Had to remove Extruder Filament Sensor to get to a bad case of clogging and so I removed the connector which had silicone glue on it.
I feel like I should reapply some silicone glue to the connector and was wondering if anyone had any suggested glue to get and any advice for its application.
TL;DR: Recommendations for silicone glue?
The material you’re referring to is electronic grade RTV silicone(simply referred to as RTV). Don’t get caught up on brand names because it’s all the same. What makes it electronic grade is that it is chemically neutral so it won’t corrode metals, it will not outgas under high temp, it is non-conductive.
Here’s a search term on Amazon but make sure the description says “electronic” Amazon search engine is not very good and will mix in non electronic RTVs in the listing.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=electronic+rtv+silicone
Now having said that, it is not really necessary but is considered good manufacturing practice for products that might see high vibration. However, as you may have noticed, it is a pain in the ass to pick off so it can make serviceability a chore. Personally, I only use it in my day job when I have high mass electronic connectors that I want to ensure will not vibrate free. The kinds of connectors used in Bambu machines really don’t call for it. The lower the mass, the less susceptible to vibration. If you’ve ever taken apart an inkjet printer or a cell phone, they often use the same fine pitch connectors that you find in Bambu parts but none of them that I’ve serviced ever had RTV on a fine pitch connector.
However, if you every purchased an upgrade kit, you may already have a small white tube in the kit that was unmarked. That’s the RTV they used but it’s unmarked in the box. As you can see, I never used mine and I can’t recall what parts it came with.
Here’s a list of what I mean. No particular recommendation as I’ve used a variety and they all pretty much perform the same.
@Olias Thank you for the wonderfully concise and thorough explanation and information!
I think I will still get some electronic grade silicone glue, but only after I check my Bambu Lab supplies to see if I have some and I will apply it only if there seems to be a need.
Be careful on Amazon. If you search for “Silicone glue” you will get hits for cyanoacrylate (CA) glue made for silicone. You do not want to glue your connectors with that! It will never come off!
