If you goop, watch out for vinegar.

[VacuumVoodoo]

A case study involving counterfeit $$$ bills:
http://www.edn.com/article/517356-Acid_test.php

[NickC]

Fascinating!

Thanks for the post.

[Bruciep07]

A great reason to give a speaker enclosure plenty of time to dry before installing speakers if you use any type of sealant.

[David Root]

"Expect the Unexpected". Always sound advice!

[Zippy]

Nothing new there - RTV is about as welcome as acid flux. Once you've worked with it, you quickly recognize the smell of acetic acid as RTV cures.

For that matter, most every adhesive compound will off-gas its solvent. It's just a question of where it condenses and whether it will cause harm.

[NickC]

I've used some light-duty, hot-melt glue on occasion. But only to tame potential vibrations between electrolytics in tight spaces. Any problems associated with that practice?

[Aurora]

There's a lot of silicon sealants that are not acetic based, also from RTV, - generalization helps nobody.........
Just take care and check the spec's first........
- and there's no need to use silicon caulk in a speaker cab,- acrylic is just fine

[Cliff Schecht]

It's just a question of where it condenses and whether it will cause hum.

Edited for truthiness .

[ToneMerc]

There's a lot of silicon sealants that are not acetic based, also from RTV, - generalization helps nobody.........
Just take care and check the spec's first........

True, nothing wrong with using RTV on electronic components as long as it's the applicable electrical grade types. I use a couple of different non-corrosive types in engine building.

[Zippy]

There's a lot of silicon sealants that are not acetic based, also from RTV, - generalization helps nobody.........
Just take care and check the spec's first........

True, nothing wrong with using RTV on electronic components as long as it's the applicable electrical grade types. I use a couple of different non-corrosive types in engine building.

That's pretty general too.

What's corrosive for copper may not be corrosive for aluminum or steel.

Bottom line: If I may generalize, match your adhesives to the application. Be aware of the potential of secondary chemical reactions as solvents volatilize - the vapors have to go somewhere.

[ToneMerc]

That's pretty general too.

What's corrosive for copper may not be corrosive for aluminum or steel.

Well, considering in high cylinder pressures(turbo or nitrous) applications I tend to use an annealed solid copper head gasket and s/s o-rings in the deck, the last thing I need is denotation in a cylinder from a water breech.

TM

[Zippy]

the last thing I need is denotation in a cylinder from a water breech...

Gee, that sounds a lil' too familiar...

The good news is that there is little enough mass of acetic acid to drive a reaction that will sufficiently penetrate your head gaskets to cause damage.

A tsunami - now THAT's a water breech! Ouch.

(FWIW, I'm an ex-Navy nuke - this stuff in the news has my full attention.)

Be well.

[Gaz]

Is RTV much different from run-of-mill silicone? I use a little bit of DAP brand silicone for securing large radial caps - now I'm paranoid!

[Ken Moon]

RTV stands for Room Temperature Vulcanization, so any compound that hardens at room temp through the outgassing of a solvent of some sort could be called RTV.

This includes silicone compounds that are sold at hardware stores and home centers, as sealers, adhesive or caulk.

It's kind of hard to find non-corrosive RTVs at these stores, and it's also getting harder to smell the difference - it seems that the newer compounds are not as smelly as the old stuff (and you usually have to buy it first to use this method).

If you look at a product's MSDS sheet, you'll see some sort of alcohol (usually Methanol) on the label if it's non-corrosive - unfortunately the product labels themselves rarely if ever show this info. If the label says "for electronics", it's probably alcohol-based.

Loctite makes a good clear non-corrosive RTV, and this is what I've been using for 3 or 4 years now - it comes in an 80mL tube (part# 51387/idh#234323) or a 300mL crtridge for a caulk gun (part# 51388/idh# 234325).

I've found the cartridges as low as $11 (and as high as $30) at different online sites. I think the $11 price was from a welding supply place.

A quick google turned up this typically-priced example:

http://www.drillspot.com/products/92798 ... ealant?s=1

Here's the data from Loctite's web site:

http://www.henkelna.com/cps/rde/xchg/he ... 0000000I5S

[Structo]

AS long as the silicone has cured for around 24 hours before you button up the cab you should be fine.
I have never noticed any adverse affects from using it to glue down caps.