Newbie Seam Sealing my Moment DW

What kind of mineral spirits?

I got this "odorless" mineral spirits that looked really watery, so I didn't use it.

I've got other "odorless" mineral spirits that was fine.

Normally, I let it dry overnight, or even a couple days just to give it maximum chance of durability.

I'de probably let it dry for several days before doing anything

Jerry

I used Klean Strip brand (in a blue can – says paint thinner, made with mineral spirits). I didn't really look at the viscosity of it, but Ive had it a few years and used it before doing staining and painting projects and it worked fine then. The silicone was also a few years old but never opened. I bought it for a bathroom project I never started. :/ I had to puncture that thin metal protective seal thats under the plastic cap. The silicone seemed fresh and in good condition when I squirted it out.

I guess Ill wait and watch.

Thanks!

I would not talc it in case you decide to add another layer of seam sealer.

I don't remember how long it took mine to dry, but I think 24 hours sounds about right with temps in the 60s during the day and 50s at night in Alaska. I had to do a second coat after water testing it. I also have a factory-sealed Tarptent which will need a second coat before rainy use.

Thanks Phillip

Ill give it another day or so. It actually started to rain a couple hours ago – so we'll see if some humidity helps. :/

I haven't had any trouble with diluted silicone drying unless it didn't come from a fresh tube of caulking. I have noticed at times it was a bit tacky even after all the solvent evaporated, but it definitely couldn't be scraped off with my finger nail. If you find after a few more dry days that it is still soft, I might try wiping the old stuff off with a cloth dipped in mineral spirits. Then start over again with a different brand of caulking or at least a new tube. It's also a good idea to do a small test area beforehand just to make sure the new sealer/thinner works.

"I mixed the silicone and mineral spirits per instructions…"

GE 100% Silicone?

If so, just give it time.

If you try it again, do a little test piece first to make sure it works

If the surface is sticky but otherwise it's okay, you can put some talc on the top. You have to do that with polyurethane sealant for non sil surfaces, like Seam Grip.

Or rather than talc, take some dry clay from your yard, or scrape off some drywall board or…

"I used Klean Strip brand (in a blue can – says paint thinner, made with mineral spirits). I didn't really look at the viscosity of it, but Ive had it a few years and used it before doing staining and painting projects and it worked fine then."

The older, the better out here – the So Cal AQMD laid the smackdown and you just can't get good old fashioned thinner out here anymore.

I believe Henry recommends the GE Silicone II specifically – did you use that or different silicone?

I sealed a TT as recommended and even months later there is still some tack to it. On the bright side, I spent 5 days of hail and rain in it and not a drop came through.

"the So Cal AQMD laid the smackdown and you just can't get good old fashioned thinner out here anymore."

I recently got some odorless paint thinner and it looked water based rather than regular mineral spirits. I didn't even bother trying it. Maybe that's the problem.

Charcoal lighter is also mineral spirits. Maybe, if they sell that and not regular pain thinner, that would work.

Looks like my tent is finally near finished….its just a tad tacky, but not nearly as much as yesterday. Im going to move it in from my garage to the living room and let it sit here for another day. But overall I believe its dry enough that it wont retain dirt with a light shaking.

@David – Next time Ill use a fresh tube of the GE Type II silicone – this may have contributed to it being so slow. Thanks.

@Greg – It was GE Marine Grade Silicone.

@Jerry – thanks again. May I ask why do you have to put the talk? What is the purpose?

@Brian – Thanks – as mentioned above the GE Marine Grade. Maybe that silicone is 'thicker' and drys much longer then the GE type II mentioned? I figured silicone is silicone. I also have a tube of BOSS pool grade O-ring silicone. I almost used that instead but figured the unopened tube of MG was less risky. I guess in this case I should have spent the four dollars…I blame the MYOG board for turning me into such a cheapskate. I almost made my own silicone. :/

"May I ask why do you have to put the talk?"

talc?

if the surface is still sticky after drying for several days, and you put talc, or whatever, on it, it won't be sticky anymore

this is more of a polyurethane thing, but might help in your case, if the seam sealer sticks to the fabric

Once I didn't do this with polyurethane, two surfaces touched each other, they wouldn't release. It peeled it off the fabric on one side.

Thanks Jerry!

