Grey Gunk

[John Allingham]

Does anyone know what this grey gunk could be. It wasn't hard, more like the consistency of silicone caulking. It looked like it may have dripped down from the service entrance above but I'm not sure about that.

[Wayne B. Wilson]

It looks like duct seal, Telephone companies used to use it, we called Elephant .hit because of the package it came in .

[Wayne B. Wilson]

Or it could wire lubricant

[Bobby Hamilton]

Originally Posted by wwilson3

It looks like duct seal, Telephone companies used to use it, we called Elephant .hit because of the package it came in .

I would go with duct seal also, but seeing that it wasn't hard, I wonder if its some of the gutter sealant I've used in the past. It was grey and silicone like.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Originally Posted by wwilson3

It looks like duct seal, Telephone companies used to use it, we called Elephant .hit because of the package it came in .

Yes that what it is and thats what we always called it used piles of it ... Roy

[Wayne B. Wilson]

Originally Posted by rcooke

Yes that what it is and thats what we always called it used piles of it ... Roy

Roy you worked for the phone company?

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by jallingham

Does anyone know what this grey gunk could be. It wasn't hard, more like the consistency of silicone caulking. It looked like it may have dripped down from the service entrance above but I'm not sure about that.

Have a package in hand (Commander/Iberville brand) that I purchased 20+ years ago and has been partially open in my shop for years.....still very flexible. It's used around the wires in the service entrance conduit to seal from wind/water intrusion into the panel.

In your picture, you can see that it fell directly from the vertically oriented conduit at the top of the panel. We used to install it at the horizontal conduit at the exterior elbow so that no water from the vertical outdoor conduit had even a chance to get into the panel. Holes were drilled at the bottom of the elbow to drain water entering at the masthead and other possible leaks.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Originally Posted by wwilson3

Roy you worked for the phone company?

Electrician Both Brothers where also Electricians Stared helping them when I was twelve started the trade in 1951 .
Been in the IBEW for over 55 years my son also an electrician .
Internation Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Cleaning up my garage found today some Glyptyol 40 years old .
Found some Leathers for wiping lead cable pot heads over 40 years old .
Dip pot for soldering Knob and tube wires
Things we hang onto.

[John Allingham]

OK, thanks guys.

[Robert Meier]

Under the NEC raceways are required to be sealed when subject to different temperatures. Typically we use duct seal.

300.7 Raceways Exposed to Different Temperatures.
(A) Sealing. Where portions of a cable raceway or sleeve are known to be subjected to different temperatures and where condensation is known to be a problem, as in cold storage areas of buildings or where passing from the interior to the exterior of a building, the raceway or sleeve shall be filled with an approved material to prevent the circulation of warm air to a colder section of the raceway or sleeve. An explosionproof seal shall not be required for this purpose.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by Robert Meier

Under the NEC raceways are required to be sealed when subject to different temperatures. Typically we use duct seal.

I have an old paper photograph somewhere of a panel in a basement with the meter socket and service mast on the north side of the house. It was February with a very cold (-15 or so *C) strong north wind blowing. The house had had a sewer backup into the basement a few days earlier so it was quite humid.......in the basement, the outside surface of the service conductors/disconnect breaker section at the top of the panel had about 1/2 inch thick frost/ice crystals on it!! No duct seal was being used when this set-up was installed.

[Wayne B. Wilson]

Originally Posted by rcooke

Electrician Both Brothers where also Electricians Stared helping them when I was twelve started the trade in 1951 .
Been in the IBEW for over 55 years my son also an electrician .
Internation Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Cleaning up my garage found today some Glyptyol 40 years old .
Found some Leathers for wiping lead cable pot heads over 40 years old .
Dip pot for soldering Knob and tube wires
Things we hang onto.

LOL roy i still had the old lead blocks till a couple of years ago .
I was A CWC Member Take care