Just my two cents guys...I had silicone around some lower windows (a lot of it) and I was puzzled about how to get it off without scraping. Then the light came on! I had bought a 3M pinstripe remover wheel (basically a big, hard rubber eraser that goes on your drill). That sucker ate the silicone off almost completely in just a few seconds. What was left was in the grooves and I will get it out with a plastic scraper. -Don
I know silicone does not do that well sealing aluminum. For example, the Cadillac ...
Long before I learned how to work with Airstreams, a coworker owned a Cadillac runabout. This was a small aluminum boat with a front deck and windshield. See: http://www.harborrec.com/CurrentPics%5C049.html. A quick Google produces production dates in the 1950s. The sealant between the panels had long since worn out and it would sink every night if he left it tied to the dock. More than once he cleaned up the joints and caulked it with silicone. I don't know what he did with that boat but the silicone never did the trick. When sillycone takes a whim to stick it is a devil to remove. However it just as freely decides to not hold (a.k.a. leak) in other places.
I thought I had found something great, using 3M marine Silicone to seal my very leaky Airstream. Finally, last winter, I tracked the last leak, with dye in a rainstorm, to wicking up into one of the front curving panels. I shoved a bunch of silicone in there, and no more leaks. I guess I get a few cans of WD-40 and some plastic scrapers, and a few books on tape. Sigh.
SO, will the use of the silicone somehow have weakened the aluminum?
SO, will the use of the silicone somehow have weakened the aluminum?
Peter
Not at all, but it does leave a slick residue which will prevent virtually anything else from obtaining a positive bond to the surface. Hence the need to clean it so thoroughly after removing all visible silicone.
__________________
Cheers, Dave
"Finish." AIR #4188 1994 34' Limited / 2002 Chevy 3500 CC 4x4 D/A Equal-i-zer Hitch / Jordan Ultima 2020
that answers my question too as I am going to remove the crappy silicone and redo it. Before that I will be using the aircraft stripper anyway, so it may make the silicon removal easier...
__________________
Rallys twice a year..Lots of fun, food, and aluminum.
I've used Lexol on my house, sealing between redwood siding and aluminum window frames.
Okay, I've been using a really intense 3M product to remove all my Silicone caulk, 3M Marine silicone, clear, and I'm amazed how difficult it is to get the stuff off the aluminum. I'm sure it's better in the long run to replace it with Sikaflex or something, but if it sticks so well, I can't help but wonder if it would eventually fail.
Interesting to see how applications change since the first post in this thread. I've used GE Silicone II Aluminum on aluminum boats with good adheasion and performance. Not for airplanes...true... but not going to eat away the skin. I expect my old rig will have to be a test platform as I've been sealing the roof seams with it. We will see. If the walls fall off I'll let ya know
__________________
Catmando
"There’s not much in life we can’t over-analyze”
I bought a tube of that stuff - GE's page here - but haven't tried it yet, I've been using Vulkem so far. Vulkem is such a pain to apply though.
I'll report back if I get around to trying the GE product. I appreciate that "silicone = bad" was an excellent rule of thumb for decades, but those science people at GE are probably pretty smart & I'm open to the idea that something new could work better. Or not work better! I'm all about the empirical testing, but I haven't read about anyone using this specific product and either having good or bad results.
I may try first in some places where there was (junky) silicone sealing before, and see if the GE stuff sticks better than Vulkem. Getting the clear silicone out is not fun.
Quick Links
Linear Mode
