On Mon, 3 Jan 2011 14:04:48 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Jan 3, 2:52*pm, tnik wrote:
On 1/3/2011 4:42 PM, Gunner Asch wrote:





On Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:39:29 -0800, Rich Grise
*wrote:

Steve B wrote:

I just got some caulk from the garage, a new tube of silicone. *It was
fairly cold in the garage, and the caulk is about 40 degrees. *I put it a
safe distance from the woodburning stove to warm up. *I was wondering in
the future ........ could I heat it up in the microwave?

I'd STRONGLY recommend AGAINST doing such a thing - think of what would
happen if it blew up. Have you ever microwaved a raw egg?

Please, don't do it. Let the goo sit until it reaches room temperature
before you use it.

Or, if you can afford a new microwave oven, go ahead and do the experiment
(this is called "science") and report back here with your results. It's
unlikely to burn the house down, but the oven would probably be unsuitable
for cooking food.

Good Luck!
Rich

Another *thing..is the heat may cause the stuff to cure in the tube.

Most tubes have a metallic seal too no?- Hide quoted text -

No, not any more. All the solid plastic tubes have no extra seal, only
the few cardboard tubes that are now left on the market have them.

- Show quoted text -

The nozzle end is, at least. Most of the ones I've gotten lately have
a plastic cup as the pusher. A lot of them have metal foil as part of
the casing layers, too. In any case, heating the innards is going to
cause a pressure increase from the volatiles, how fast that happens
will determine whether it just spits the cup out with the goo or
splits the casing. The metal involved may cause arcing, too. Somebody
do this and take video, could have a nice KB! Mythbuster time? Could
be more fun than the gal that tried to dry her undies here at work in
the microwave. Had the fire dept. out and everything.

I store my caulk inside anyway. Most of it says on the label not to
freeze it.

I left some caulk in the truck during a cold spell (as low as 17F for
4 days) and it wouldn't cure after that. It stayed a loose white goo
for a week before I replaced it. I now keep caulk in the house and
take it to the site the day I use it.

--
You do not need a parachute to skydive.
You only need a parachute to skydive twice.