Hi Neil,
Petroleum jelly is insoluble in water and is a water repellent and is used in conjunction with other materials to produce rust-proof treatments. Rather than being a liquid, it is categorised as a semi-solid.
People who spend time doing serious yatching (in an environment where
everything is prone to get wet at any moment of the day or night) smear vaseline onto the contacts of batteries as a means of knowing that their portable appliances and emergency motors will start and continue to work.
Here's a quote from Yatching & Boating World (a forum):
More years ago than I care to remember, I too was trained to clean terminals before connection and to use petroleum jelly (afterwards) to protect the joint. If, whatever it was, then had to live in a particularly harsh environment, it was to be wrapped in “denso” tape.
Decades, yes, decades later, I have pulled equipment out of service to find perfectly preserved, functioning joints.
Wire wool had been the tool of choice for cleaning until that green (why green) abrasive material came along.
Ah, happy days……..we all had to sing “all things bright and beautiful” before cleaning up to make a joint or slapping the flux on and soldering.
I had never ever imagined being able to qualify to recount stories like this, just goes with seniority I guess !
Oh, silicone grease (looks like Vaseline) is not (do I need to repeat that?) the same.
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=227473
On the other hand, you suggest Talc.
This is a material that is renowned for it's use in preventing things sticking together. True, it has a low electrical conductivity, but it don't half get into things because it has such fine particles.
Hi Neil,