Should I wait for thread sealer to dry?

[sifan]

Finally I have found time to work on the installation of my Canton pre-oiler. The oil will be drawn from the factory oil pressure sender port. I will need to install a 1/8 BSPT to 1/8 NPT adaptor to the port first on my Toyota Echo. I have couple small packs of grayish thread sealer from Frantz that I never used before. Since there is no instruction on the small packs, do I have to wait for the sealer on the adaptor threads to dry before installing it? Or I should install the adaptor with the sealer right away and let it dry there like using a glue?

 

[1040 WreckerMan]

Are you talking about liquid (teflon) pipe sealant (like the Loctite version)? If so you can do it either way, but if you apply the sealant and install immediately the sealant also works very well as lube when installing NPT fittings.

If you let it dry it's just like really sticky pipe tape, but will still help seal. Also, NPT fittings seal by deforming the threads, a dry fitting “should” seal. In most cases pipe sealant is used more of a lube than anything else. But some fittings just won’t seal by themselves (but that’s only because I bought them).

 

[Gary Allan]

I've never waited unless the stuff was specified "soft set". Most of those agents are designed with wet install in mind. No professional wants to wait for something to setup to assemble it. It costs too much time/$$.