[warr40]

hey i just used a tiny bit of aquarium silicone to seal the hole around the airline tubing in my CO2 reactor its been sitting for about 5 hrs now, do i really need to wait 3 days for it to cure or can i fire up my reactor?

 

[fresh.salty]

Was the tubing a real tight fit? That small amount of silicon doesn't worry me from the toxicity side but leaks aren't fun. I sealed that hole with a little PVC cement as I installed the tubing.

 

[warr40]

Yeah the tubing is tight the only thing im worried about is the toxicity

 

[KrazyFish]

3 days is overkill but I would give it at least a full 24 hours to be safe.

 

[iKine]

If the silicone is on the outside of the joint then i wouldn't worry at all about toxicity.

 

[Jim Miller]

The silicone won't hold to plastic. You didn't accomplish anything.

good luck

jim

 

[iKine]

Never heard of silicone not holding to plastic.

 

[jreich]

the rim of an aquarium is usually plastic, and is held on with silicone.

 

[Higher Thinking]

If it is aquarium silicone then "toxicity" is irrelevant as that stuff is not toxic. Just kick your reactor on.

 

[warr40]

got everything glued up and hooked up and realize my reactor is too short

 

[iKine]

Stroke it a little

 

[warr40]

knew that was "coming"

 

[iKine]

:hihi:

 

[blawrence]

there are different 'plastics'

I did notice that the silicone bond (because I just built a reactor as well) to the pvc pipe was pretty easily pulled off (it stuck but just not very well).. I am planning on just being very careful not to mess with the seal too much until I get around to putting something more permanent .. like epoxy or jb weld..


make sure you are not using a silicone with mildew resistance built in

oh.. and mine was long enough

 

[RoyalFizbin]

the rim of an aquarium is usually plastic, and is held on with silicone.

He should have said that silicone doesn`t bond to plastic very well. Have you ever tore the plastic rim off an old aquarium? It's not that hard to do. Tearing a glass pannel off is much harder.

 

[m00se]

Silicone won't bond to vinyl, which is what that hose is. Not much does.

 

[blawrence]

Nice thing about silicone is that it can make a pretty tight mechanical seal.. it may not bond well to pvc or at all to vinyl but goop enough on there and it'll be water tight enough.... like duct tape... or Scotch 2228 moisture sealing electrical tape (some amazing stuff)

 

[m00se]

Speaking of Goop.... if you drill the cap of a gallon jug of Arizona Iced Tea and force a short piece of rigid 3/16" tubing through it, and glue both sides with Goop, it's pretty dang air tight.

$1.29 for 3 feet of that rigid tube at PetsmartCo...

 

[Doc7]

I use 3/16" pilot holes for all of my CO2 tubing (2 holes bubble counter cap, 1 on reactor) and not any silicone at all - no leaks. The tubing itself makes a great seal.


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