Battery Vaseline??

Hi, I just had the battery replaced on my Saturn last summer. It suddenly
died two days ago, and the tow truck operator thought it's a bad operator.
But the mechanic is telling me the alternator is fine, and the guy who put
the battery in had put vaseline on the terminals, which caused a bad
connection. He said that "although they say to put vaseline on the battery
terminals, that's the worst thing you can do, because it leads to a bad
connection". Is this true??

 

I do that all the time and have been for years; never had a problem...

 

Many people put grease on it or those chemically treated pads. Vasoline
seems a bit thin to me for the purpose.

 

No. It could have had a bad connection, but it wasn't from the Vaseline.
--
Dana
Port Kent, NY

2002 Saturn LW300
93 Jeep YJ - I4 - 125k mi.
90 Jeep XJ Ltd. - I6 - 145k mi.

 

From the Facilities Engineer Branch of the U.S. Department of the Interior:

4.2.1. Petrolatum.-Petrolatum (trade the formation of oxides. However, when
wet, name Vaseline) is perhaps the first- used joint compound. It aids in
preventing oxidation and aids in excluding moisture from connections. It is
still useful in making copper and plated copper connections.

4.2.2. NO-OX-ID.- This grade "A special" is a petroleum base compound with
higher melting point, higher oxidation resistance, and better weathering
characteristics than petrolatum. It is widely used for copper-to-copper or
bronze-to-bronze bus connections

Basically, the Vaseline will prevent oxidation if the OUTSIDE of the
connector is coated in it. Since it is also a poor electrical conductor,
putting it BETWEEN conductors is counter productive. Since it will wear or
"weather" off, it is only useful for a limited amount of time.