Dielectric Grease Uses

Here's a quick tip. Just something you'll do. You're hanging around on a rainy day, cleaning the motorcycle. Instead of concentrating on just cleaning the outside. Take a little time, cleaning the inside. Some of the lighting elements, some of the lighting housings. Just take a moment, pop the lens off. Remove the lens from the housing. If there's a seal on it, take the seal, get a little bit of dielectric grease on the seal. Lubricate the seal, so it doesn't dry out. These don't have one. Take a moment. Clean the inside of the lens. Usually a dry clean cloth will do the job. If not wash it with soap and water. Dry it out, if it's extremely dirty. You'll also wanna clean inside the housing. Clean the bulb. Remove the bulb. Get a good look at the bulb. If the bulb has any type of black or it seems to be burning on the glass portion of the bulb. This is known as the envelope of the bulb. If it has any black inside, chances are that the filament in the bulb is weak and it's burning. Replace the bulb. Bulbs are cheap. You've got it apart. Put a new one in there. If you opt to re-use the bulb, make sure you clean it good. You don't leave any oil and that includes any oil from your skin on the glass envelope of the bulb. Hold the bulb with a clean rag. You don't wanna get any oil, any contaminants on the glass envelope, including any oil from your skin. Just take a light wipe of dielectric grease. Put it on the contact surface. Also, put it on the base of the bulb. This offers great resistance to the environment. Then just re-install the bulb back into the housing. Make sure you wipe up any excess dielectric grease. Make sure you give that glass envelope on the bulb a final cleaning. Clean up anything in the housing, and then re-install the lens. This may seem like a real simple tip. It may seem like common sense, but there's nothing worse than going on a nice long ride, and you're only a couple miles into the day and a bulb goes out. You lose turn signal function. You lose low beam on a headlamp. You lose a passing lamp bulb at night. Me, myself, I highly depend on passing lamps. I like that additional light on low beam as opposed to just a single high beam light. Make sure the screws are tight on the lens. The lens on this particular application is the only thing that offers any type of environmental resistance. It doesn't make the housing waterproof, but it does keep the majority of the elements from entering the housing and affecting the bulb.