What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

RTV

SHF

Member
The "riviting the rudder" instructions call for a daub of RTV. Some web searching learns that this is a brand name silicone adhesive, not sold in my part of the world. Looking for a replacement can I use any silicone adhesive or should it particularly be a gasket sealant, or something else for that matter.

Can anybody advise please?

thanks Roger.
 
A silicon adhesive is fine. Just be sure that it is marked "safe for aluminum".
Many silicon adhesives contain acetic acid that contributes to corrosion.
 
Room Temperature Vulcanizing

I use a lot of Dow 736 (red) in the high temperature areas and Dow 732 (black) in other areas on my dark blue airplane. Comes in a tube with a seal in the end that has to be broken and has a separate plastic cone that can be cut to different lengths for controlling the size of the opening. It has very good adhesion and "rubber" qualities when cured (24hrs full cure - skins in minutes). Can be used to: stabilize wire routing through a hole in metal, make flow fillets, etc. When I am making gap seals on parts like strut cuffs that are going to be removed a lot and I don't need the strength of the expensive Dow products I buy some similar "rubber in a tube" from an auto parts store. Great stuff.

Bob Axsom
 
Last edited:
Look for "Sensor Safe"

If you go the an auto parts store and don't find a silicone sealant labeled "safe for aluminum", look for one labeled as "Sensor Safe". These are the one that don't have acetic acid in them.
 
The one I used was Permatex Ultra Blue, 81724 (77B). It's marked "sensor-safe RTV gasket maker."

The first auto-parts place I stopped at had it.

Dave
 
RTV Substitute - UPDATE

Here in Argentina I've found a great substitute from SIKA. Is almost the same (or the same) as the Sikaflex 521 UV. It's called Sikabond AT-Metal, and made in Switzerland. It's a grey hybrid polyurethane silicone, non aggressive to aluminum.
I had some RTV left from a previous plane that I decided not to use because it has been opened last year.
Here are the pictures. Hope it helps.

wFjsbXkATaIJUC2DMWiPf-0qgHciTjvWqwhnHZ2MMyn42mu5jfdpWPSvwkJ9vujJVlZVwdiRrGTirCH_jbPlelh_BwDAnGM8bMMtq_hAT-GkrMTzQM_qc90bdVFAHTJyhgHI48FhIRMpbLBlFwQ-QxulWCaiT2oNq_mluzb_pN-w7YBJD1QLHCcR5K0cuUUhDfa0umHVqt3HLA8G9mSGXaPgQoDDK_mTNiu3vlx0a7rdXsgc-2Y0rKIf2iwJYH0NtsHGn97yuidNsgw4X_VCNbqeyIRxgy3c9eDT2UfCTpktTBGZ2zfN2o8hyWlYE3GSW_plXL0M_2SlEihe0N3cUQxqtcaFuuYcDwBwPFRbe3-k5tE6FRIaRO4l6s1ORippJW9B3o-Koz0N2Sxd-mYPQLj2Wd80I-0m8kAK2Scuan7tz6cwNoZPnzx3NpZqfX08a_RKE2fPuKRlw4dWEPUIxnHn3Hu6V6CjgApadlG9Yl_9eUwgB2rVgC1NstrCa590I6xtITt63DuNTRhA4t5w5yZ1TYLD5xSANiEGnCigihd4-0dSnrq30wpx3_G3Ssm3js4K_MplYo0wqgQ98ZA9DG7OctH5lsVXA0gGMFbTXBap3wVX9Xd_KoHWOd80DuZ1kVS0OpX8qKSl9QwUoY2BJlSjlzB8Qs09wtddjeuBkQ=w518-h920-no


XgQL7C9S-QZx4a5sJU-vlENryoe7JZHeRHmkhhRA7L6qvVjpp96ybv5fqunBrOK65O4f7uP1CK6GcDdScQnUin3G3nfCKiUJACb3nZUQRVvARzv0GYaVsC5jQpAN-z-Laryt_FoVo4zpY_E-Lb-CArcAe7Gm4D9qneYQ4Fp-0Q9nFb81585wLD3e5P2Wlw4ZfGhH55o1yVg_tqUtjOs79TxB1dXE86Pum4dF_obuBaIJTFaX7E0nmHnzxghStcw0oPEmj2J4y9Kp_sNLvZh8VGsVU4IPsMbyzVVUW8JV4TN3fkOxbvdCZUxEBXQWMwkHY2qhns-0rYExaS9Qr9TF5WwVFaKtOkfsmMPyX2nUy8qO_OdEgV81fGwIYmuVUee68ewzF1czvBtR93C6UGiikVlleBsfKSqMwBQOumCowfvgiq2t1eJYaULTKKUw8EWPraLsGWVE5rj25WARLmHaw5vXmHcPILVRfM5036N13PzmLa5rrdTvx9_AsBOoO3Y_6YvHCDJDNE8eova7RDX-VcmBYL4s7LE4c_M6HrewrBB_fdTzGRsi0XtJCWsZVP33hFBK7sHcYfDP0Qdq-qDA_xGx-VPoKCTYXFl95D3LLsIJFIu43zr8Gkod6VPmUA-Km9JVNQ8Az5DKVTybUZM5UxNDJQAt9BwhzX_VsK7yPA=w518-h920-no


