silicon grease removal

From: Joe <rigdonj_at_intellistar.net>
Date: Thu Feb 10 08:22:56 2000

At 07:44 PM 2/9/00 -0500, Bear Stricklin wrote:
>On Thu, 10 Feb 2000, Gary Hildebrand wrote:
>
>> Glad to find something besides friction that takes that white silicon
grease
>> off things. A friend of mine calls it whale snot. I prefer the clear stuff
>> over the white glop anyday.
>
>Ah.. the white stuff is almost assuredly not silicon grease, but rather
>titanium dioxide. It's commonly used as a thermal paste, and if the dust
>is inhaled it is highly toxic. As long as the paste is still plastic
>though you're fairly safe. It's when it's dried out you really want to be
>careful with it.

  Hmmm. All the thermal goo that I've seen uses zinc oxide, not titanium
dioxide. It also never dries out.

  But I think the stuff that Gary was referring to is Silicon Rubber or
RTV. It comes in clear, white, black and I think silver. Some people use a
gob of it to hold connectors together. Watch out what kind you use, the
normal house hold stuff forms acetic acid (vinegar) as it cures and will
cause corrosion. Get the stuff that doesn't smell like vinegar. There's
also a type that's made for coating circuit boards, it flows more than the
normal stuff and will flow out to cover everything. The DOW brand of this
type is type 3140 RTV coaating and meets MIL-A-446146. Don't use it unless
you NEVER want to get the item apart. You'll NEVER get it out from under
and in between everything.

  Joe

   Joe
Received on Thu Feb 10 2000 - 08:22:56 GMT