Safe to use silicone instead of electrical tape?

[quarterback]

I'm putting together a "smart strip" for myself and with all the wires and relay shoved into a small power strip, there are places where the connections are pretty close to one another.

In a lot of circumstances, I'd use electrical tape as a 'safety' to wrap any potentially bare wire, but it's pretty tight in the power strip.  I know I've seen people use hot glue to 'seal' and protect connections from coming loose but I don't have any hot glue.  My question is, can I use silicone caulking to do the same thing?  It would not only hold some of these wires in place, but also protect any potential 'opens'?   

Is that safe?  Do people do that?  I'd presume that silicone doesn't conduct electricity, but I'd rather have some more info just to be safe.
Thanks
qb

[Fozzy The Bear]

Not ideal, but if it's the best you can manage in the space then Silicone will not conduct electricity.

The best way to do this would be to use heat shrink tubing. Make your solder connections and have a length of heat shrink on the wire ready to put over them then slide it up to cover the joint and heat it up. It'll do what it says and shrink over the joint insulating it.

Much better to get the right materials for the job and do it right, when playing with mains voltages.

Best Reagrds,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[quarterback]

Thanks Fozzy,

I had two places that I just wanted a little more protection.   One is at the relay itself.  The QDs I have aren't insulated over the 'head'.  I'm using this relay here:

And even though there's clearance between pins 3,4,5 and 6, I just wanted a little barrier between each of the QDs.  In the end, I actually was able to wrap two of the 4 in electrical tape.

In other places in the powerstrip, the wires are tucked in plastic "channels".  They're separated from one another by plastic barriers, but the whole thing is pretty tight and if one of the wires was to somehow pop up out of the channel, it could potentially get close to another wire.  In this situation, the silicone would be helping keep the wires in place in addition to creating a little rubber shell around the bare wire.

A dab of silicone here and there will make me feel better
Thanks
qb

[ark_ader]

Thanks Fozzy,

I had two places that I just wanted a little more protection.   One is at the relay itself.  The QDs I have aren't insulated over the 'head'.  I'm using this relay here:

And even though there's clearance between pins 3,4,5 and 6, I just wanted a little barrier between each of the QDs.  In the end, I actually was able to wrap two of the 4 in electrical tape.

In other places in the powerstrip, the wires are tucked in plastic "channels".  They're separated from one another by plastic barriers, but the whole thing is pretty tight and if one of the wires was to somehow pop up out of the channel, it could potentially get close to another wire.  In this situation, the silicone would be helping keep the wires in place in addition to creating a little rubber shell around the bare wire.

A dab of silicone here and there will make me feel better
Thanks
qb

I would consider Fozzy's advice if I was you regarding using silicone.  Heat shrink tubing is much better and safer.

[shardian]

In Ben Heck's book, he liberally uses a hot glue gun on electrical stuff.

Also, I was at Harbor freight the other day and I saw a spray can of some interesting stuff. It said on the can that it was basically spray on electrical tape. Looked like really neat stuff. I'll try some search-fu today and see if I can find something similar online.

[Lutus]

I think those relays are meant to "snap in" to a base unit that can be mounted on DIN rails.  At least all the relays I have ever used were snap in.

And on the base there are screw terminals for the wire connections.

[Fozzy The Bear]

I was at Harbor freight the other day and I saw a spray can of some interesting stuff. It said on the can that it was basically spray on electrical tape.

Sort of..... It's not great on mains voltage connections. It's main purpose is for weather proofing electrical connection outdoors. It's great on boats and camper vans and auto electrics, It's also used a lot by telephone engineers and satellite dish installers. But it's not great for 110V or 220V connections because although it provides some insulation, it's not up to the level really needed for high power connections. Great on 12V connections though.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

[dstone]

I picked up a jar of 'liquid electrical tape' the other day. It's a pretty thick goo, applies with a brush. Works great when I can 't get the tape in there.

[fixedpigs]

I picked up a jar of 'liquid electrical tape' the other day. It's a pretty thick goo, applies with a brush. Works great when I can 't get the tape in there.

how easy is that to 'unwrap' when you want to break the connection...?

[dstone]

Never tried. I would assume you would have to just cut out the connection and make up a new one. That's why I always leave plenty of wire. I always use regular electrical tape when I'm dealing with extension cords and such (usually for Christmas lights).

[newbee]

 Heat shrink tubing, is much easier to remove, then cured silicon glue, if you have to replace the relay.
 If there is any cured silicon, remaining on the terminal lugs, when you unsolder the relay, it could be very unhealthy, to be breathing the fumes.  
 A better solution, would be to use a relay socket, for mounting the relay. This will make it easy to  troubleshooting, and replace the relay, and use heat shrink tubing, for the connections.

[Lutus]

Relay socket.  Like I said.   

[shardian]

Heat shrink tubing, is much easier to remove, then cured silicon glue, if you have to replace the relay.
 If there is any cured silicon, remaining on the terminal lugs, when you unsolder the relay, it could be very unhealthy, to be breathing the fumes. 
 A better solution, would be to use a relay socket, for mounting the relay. This will make it easy to  troubleshooting, and replace the relay, and use heat shrink tubing, for the connections.

I tend to overuse comma's too, but DAMN.

[Quaternion]

I tend to overuse comma's too, but DAMN.

And apostrophes. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

[shardian]

I tend to overuse comma's too, but DAMN.

And apostrophes. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

 

How did that one get in there?

[ids]

I tend to overuse comma's too, but DAMN.

And apostrophes. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

 

How did that one get in there?

That's not an apostrophe, it's a superscript comma 

[Level42]

I'm not sure about how colleagues around the world feel about it, but over-here, using electrical tape to actually insulate anything is considered amateur work.

Indeed, a relais like that needs a socket with screw terminals. It was never meant to be soldered to.
Something like this:


I think I have a couple of them here, I could send you one at shipping costs.

[knave]

Level42 makes a really good point.  I'm not an electrician by any means not even an amature one and I've heard that same motto.  I'm a fan of heat shrink tubing now that I've used it a few times.

As for the Silicone...I don't think it would age well nor do I think it's able to withstand any heat.

This brings me back to the electrical tape.  It really doesn't age well...it turns into a sticky mess.  Crimp connectors are an option if they'll fit on the pegs. I know, a bit unorthidox but I've bent the crimp connectors into an oval and fit them on all sots of pegs they're not meant for.