Epoxy q

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Ambidex

Ambidex

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Joined
Nov 2, 2011
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Location
Bristol NH 03222
I bought 2 sets of epoxy about a year or so ago. Opened the packages yesterday to find that the hardeners were fine, but the resins had hardened up so they were unusable. Is there a shelf life on these products or did I get a bad batch? Both were in a heated workshop and sealed, both in plastic bags and the tops of the bottles were still sealed. Thanks for any advice and information...George
 
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Epoxy

The one bottle is fairly hard, while the other has a strange consistency, almost like small bean tapioca or cottage cheese. Will give the nuker a chance and thanks for the reply!:cool: George
 
I have found that they have a shelve life. I have had them get thick and gummy and turned a deeper color of yellow then when I first got them. I also found they dont adhere as well at this point. I can use it when there is not much more needed than keep things from falling out but not if I need it to really hold something together like segmenting etc. At this point I throw them out and get new ones. I use Loctite 5 min epoxy, mostly for gluing my tubes, and epoxy 330 water clear for my assembly of my parts. The epoxy 330 has a much longer set time.
 
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Where did you order them from? I had a bottle that developed a strange yellow color that I got from Monty and he suggested I send it back to the mfgr... I did and they replaced it.

The microwave idea does work... I've had some that was in a cold shop during the winter and moved so slowly I thought it was solid... a few seconds in the MW and it was fine and worked fine... just don't get it too hot... hot glue is HOT.
 
I havent had to microwave cold epoxy since it rarely gets cold enough to worry about where I live and the epoxy came from Lowes.
 
Actually many of the resins will crystallize warm,cold or perfect conditions, in general warming will make the resin totally usable, if used while partially crystallized you may well have poor adhesion.
Lastly color change many resins will darken over time and exposure to UV, BUT remember you are looking through a plastic container and a very thick resin.When mixed and applied you have a very thin application and the color change becomes almost unnoticeable
This holds true at least with all the epoxies used in rod building and I believe it will do so for almost all epoxies.
 
Never tried the MW for epoxy, but I do know that warming in a hot water bath will thin it and make it usable. Be sure it is all the same consistence and no crystals left.
 
Epoxy

Thank you all for the replies...as the color looked fine, tried the mw and after 2-7 second sessions it seems to be ok. Will try on several objects to check out the reliability before using on any high-end pens. If in question will just replace as I would rather spend a few bucks than experience the frustration of a ruined project or selling a unreliable pen. Thanks again to all!:smile:
 
Most glues have expiration dates you may have to contact manufacture to read the codes. My opinion would be to discard it and buy fresh, according to a person in the industry on another forum if the glue has expired it may not hold as expected, same goes if it has gotten too hot or froze. I trust the guy enough to buy fresh glue every so often, I also keep it refrigerated and do not let it get too hot or freeze.
 
I agree with dogcatcher. The cost of epoxy is not so large, and yet the failure of a glue joint after assembly can be very expensive. Both in cost and reputation.

It is not worth the expense of not buying a 5 dollar tube of glue.
 
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