It finally dried after 6 days. I didnt need to talc (thanks for spell check!) the tent. Im going to test it out sometime this week and see if I need another 'coat'.

Thanks to everyone for help! Cant wait to use my new Moment!

I watched this thread with a lot of interest…I sealed a Trailstar the other day here in Austin, temps in the upper 60s, medium humidity…I diluted the seam grip just as Henry does in his videos to the consistency of olive oil…and I painted it on with a sponge brush, then I used a cloth to wipe off excess and push into the seams (just like the video).

The stuff seemed to literally disappear. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that I seam sealed anything. I used a whole bunch…and the stuff that was left over in the cup turned into a nice solid blob of silicon……

Is that what it's supposed to do? My tarp tent sealed by Henry has noticeable tacky stripes all over the seams….this is literally invisible. Am I so awesome as to be that perfect on my first try? Or did I mess up so badly that I really didn't seam seal anything??

Yeah, it kind of disappears for me too, but I don't bother wiping it off. Maybe you can see it when you look at it at an angle with relected light.

But, I don't seal my tent seams and it doesn't leak, so maybe it's not important : )

Does your tent weigh more now?

My scale was in Chicago still so i didn't weigh it beforehand.

I guess I just need to do a hose test, eh?

Does Henry use seam grip? I always thought 100% silicone mixed with mineral spirits or is seam grip just that. Buy da whey I no I cant spel and dont kare. Edit I did spell silicone right so now I really feel stupid

well then maybe that was my problem??? When I get home I'll look at the tube I have.

I was confused. I thought you meant silicone, not seam grip.

You use seam grip for polyurethane coated fabric. I didn't know you could dilute it.

You use silicone for silnylon. There's also a McNett product, silnet. You can dilute silicone with mineral spirits (except maybe there's a new version of low odor mineral spirits that doesn't work?)

I am confused too!!! This is McNett's Silnet in a metal tube. Do i just use that straight or do i dilute it??

I used SilNet on my TT moment SW straight out of the tube and it work pretty well. I just brushed it on with the brush that came with it.

Probably used a little too much from what is absolutely needed to seem seal, but it worked.

"(except maybe there's a new version of low odor mineral spirits that doesn't work?)"

Klean Strip sels several low volital organic compond (low VOC) paint thinners and mineral spirets. They don't work well with silicone. I tried the mineral spirets and that didn't desolve silicon. The silicone just broke up into small drops. However that said it didn't make it sticky. Never tried the paint thinnner version.

If you look very carefully you will find some high VOC mineral spirets and thinners but not all california stores carry them. I have however read that white gas works fine. Since I don't have white gas stove I purchased a small can of lighter fluid and found that that does desolve Silicone (probably not as well as a high VOC mineral spirets but way better than Klean Strip).

Seam Grip is known to be sticky stuff. Many people apply talic on the dryed Seam Grip to stop things from sticking to it.

The best silicone to use is permitex car window gasket repair sealer. it is a very runny clear silicone that can be used with and without a thinner.

http://www.permatex.com/products-2/product-categories/adhesives-sealants/sealants/permatex-flowable-silicone-windshield-glass-sealer-detail

TAP plastics has bottles of "silicone thinner." It's sold in the casting and molding section with the two-part rtv silicone. Can't vouch….jus writin…

Silnet is similar to silicone caulk (GE II is good)

I'm not sure if you can or want to dilute it. You could try some straight on a piece of test fabric. If you can easily see it after it's dried, it might need to be diluted. Does Tarp Tent say to use Silnet and if so, to dilute it?

Tarptent has a video clip on how to do it, both within the TT site (under products-videos) and on You Tube in the Tarptent Channel (http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCflCAfeAHN9z3urRsOJY-zQ)
At the start of that clip you see the type of paint thinner and silicone TT use .
That paint thinner is called Mineral Turpentine in Australia and White Spirit in the UK.
It is the type of thinner used with oil paints.
Vegetable Turpentine and the Odorless type does not work.
As for the silicone, it is of the 100% silicone type so it will be translucent and will state 100% silicone on the label somewhere.
If it doesn't, it probably isn't.
Silnet and Permatex are already diluted somewhat however not enough for the way I use it (it has to work with pretty much any temperature and humidity level for me) but most likely good enough for most having a few days to chose when to do it.
BTW, for the Aussies, Selleys Roof and Gutter is 100% silicone.