My Silicone is siliGONE!

[Wryter]

Yo - great minds of the plumbing industry. Solve this for me, please.

Over the years I've repaired/replaced many a faucet - and have used several brands of silicone paste.

So? Well - I've noticed that the silicone that's on the various plumbing parts seems to last a LOT LONGER than the silicone paste I add - such as Danco, etc.

Am I doing something wrong? Are there silicones used by companies, and silicones used by mopes like me - that don't last very long?

I'd sure like to know - so I can go out and buy "the good stuff!"

SIGH

[jimbo]

Are you talking about silicone grease? I suppose like anything else, there are different grades of products available.

In the Navy, we had big 12 oz tubes of GE silicone grease, don't remember the actual name of it. It was universally referred to as "boy butter".

Are you saying that you grease up a faucet stem, and 6 months later you take it apart and the grease is gone?

[Wryter]

I'm saying that several faucets where I've used the silicone grease quickly get "sticky" again. I've got one filtered-water faucet (cold line) where I grease the O-rings, and six WEEKS later the faucet is squeaky and balky again.
The two Moen faucets in a bathroom where I've tried to increase the life of the cartridges using Danco silicone also quickly deteriorate, and get balky.
The silicone just doesn't last as long as that used by the manufacturers, and I wonder why?

[leejosepho]

Maybe the problem has something to do with the water being supplied to your faucets? I have high alkalinity in my well water, and it seems to have attacked the silicone sealer I had used while installing fittings in the side of my backyard pool.

[Redwood]

Or, the stems are shot and the flow is washing the grease out...

The time to grease is before wear occurs...