POLYDIMETHYLSILOXANE OIL removal
Silicone keeps cropping up. This is a great thread to bone up on the subject - look at at craig's post here (c.amos)
One the great miscarriages of justice is that silicone is still allowed to be used on fiberglass boats. (Talking 'bout corporation ethics) But silicone removal is a problem in all spheres. It looks like the makers of the material are also coming up with the removers - which seems logical enough. I've just come off reading some DIY forums and there are folks out there who are criminally stupid. So watch it if you are trying to find information on how to clean the cabinsides where you are rebedding OR where your new windows are going.
Remove excresil by cutting it off (nope, this is not easy either) and then use a sharp pull-type scraper. Don't abrade the surface yet with sand paper. The grit will create tiny valleys where you have driven the silicon oil. Don't use any solvent like acetone. Solvents drive the oil residue into the frp laminate. Don't use a torch or heat gun on it - for the same reason. This is the last thing you want to happen.
There are silicone digesters and waterborne strippers appearing on the market. Some sound very aggressive. You might find these at an autopainting supply store. These strippers/paint preps are formulated for the trade - they may be too much for a more porus surface like fiberglass. This is our problem. I figure I can mechanically remove the rubber by cussing and scraping. But to remove the oil so that the next generation of goop will stick properly we need one that will not just drive the oil or attack the gel coat and polyester or other plastics used around the boat.
After you've successfully gotten the oil out of the gel coat then sanding prep can proceed.
Here's a silicone remover that is said to be safe on plastics and fiberglass. I have NOT used this stuff YET nor have I read any knowledgable forum-type comments on its use:
DOW CORNING OS-2 SILICONE REMOVER.
You can get a bottle from McMaster Carr for $10.23 - 10oz aerosol. (8460T3)
I have ordered some. I'll wipe the area down where silicone probably was and dab some epoxy gel on some spots where the new window gasket is going and see if it bonds. If the epoxy chips off, I'll still have a BIG problema.
Said to be an aqueous solution - said to be relatively benign is far as skin and VOCs goes. Like I say, there is no literature I can find on its practical use. Said to remove silicone oil and grease. Whether it will deep clean gelcoat fiberglass ....that is something
somebody will hopefully be kind enough to report back here to us.:cool:
Wist Marine sells polyurethanes and they have a 'debonder' for some, might not work on polyethers. They sell no remover for the polysulfides.
They also sell a couple brands of silly con but offer no deoiler for them. Their Wist Advisor doesn't admit to this very real oil problem which is obviously endemic and has been around for many Catalogs. And must be the cause of untold failures and frustration at repairing leaks.
'If we don't have it you don't need it.':(
not a plug for another silicone oil remover maybe
FYI
Micro Care Corp 'VeriClean'
Electronics grade flammable methyl siloxane (VMS) solvent.
Removes rosins, fluxes, organic residue, ionic deposits, light grease, fingerprints. (Anybody assembling their Ham Radio kit?)
"Silicones are found in many lubricants, adhesives, conformal coatings - VeriClean removes them all...particularly effective when the coating was fully cured.
"Cleans up silicone residues from other manufacturing processes....100% votilile, cleans without need for rinsing."
"Safe on all common components, gaskets, elastomers, insulators, cables, connectors...can be used on plastics, metal, paint, glass, fiberglass....skin contact. Low odor." Can you really take a bath in it?
Datasheet avoids mention of breathing it - eyes.
Produced from quartz. (How they do that? Is it ok to ask how methyl siloxane is extracted from quartz? THOSE processes are not on the label or data sheet.)
"Degrades quickly in the atmosphere (less than 3 weeks)." THREE WEEKS!!!:eek:
"Ozone safe, including propellant - very low GWP (Global Warming Potential.)" Dow Corning. $15 aerosol, ground shipping ok.
Found it at HMC Electronics
www.hmcelectronics.com
Wouldn't surprise me at all if the stuff from McMasterCarr and this stuff is exactly the same stuff packaged in a different can, more expensive. Personally, in my opinion, Dow can't make a safe product. Not in their nature.
another silicone and adhesive remover
nope haven't tried it.
DSR-5, seems to be mostly aliphatic hydrocarbons and special wetting agents. They call it an "un-bonder"
You work it in where you want to remove CURED SILICONE AND 5200.
Said to be "safer than most solvents regarding skin contact and material." Non-corrisive. Non HAZ MAT.
Safe on metals, aluminum, glass, wood, cabinets, fiberglass, gelcoat, acrylic, polycarbonates, carpets ,vinyl flooring and fabrics, varnished, urethaned or painted surfaces, formica.
Removes other adhesives, contact cement, tape residue, stickers, road tar, chewing gum, enamel spray paint.
Whether it gets the oil out of the gelcoat, probably not. But maybe once you've gotten all the solid rubber away, find a solvent for silicone oil. Research, research!
Sticky Butyl Tape-- Deadlights
Lots of opinions in this thread. How bout any "results?" I've got to re-bed my dead lights which were last bedded with sillycone. A local RV supply store has sticky butyl rubber tape (1"x3/16"x20ft) on sale. And it is white. So any experience from using this tape on deadlights? I want to avoid using anything out of a tube. The last time I did the job single handed, things slipped and slid around so much before the screws on the frames could be tightened that most of the tube contents were on my body. I think I still have those micro molecules of sillycone oil permanently infused into all 5-7 layers of my skin. Maybe also why I can't seem to hold on to a golf club anymore. But I've noticed that paint clean-up on my hands is very fast. If no experience with tape butyl since these posts, then I guess I'll be a sticky butyl rubber tape guinea pig. :D