Silicone Won't Cure - Why?
- Thread starter Kittiee Katt
- Start date
I've never seen the point of them, it's like "you can't go out with wet hair, and you can't wait 20 mins for it to dry? Idiot".
I just let my hair drip dry, easier, less time consuming and better for the environment.
Im not nearly as knowledgable in glass/silicone as i am with acrylics... Only things i can think of are. 1. you applied the silicone thicker this time and ud def. get a longer cure that way. or 2. the tempature could b affecting it. Ive laid beads of silicone 1" wide, 1/2" thick and itell take a good week or 2 to cure all the way through. Hopefully someone else more versed in glass will chime in for ya.
No, the opposite, I accidentally hit send before I wanted to.
The beads for the lid bits aren't as big as they were for the seams, they're maybe half the size, maybe a little more..
One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that he didn't smoosh the bead flat with these bits, he left them as beads (not sure why), could this be why its taking so long? The part of the seams where the silicone is thickest, is probably about as thick as the lid beads so it would be strange if the beads took longer that the squished bits that are just as thick, right?
Sorry if that's confusing, I don't know half of the terms for this stuff so I'm just calling it what is call it.
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appears to be . . . thicker lol? rule of thumb when i reseal a tank is wait a week before filling... i usally wait 2 and ive never had an issue (knock on wood). I know alot of people say 48hrs and u can fill but 2 weeks cure time has always worked for me. If it doesnt cure after 2 weeks id stip it all out and start over. may have gotten an old or bad batch is all i can think.
The silicone says to leave it a week after its cured before putting fish in it, he's used this silicone with all our tanks and we've always just waited the week (maybe an extra few days on top because we're procrastinators) and we've never had problems, but I can't start counting down to setup until that week starts.
Again, sorry if that makes no sense.
Is the silicone still gooey on the outside? Silicone dries from the outside in, in thick beads it can often be a couple of weeks until it is fully cured. When building tanks it is best to wait 2+ weeks before putting water in them.
If the outside of the silicone never skinned over then something went wrong with it and it will need to be redone. After a week it should just be the center of it that is still wet.
If the outside of the silicone never skinned over then something went wrong with it and it will need to be redone. After a week it should just be the center of it that is still wet.
It's dry to the touch but its very squishy still. It's being a pain. And I don't want to try and "force" it to dry if it can't be forced. If that makes sense?
It does! Yeah sounds like the inside is still curing. I'd give it another week and see where you are at.
Hello; The above was going to pretty much be my comment.
I have not had the problem you describe so am guessing. As stated the silicone should have skinned over by now. Also as stated it will harden from the outside in. So if you touch it and the outer surface has skinned over then it likely is a matter of time for the rest to harden.
I have had lines of silicone take a while to become firm all the way thru. After it skins I test it with a gentle push to see if it is still soft on the inside.
One way to look at it is to redo the project will take much more time than that waiting a few more days.
