This an experimental thread. Perhaps it is too broad or remedial. I'm looking to see if it's possible to create a guide to aid in the task of choosing a proper lubricant for maintaining your VFR. Given the extensive existing discussions on the topic of chain-lubricants, I'm specifically looking for knowledge about lubricants used outside the specific application of drive chains.
Obviously there are hundreds of different lubricants for sale, but I'm guessing that much of the variation is redundant. I'd wager that even a well-supplied shop would be fine with fewer than twenty key lubricants and most of us could manage with half that. But which key lubricants and what are their mission profiles? Specifically, I would love to see 5 questions answered for a given lubricant:
1. What are its aliases?
2. What are its key uses?
3. What are its strengths?
4. What are its weaknesses?
5. Any special cautions?
I had never heard of dialectric grease until I started reading VFRD. Here are how these questions might be answered for dialectric grease:
Dialectric grease
Aliases: sometimes called "silicone grease", but this is possibly confusing because other greases (e.g. thermal paste) may use a silicone grease base
Uses: Often applied to rubber spark plug boots to lubricate motion and repel water.
Strengths: Since it is not petroleum-based, it will not degrade rubber o-rings, boots, seals, etc.
Weaknesses: There is debate as to whether dialectric grease is appropriate for lubricating metal contact surfaces. Arguments against usually begin with the definition of the word "dialectric" which means "insulator". Arguments for usually arise from personal experience as in "I have always used dialectric grease on my battery terminals and it works great."
Cautions: I'm not sure I have something here. Maybe: Don't eat it.
No need to follow this exact structure if that's not your thing, but that's the gist of what I'm trying to assemble.
See also: choosing a proper solvent