Curing Greatstuff question

DazzleDiscus · #1 12-24-2009, 10:35 PM

Sometimes there is a time to give up looking up answers through the search button... I type anything related to greatstuff curing and I get nearly every. single. thread. 'Twas driving me crazy, so I'd thought I'd directly ask the question lol

Does cured greatstuff still have a smell? I've been finished greatstuffing my tank for about a week now, and it still has a fumey smell to it. I've set a big fan on top of the tank with the fan blowing directly down into the tank for about three days now, and it still smells like greatstuff. Nothing has shrunk that I can tell, and I've been carving away at it like there's no tomorrow.

Any comments? I'd like to start sealing it with silicone, but don't want to start until I am absolutely sure that it is done curing.

Spazizz · #2 12-24-2009, 10:49 PM

It could be that there is a uncured spot. If you apply to much it can concentrate in one area take a very long to time to cure(more than a few days) If there is such a spot you can wait it out or make a hole leading to that spot and let the foam leak out while occasionally breaking it off to let more foam escape.

froggsong · #3 12-25-2009, 02:37 AM

Spazizz is giving good advice there. If you laid it down in thick layers or didn't let the layers cure enough before adding more on top, it's most likely not cured in the middle (well, probably the bottom more than the middle). Since carving it hasn't caused shrinking, it may be the first layer that you laid down. Since there would be a skin between the layers, carving the outside ones wouldn't cause the inside one to shrink (I hope that makes sense).

I've not personally had GS smell... I'd say take a straw or a chopstick (or something similar, but not bigger around) and poke it down to the bottom every inch or two and see what happens. If GS starts coming out of the hole, you had some that wasn't finished. If not, then it's something else (and wouldn't have harmed the structure of the piece). Do that and let us know, then we'll go from there.

DazzleDiscus · #4 12-25-2009, 03:31 PM

Thanks guys, I'll poke holes today