I just scrape and wipe, scrape and wipe to get as much as possible....be interesting to hear how everyone handles it...GREAT question!

Pat

You got it curbdiver . . . scrape and wipe, scrape and wipe . . as long as necessary.

and then return & exchange that puppy.

There is some stuff called silicone remover...and goof off is another brand, but don't know if you could redo it after...

I use alcohol, not like Tequila alcohol,the other stuff or those baby wipes work really well.

Chris

Since so much of the GE ll is bad ,what else would you use to glue a picture to glass?I buy the small tubes and 1 out of 3 are bad?? I know Nice and Wench have used this for this and I'm afraid to try anything else??Thanks Annie

has anyone ever written GE about this defect? p

annie and p - I don't think that alot of the GEII is bad, I've only had that problem 2x in 6 or so years of using it on construction as well as mosaics....the main reason it appears that so much is bad is that we don't notice it until too late and a project becomes double to triple the work and frustration. Best defense, both when I buy a new tube and before I start a project, that I've found is to check the expiration date. Not perfect, but does save some of the frustration.

Pat

Do you buy at the same store all the time, I'd complain to them that they don't check their stock and ask them to get some fresh stuff! I have been buying it by the case!!!! They think I'm such a wierdo!!!hahahaha!!!!

Well mine was not expired...said it was good to some date in 2009 but it was bad. I bought it at walmart for the first and last time. The new tube expires in 2008 and I got it from lowes and it is fine...I had to pay more but it isn't bad. I wonder if it is that it has been stored in too hot of a location for too long. I know our walmart stores their over stock in semi truck trailers in back of the store, I'm sure they get hotter than the recommended 80 degrees. p

Pea,
For gog I'm using Mac glue. I've tried the siliconeII and Weldbond but found the Mac superior in both application
and transparency.
Linlee

Hmmm, sounds like a job for Columbo.
The mystery of the silicone. Tune in for answers. Is the silicone a bad batch? Is it the heat in a Wal-Mart semi? Or, is it because Calamity is buying all the fresh stuff before everyone else gets to it??
Enquiring minds want to know!

Ahh yes...it seems that Bama just might be on the right track...

I do believe that all the fresh stuff is going to Canada...eh?

Is MAC glue for outdoor use? Does it have immediate hold like silicone or will the shards run off a vertical surface like with weldbond? Where would find this glue? p

Mac says that it could be used outside, but I haven't tried it there. It's website, macglue.biz, has conflicting info. One statement says waterproof where another says water resistant. I did a submersion test for a couple of days and where the Weldbond released in just a few hours,
the Mac's edges did start to become opaque a little but there was no tesserae release.
As for immediate hold, it is superior to the weldbond because it dries faster, but not as instant as the siliconeII. The Mac is very thin, almost water-like so
very little glue is needed for adhesion. Also, though once bonded I haven't been able to pry a piece off for fear of breaking the work, but easily chips off in open air where tesserae does not meet tesserae.

If you search this site for mac you may be able to bring up my test pix to see what mac looks like.

have not gotten any bad GEII. i buy mine at lowes......barb

I have bought mine at Lowes and Hd and gotten several cloudy tubes that were thick and grainy, not past date.???Don't know why?I'm wondering what would hold paper to glass and not turn yellow in time?

I have found that I have not actually experienced "bad" GEII but rather "unmixed" if you get in the habit of kneading the tubes really well I'm willing to bet you won't have these problems

I buy the caulking tubes and so far so good. I would suspect it's how the stores are storing them.

ROFL -Bama and Barb

All I know is I'm tired of trying to get it off my projects

Maria

Maria - use 0000 steel wool...works like a charm on glass and tile. Haven't tried it on plates, but would probably only use it VERY softly on patterns and metal rims.

HTH,
Pat

guys, I do have a bad tube. I called GE and they confirmed.

p

So what are they going to do about it Pea?

They were very nice. Lets just say they were very 'understanding" and I am happy.

They said the notice of the bad silicone should of reached the stores 2 weeks ago and the stuff should of been pulled.

p

Ah, you were compensated? Will you be able to buy a nice beach house now????

BAMA, you make me laugh! Thank you!

Don't know if this helps, but remember back when we learned that those Magic Erasers will remove dried silicone? Well, ok, that's DRIED silicone. Guess the one time I had BAD silicone, I had to scrape and wipe, scrape and wipe, same as everybody else. Like someone said, it was kind of grainy coming out of the tube. It's gonna happen. Even crackers are stale now and then. I won't write off GEII. Too useful most of the time.

Roni

OK, I tried glueing some pennies on my BB with GEII and it has been on about 24 hrs and is still sliding around. What I have used before has dried much quicker than this. Bought it at Walmart because Home Depot or Lowes only had the large caulking gun tubes. I guess I'll be scraping and wiping and starting over. I thought this was going to be an easy project -- a fast start for several projects. LOL

Check the date on the tubes before you buy them.

I hadn't seen the date before -- it is very hard to see in tiny numbers on a crimped end, but the date is 10/08. It should still be good.

I've had my first experience with "bad" GE II. This was not on a mosaic project but on an actual window installation. (Yeah, actually using the product for what it's made for, go figure!) My DH broke one of our side lites and the orig. ones were siliconed into the wood frame. Well I pulled out a tube (the large one for caulking gun) that I had originally purchased probably a year ago but never opened. It was well within the exp date. Got the new glass siliconed in, nailed new trim on. Sanded, filled, painted new trim. Discovered next day silicone had not set up. Days later it still had not set up. Decided we did NOT want to pull the windows out and start over so we just decided to leave it & see what happened. After about a week it seemed like it was TRYING to set, was still soft but was forming a skin. It took WEEKS, but it did finally set up completely. I don't know why this happened, I didn't call GE about it.
Weird.

I guess there are some things you can wait weeks to let set, but pennies on a bowling ball start sliding after a while. LOL Maybe I should have kept the "bad" stuff and tried it for something flat that could sit unbothered for a month, but I'm not sure I'd ever be that patient with a mosaic project. Gotta get it done! I got some new GEII and some liquid nails today and will be starting over tomorrow.

The last few times I've worked with the silicone I've been less than happy with it overall.

It is messy, smells bad and I don't like the adhesion result so much. It just seems to be slimy or gooey.

Weldbond is not thrilling me either. It takes FOREVER to dry. Which can make it difficult to grout if you're using a glass on glass, or just a transparent glass on your substrate. It's a crap shoot if it has dried or not, or if you have complete coverage under your tesserae.

Finding another type of adhesive is my current pursuit.