The Prince of Darkness strikes again.

[bthompson]

Gotta love Lucas. My headlights have been growing steadily dimmer over the last couple of months, so it's time for the Cleaning O'The Grounds. No trouble there, once every few years isn't too bad.

My question is kinda embarrassing. I've completely forgotten how I managed to clean inside the bullet connectors; it's been so long since I've done it. I remember it was rather clever, quick, and worked well. Zip around the bullets with sandpaper, and zip inside the tubes with -- well, <span style="font-style: italic">something</span>. Darned if I can remember what it was, though.

Any ideas? What do you guys use to shiny-up inside the bullet tubes?

 

[Billm]

I think that someone mentioned using a 22 rifle bore brush.
BillM

 

[startech47]

The rifle brush works great. Use dielectric grease when reassembling.

 

[bthompson]

Oh, that's good...I'd never have thought of a bore brush! Hooray...I'll have 12 volts from stem to stern by week's-end.
Cheers

 

[RickB]

I chuck the bore brush into my favorite battery driven drill motor and get the job done quick.

 

[nomad]

The japanese car industry copied the lucar connectors exactly but used nice little neopreme sleeves over them that kept the elements out. Hense, reliability! One reason I'm a datsun/nissan fan as well.

Kurt

 

[Sarastro]

Just a warning--if you sandpaper the connectors, it will work for a while but will eventually corrode. I'm not sure what they're plated with; might be simply galvanized, but in any case, you've sanded off what little prevents corrosion. Those bullet connectors are pretty bad connectors at best--if you're not too concerned with originality, you might want to find some more modern connectors and replace them. Good ol' Radio Shack should have something.

 

[jlaird]

Or you may wish to put some of that electrical goop on them after cleaning that helps improve connectivity and reduces corroding.

 

[regularman]

Lead kills the prince of darkness. Nothing like some good lead solder with a bit of silver content to fix it forever.