Sometimes, after inserting a tube of silicone into a gun, we cannot budge the piston, no matter how hard we press on the trigger. Most often, a tube with silicone dried inside is sent to the trash can, which is completely wrong.
There are very real ways to use liquid silicone for its intended purpose, which has partially dried closer to the outlet of the tube. There are also many life hacks known to prevent the silicone from hardening in the tube and reuse it many times until it is completely used up.
“Reanimating” a tube with silicone
If, however, the silicone has frozen, then unscrew the removable tip from the threaded hole on the tube and pull out the dried silicone from it with a piece of wire, but preferably with a screw or self-tapping screw, screwing them into the hardened mass and pulling strongly towards you.
We insert a screw through the threaded hole in the tube to find out what condition the silicone is inside. If it is liquid and flowing, then everything is fine, but more often we come across a hardened mass.
Using a knife, we open the tube, use round pliers to remove the dried and hardened circles of silicone, under which we find liquid and flowing silicone, quite suitable for its intended use.
Next, cut off the upper part from a plastic tube of the same diameter, heat it with a hairdryer and put it on the opened tube with silicone. We securely wrap the joint with tape and install the combined tube into the gun.
We press the trigger, make sure that the silicone is easily squeezed out, tighten the nozzle and use the silicone for its intended purpose.
How to prevent silicone from drying out in the future
If silicone remains in the tube after use, measures must be taken to prevent it from drying out. For example, we cut a 0.5 liter plastic bottle crosswise and put the top part on the tube.
We heat the skirt of the bottle with a hairdryer until it tightly wraps around the outside of the tube.
Unscrew the removable tip and screw the cap onto the neck of the bottle until it stops. If necessary, unscrew the cap, screw the nozzle onto the threaded hole of the tube and squeeze the silicone out of the tube. After finishing the work, screw the lid tightly without fear of the silicone drying out inside the tube.
You can also cover the nozzle hole with a small amount of glue, put a child’s ball on the end and press the trigger a little so that there is air in the ball, screw in the threaded end of the hook, cover it with a cap from a soldering iron or green tape, etc.
