Excellent alternative to silicone, but not a replacement.
Here we have the quintessential old-school gasket "helper" sealant. No tool box should be without it. This sealant is NOT silicone based, which can be a great thing or a bad thing. The good thing is that it doesn't harden and peel off smooth surfaces like silicone, and it doesn't stick things together like glue like silicone. Be sure you're using it for it's intended purpose. For me, I use it to lightly coat paper gaskets used with oil or water. Just a smidgen on a gasket goes a LONG way. If the sealing surfaces are extremely flat and true to each other, this will work great as well, even without a gasket. If there are surface irregularities, silicone might be a better plan. Just like silicone, this gasket maker can cause gaskets to "squirt out" when tightened, but my experience is that it does not do so as badly as silicone since it's less of a lubricant in it's "wet" state. The good thing is that if you let the Permatex #2 "set up" for an hour or so, before installing the gasket, it does much better to help increase the seal, whereas silicone simply turns to a solid mass and doesn't add to making the gasket seal better. Wear some gloves if you don't want this stuff to get all over your hands; it doesn't easily come off with soap and water, but acetone will remove it in short order. Perhaps the best thing about this stuff is that unlike silicone, it is far less likely to turn to a solid mass in the tube before you have a chance to use it again. Read more
