuine article?
Deoxit also makes a formulation for "insulation" AFTER being cleaned by their D5 or D100. Deoxit "Black" I think. It is to provide some protection from the elements following deoxidation process. I put it in all my new ground straps or deoxit'ed straps.
I considered heat shrink, but I think it conceals trouble within...and makes it harder to repeat the descaling process. I think periodic applications of electric parts cleaner (I'm using a CRC product) and Deoxit is good for years of on-the-car maintenance (This includes loosening the bolts and cleaning contacts surfaces). Give it the bath maybe once a decade...or the first time I need to descale a new coffee maker
Originally Posted by skpyle
Silly question: how do you protect it now? I bought a new Porsche ground strap for the Red Witch. It looks vulnerable. The old one cleaned up well in the parts washer. However, I am going to take your idea and soak it in CLR. I still have some left over from cleaning the boiler on one of my miniature steam engines.
Won't all that pretty copper just corrode again? Quickly?
The engine ground strap is left un-insulated because exhaust heat would melt most stuff commonly available at the time the design was hatched. We could spend time time trying to clean the old one and add an insulating layer. But if you want it insulated, why not just buy a modern insulated battery cable? Be sure to get black so only the negative electrons know to take that path to the chassis...
Other thoughts: Dielectric grease is used for hi-voltage systems when a conductive grease would offer a path to ground. It's an insulator. Do Not Use It where you want to promote the flow of electrons. It's expensive and adds no benefit.
Factory replacement ground cable is amazingly inexpensive from our regular parts vendors.
I had read something about this long ago. People thought they were putting it on their plugs to increase conductivity, when it was actually greasy insulation to help prevent arcing???
Originally Posted by dr bob
Other thoughts: Dielectric grease is used for hi-voltage systems when a conductive grease would offer a path to ground. It's an insulator. Do Not Use It where you want to promote the flow of electrons. It's expensive and adds no benefit.
I use dielectric grease in the boots of spark plug wires to prevent them from sticking to the porcelain insulator of the spark plug. Makes it much nicer down the road when it comes time to remove the boots from the plugs.
It takes up space to keep water out of plug boots. If you want to just keep them from sticking, use silicone spray lube. Faster, easier, less mess. Q: When's the last time you found any dielectric grease remaining in the boots when you changed a plug? My experience is that it tends to run out long before.
I've been nursing a 12oz tube of Dow dielectrig grease for over 20 years. It's still almost full. There just aren't uses for it on the car after plug wire boots. I don't change plugs that often anymore since the early 911's left. I look at the 928 plugs when I change a timing belt, put new ones in at that time even if I don't need them. I wipe the insulators at the bottom with... nothing. Newer cars have coil-on-plug systems that don't need or want lubrication.
07-01-2017, 11:25 PM
Descaled my Keurig and ground strap
