Any fix for neutral cure silicone not curing?

Jan 17, 2015 4 Replies

I needed just a little silicone a few weeks ago and used some black Dow Corning 791 neutral cure I had left over from a job a year or so ago and which was still flowing. Problem is that it's not going off. I can't blame the makers as it was well past its use by date.



Is there anything I can do to encourage it to set?



(I'm hoping to avoid having to clean it off and start again as it was to seal new meter tails in a gland in the top of a CU.)


Wait.

I had the same problem last year and it did go off eventually.

Excellent, thanks - a solution matched to my abilities :)

Is it doing its job anyway right now?

Yes/No/Maybe

Yes it's keeping dust/crud from falling into the CU. No 'cos if the tails are bashed I suppose the silicone might move and leave a gap. Maybe it'd meet the IP 4X test: I can't judge as (a) I'm not going to stick a wire into it and (b) it's sticky stuff and I don't know how long BS 60529 requires the enclosure to resist the 1mm probe. Not that I'm suggesting a CU Made out of pitch :)

(It was a CU in typical cupboard under stairs with meter tails like shoestrings entering at the top through a 25mm knockout. I just replaced the tails - easy with a nice new cutout with the new meter - and the 4mm "main bonding" which only went to the long-disconnected lead water pipe.)

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