Hey all. I’m using magic gel for potting assemblies that I still want to access and perhaps experiment with in housing builds (not batteries though which are more solidly potted). I understand that this stuff is supposed to remain soft-ish by design, but the batches I’ve been mixing seem excessively soft/sticky/oily. The demonstration videos I’ve seen have the user poking the material and it looks like a nice solid gel. In my case, it’s a lot like soft edible jello and I can easily poke through it and have it come off on my fingers. Is this normal? Are my expectations of how it should behave incorrect?
What you describe is also my experience with this product. I was put off by this during first uses, but now I have refined the way I pot it, more precise mixing helps, and added a lid to the parts I want to pot. It is very effective agains water ingress, you can even cut it, acess electronics, smash it back together and will be mostly waterproof again.
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Interesting. Yes, that’s exactly why I want to use it. Seems like a really great middle-ground for potting certain parts of builds! The company is very responsive and helpful though, so I’m getting some recommendations there. I’m just a little surprised with the consistency of it compared to what the demos show. In the end, as long as it prevents ingress I suppose it’s okay that it’s a little sticky and overly soft. Just had me worried something was “off”. I thought I measured pretty accurately and mixed well enough, but am glad to hear your reports on it 
Isn’t this just platinum silicon? It’s very prone to inhibition. I, myself, use tin-cure silicon. It’s not clear, but it bonds and cures much much better.
I’m honestly not sure what it is. I also assume it’s a type of silicone with some very specific additives to control consistency. It’s not off-the-shelf platinum cure though. I use various versions of that too. Very different.
Needs to be well mixed, and when curing it can’t be moved or sloshed around, even to check it cured. A small leak will also cause it to never properly cure as it’s always moving.
I tried to mix then inject via a syringe and it never cured at all. I guess that any movement breaks and prevent the long chains from forming.
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There are different types of magic gels. Some set harder than others.
I found it to be very sticky, runny, and messy as well.
I also noticed in a few test pours that it didn’t completely set, it would mostly set but would still “run”. when I left dried test pours on their side the set gel would follow gravity and pool a bit at the bottom (Maybe I needed better technique as mentioned above). So best to take that into account when figuring out how pour it. Use a contained volume with a lid, fill a bit over the electrics so there is extra gel, don’t store it long term on its side or upside down.
I’ve had good luck with moldable plastic for things that don’t get over 140 F. It gets hard, seals out water, and is somewhat easy to remove to fix things that break. At first, it’s odd to work with, but I use that stuff for all kinds of projects now. And, as long as you don’t paint it, it’s reuseable. You can heat it with water, heat gun, or lighter, depending on your needs. For thick uses, let it get hard then smooth up the outside by lightly heating with a heat gun then rubbing with water. Use a hot nail to poke holes because it doesn’t drill or sand well. One last thing, parchment paper works great to put leftovers on.
Sorry for OT, but has anyone tried to simply use wax to pot electronics?
I guess temperature could be an issue, but carnauba or even bee should be safe.
I use this one. Works flawlessly.
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