Liquid Tape

[wess]

A very good insulator that people may want to try is "Liquid Tape" sold at Wallyworld for about $3.50. It is applied by brush like PVC cement in the same size can (4oz). If you are using copper connectors it should stop the green goop from forming. Using all S.S. is best.

[Bob]

hehehe I had 3 cans of the stuff..and all 3 had turned into a rubber mass on the end of the brush!
...guess it don't keep too long ! HAHAHHAHA
yah that should work very well actually ! especially with 2 coats !
...
Bob......

[wess]

Yep, well it does get firmer after awhile, just like pvc cement. I dont think lye has an effect on it. I just thought it would be useful to know. You should double coat or tripple coat whatever to be sure. I used it on my experimental carbon rods & it held up good. Carbon wasnt good tho...lol

[randy]

Hey cool, I might use that stuff on my cells, mine is mounted in my front bumper, all the connections are exposed outside the cell, when it rains I see a slight increase in amp draw, I think it's caused by the entire container getting wet.

[Bob]

thats Odd Randy... its probly the area by the posts that gets wet thats doing it...
paint every connection real good and the pipe between them ...that should do the trick.
...
Bob.......

[candyman55]

That stuff may work in some cases but with a strong enough mixture I'm not sure. When I used a strong KOH mixture it disolved permatex red and black gasket sealer.

[Bob]

Do you mean RTV silicone sealant ?  ACK ! not good at all !
...
Bob.......

[candyman55]

I haven't tried that, I had some but one of the campers in my campground had a leak and I gave it to him. Stuff is $$$$ though.

[randy]

I used red RTV where the bolts go through the ABS, haven't had any problem but I'm using K-aid

[LTCFISHER]

I tried the liquid tape and KOH turns it white and the it becomes useless.
I do not use silicone for sealing the electrodes exiting the cel either.  I use a very reliable system, for example: For 1/4-20 threaded bolt etc. I use 1st a nut, 2nd flat washer, 3rd nylon washer, tygon tubing cut to length ( cell thk. nylon wsh. thk.x2 +1/32"), next nylon wshr.,flat wshr.,lock wsh., then nut. tighting this up compress's the tygon and makes for a perfect seal going through the top of the cell.
Just another way to seal the gas inside.

[candyman55]

I agree that is the way i sealed the electrodes in my plexiglas cell. except I used 1/2" clear tube with 3/8" Bolts. I never had a leak (around the electrodes). I used the permatex around the perimeter it also turned white and failed within a week. Next time i will use weld #40, I'll just have to cut it apart if I need in there.

[Bob]

I used washers and gas line pieces...with nuts and washers too ...they seeped water all the time
I discovered by concaveing the washer next to the gasline piece that it would force the gasline into the bolt threds and seal much better... but even that leaked...
I then put bathtub calking on the threds in the gas line area and that cured the problem
however after about a month it started leaking again ! so I took it appart scraped off all the bathtub calking as it is water saulable... and got rid of that.... I then bought a tube of Red High heat RTV silicone sealant... I put some on both sides og the washers, gasline and on the threds ... and it set for a day in the hot sun drying... it has not leaked sense, not even after the Acid cleanup treetment.
but.... the container has again sprung a leak sense the acid treetment ! ... so I need to pull the unit off and seal it up again.
....
Sense I am running 2 Randy cells in parallel at 30 amps the gas output is better than it has been
but its still not enough  and I'm not going to be happy till I get a good 80 amps going into 4 cells
...the only way to do that is a bigger altenator.
....
Bob....

[geezer]

just a thought... use a larger drill bit and countersink hole slighty slip on neoprim o ring then nylon washer.if you make hole to big use facet washers.

[Bob]

Yah that would help a bunch ! that combined with the convex washers would cure any leak problems I'm sure...
pushing inward from both ends would realy secure the thing !
...
good thinking !
...
Bob.....

[wess]

Teflon tape works well to seal screw holes etc. and isn't bothered by either lye. About the liquid tape, if the solution affects rubber it will affect the liquid tape also.

[H²+O]

bob you still using High heat RTV silicone sealant?

[Bob]

Yep works good ! why ? you find something better ?
...
Bob......

[H²+O]

nope

[Bob]

LOL ok...
I use the Red RTV High temp Silicone sealant on many things (I get it at Walmart ($3.95/autozone$7.95)
I use it to seal up leaky cell containers
can be used as an INSULATOR as well as it doesn't conduct when good and dry
 its a glue that actually holds up under rough treatment like automotive use
it seals around Nylon to ABS thread in fittings better than Teflon tape
(I've threaded my own holes for these nylon fittings only to have them leak quite bad, the cure is the RTV silicone!)
 
 I use it exclusively on putting my "Matt Valve" on my truck, it is the only thing that will stick well to the plastic "Snorkel and Air box"  if CLEANED well and roughed up !
it holds good enough that its just the RTV that is holding it on both ends !
...
...
 Remove the plastic cap and insert a screw into the end when you are done...so you can pull out the dried silicone for your next use... other wise you'll play hell getting any more out of the tube!
some times even that doesn't work... I've had full tubes harden up on me, very agravating!
I have some long 1.5" self-tapping mobile home skin screws, that I stick in the tubes now and it usually works fairly well....messy but it works!
...
 its also the only thing to seal back up a MAF box after you open it! makes it water tight again
...

Bob.......

[Weapon_R]

I need a way to create a perfect seal between the plates and the electrical connectors on the outside of my cell.
Hope I described it properly. There is a post by LTCFISHER describing this but I was not able to fully understand what he described.

[Bob]

My electrical connectors are usually 1/4" stainless steel bolt ends...the threds... and they are a bugger to seal ! I've used inertube,rubber hose, compressed rubber hose (worked fairly good) and washers and RTV silicone....
 by far the nut/washer on the inside... silicone to fill the hole around the bolt,washer and nut, tighten it down good and let it dry for a day or so....
 this almost never leaks  as long as you cover the threads good where it passes through the container
... also it does not hurt to have the hole the bolt goes through to be a tad larger than the bolt so you can Squish the RTV into the gap and fill it up....
... I usually let my container set in the sun for a day maybe 2 to dry as the inside of the bolt and washer area may take a long time to dry being little oxygen available to it.
...
Bob...
for sealing wires going out of a container make the hole a funnel shape so the inside water pressure presses the sealant into the small end of the hole fill liberally with RTV... and don't forget the end of the wire... get the rtv on the end real good, to keep the water from going down the wire coating by capillary action.
,,,
Bob.....

[randy]

I use the red RTV silicone for automotive use, don't think I've ever waited for it to dry lol, put to use immediately, but the systems I use have no pressure to speak of.