injN2DC8QBkC6Iuedt2kKG_L-NnSCKtWpi0JvAlZopApLxg5ZvHXt3l88iietxpnUFovxCerHxZ9Ot-bkVKfKeOTkno_kLYb1RaORJIkRrAwri423hRTNzb1kTAZwvjlb0t1oRfCQ4B3Ir1hMSD-8tCABhSxQYc-l1BtAGqoqdNYil_7wZGw8RHu86tWsBIH7qEmpZIu58BdTSRVVclnjkwhoAnvuUxg9o17Q4T-1TGzBqOhKieXe5GMdnCPY_aEucx2AYQUfocDW8G1Pd4BFJD61_UTm_G0478_N4kTww-FDyDM1kiLc0mo1SmgMsvgXVSt6q3SsNF1J-w5gvQ550O_c2BpnB6XplVLpynWI91KMVVhbPxrUVGyCf1_xIth1YuNR3UyFghXgDUyA4xkx0Az6VhFdmETRHL-u0KppFz24Uk9pONFgluMjM0BSXf237VETriujbmRmYvQlSWSRtXyzIzAXZsKhTPtK2M-EYjbhOg9rwefFLoN10Cy4qteASOCntO3_VVEK6IRxhlBIo_dbJ0huvn9yqVM4PtZTMtklej_tsJHCxpNhme2ee9WSMGviBxsNgRFo1Vv750BTMZRsE5Y5rrDOgmSAd2_MT_kyO-hHhneU8nW-rkvM6oKyu_zw2Cu-SG3yYV--blsFlnuIYS5RaOxZrLyBtxorQ=w518-h920-no


3TXhPIxXKgTmaMLtchCTmA0x2rOTc061Uol2w7luXy73rsPcmBQU7s0K0VQQif_oqABy-zblpjABdKnPEAnw6IdWT_mw3A6ukIWG0DM8KIgT9n26FW7px9Oy_oNKPSHh-7s_Jg-eTGo8yr0m9PTCBz_pz45twG4iRdF6tVZG_N1PF30bZgpLIzuTGrDIcOJPsmT27VPQ78Q8-ehFjA1nIPwGadLv3nS65upxr3SDTQvkz8pWBNUAFOapK1rc7cSZofnQNm386bBX70YcangPkJVyGKKJEZKZ-wb-UmkFCSmWUbE2K9ICpsWHpUIRtgFkmGR4Wyd3nl_qGPkka8tmjNrdwqcFD6nTFt5J9GXKi4dc-Fs-Kwp5WQxe7F3jHRMwTlp_LCk_22fi422L92iIHpOzt1OP06AUp9mweuAjTKaHR47uSUgs-y-Ny6lr4fh2g1j_eW5FkecSaWNQQYF8-8-Seyg6MaWfnHNOYULmnkthSUrDQvOCuD8P39C4qsIETDW4BxP4rW7Lm00ktdd_EZf-wj72QqlRWP4ne0b60ylLcetVeSMaZMWtYbvaolwPEzukCO3B5uGA4pCZlTMnU7xAUmpNFX5Vaow-9RQB3n8mkWd6Ok8K5Q-IPj7rhn-TNcZgw19S94A2_ppEUVPRScHTJiq5IWUAARS8Lo3uQw=w518-h920-no


qOceFQb7bZu3MClJo1iTUbLRpxqnQT8pZkRB64FX4Pq-QQQ-YN7s2o_qskZU6B-5JvvhlaHrVsIkPKI7UZO7Gziz-VOyAn_yPVyCTLaxZxzt-9nBvqCBALQW4yuDjVzlpVO118PCLi89OQr8CsWScJp9u9n0uASLS8Wyz7dLEtE8chGg9F2Ac6dZEf1fevEstscKKEq8lanVxgta0_zdOfC1aL5aDOyB50TLprEFNr4_7vuV0M_d81uzzYuwXtapMQS5ypHFzyCHm83KfcFhrXttsUyzPx33RXXDGnhDT1dP8ysgI_KSEyUc-lNAuQ2LCH8VzLYyTVxFR9uy8n7Nr3PDnlqU9YrOElWg8Uzu6FYoOBwDCN96jvrDFPQnvjQw4pYub_XjxBXmaSRP8sV-xIbjlCAKbnQJ8GGfFZNOQrQZotxTMJU2k2TtK6HJ_4lCQDyy0B4peW3KzO7k6ixlxLUYLReLWFcBTzuZWgVaprTBc1WYEyy8_eZb6RWuqqtVN_uDlUaQkAwNTNr7ahzBPOW0FQsA9SfJTDbC-kolV4ulIZQku2sq2O_mWiPKc-jZ-viBF9q1kOMXsxWSpb7UxK44GBdcwmSWOGVu0HzmHa9awQxalEnAkXL9ps2XFjNs8WBZcBlzJ6BiCdesN-FP4qE8MOdlmQQw6iohUCGN1A=w518-h920-no
 
Note that RTV is not a trade name it's a shortened description of "Room Temperature Vulcanizing" rubber.

Perhaps something got lost in the translation to EU languages?
 
To give you an example of what the correspondents are referring to, I secured the spar pin wires to the fuselage where they come out of the cross conduit with a dab of silicone and left it to set overnight. Came back the following morning and the protruding part of the spar pin was rusty red !

Fortunately, It came off with a very light rub with grey Scotch and was then liberally coated with light oil.

Showed how the off-gassing fumes of acetic acid from the curing silicone had fallen down onto the steel and started corrosion.
 
Back
Top