Maybe provoke a little thought here,- two observations.
The "acceptable " snots of sealant have a far greater purchase on the fastener than the fixed surround- therefore it can appear intact but the whole lump is moving with the fastening and only contacting the fixed surface.
One of the "unacceptable" snots actually shows a better safeguard, IMHO.
It clearly shows the fastener PAIR have not moved in relation to each other....they may be loose in the materials being fastened, but still attached to each other....(CAVEAT...see above, re-sheared interface.) any fretting would manifest itself with staining/spalling/brightups, if, indeed the fastening was loose in the materials being held.
The ideal would be a thin (runny) paint stripe going from top/side of bolt/sttud/pipe, right across the joint and onto a fixed or other surface......
That way, it's unlikely the film would lose adhesion before it cracked.
Japanese electronics LOVE these snot-lumps and i've dismantled and reinstated many joints and the snot has realigned with the clean witness patch
handy for torqueing to original, though
