Club 80-90 Forums

Apologies if this has been done to death. Did a quick search on here and also the wider web.
Both my battery earth and the mains supply earth lead need a bit of a clean


I'm fine with the abrasive cleaning part of the equation but in that the bare metal can rust is it best practice to slap on a bit of copperslip/ease between the two surfaces or just keep metal bare and smear some grease over the connection once in place.
Thanks

First choice is petroleum jelly, as per battery terminals. It doesn't dissolve or wash off.
I have used copperslip as a stopgap myself, but the ol' Vaseline can't be beat.

Ich fahre einen Bulli. Ich hilfe mir selbst...meistens!

Nothing between the metal surfaces, paint over the outside if no other earths are going to be connected otherwise apply some petroleum jelly as stated by Silver.

Agree, with electrical contacts metal-to-metal is what you want with something to exclude moisture added afterward as needed. In the pic above, the main thing I'd suggest is to terminate the earth wire with a ring-terminal. Just putting it under the head of the screw like that would preclude keeping moisture out.

This is how I re-did my A-pillar earths for the front wiring harness:

I use vaseline
the way I see it is metal to metal is only genuinely touching in the microscopic highpoints
vaseline will be pushed into the low points and won't add any signifcant resistance but will stop corrosion



Sent from my van on the A83 Northbound.

I use Vaseline for lots of things, very useful stuff.

silverbullet wrote:
Ich fahre einen Bulli. Ich hilfe mir selbst...meistens!

Ian, I haven't figured out how to use cut and paste on my phone to get stuff into bablefish.



Sent from the back garden.

John, its a variant on the cover of an old Trabant repair manual we have (don't ask why!) I added the "meistens"

"I drive a VW bus (Bulli), I help myself. Mostly"

Ich fahre einen Bulli. Ich hilfe mir selbst...meistens!

silverbullet wrote:John, its a variant on the cover of an old Trabant repair manual we have (don't ask why!)

That reminds me of the owners manual of a mates Ural motorcycle (awful bike) ="To start the engine, kick it violently, if after 4 or 5 attempts it does not start, return it to the manufacturer" (it's a Russian made bike!!)
True story by the way.

This is of course a translation from the Russian language.


Sent from my back garden, with lots of nice flowers, coffee and fag in hand, doggy on my lap, a blackbird just four feet from me, bumblebees going mad for the foxgloves and the village church bells ringing

I do like the trend for amusing "sent from my..." signatures

Ich fahre einen Bulli. Ich hilfe mir selbst...meistens!

Let's keep it up then!


أرسلت من بلدي حظيرة لغرفة الطعام

JonathanR wrote: Both my battery earth and the mains supply earth lead need a bit of a clean

I take it the picture isn't of yours? or is that a how not to do?
Domestic semi-rigid course wire...not recommended as not flexible enough.
Tightening directly on to the strands (which are easily cut or weakened)

Syncropaddy's is the reverse..beautifully done.

Martin

Should the mains cable (240v) even have an earth to the body of the van is my question...? An internal fault in a socket could cause the van body to become a live....reach out of live van and touch grounded object and become the conductor..?

I'm no expert...but it just crossed my mind..

i haven't earthed my 240v to the van body.

max and caddy wrote:....reach out of live van and touch grounded object and become the conductor..?

That's why we connect the body to earth.

max and caddy wrote:Should the mains cable (240v) even have an earth to the body of the van is my question...? An internal fault in a socket could cause the van body to become a live....reach out of live van and touch grounded object and become the conductor..?

I'm no expert...but it just crossed my mind..

Yep been there got the shock, it was when the socket got wet outside and it was leaking to the body, as I lent on the sliding door where the paint had chipped offths edge I kept getting what felt like a needle, took me a while to realise.

Yes earth the body.