Does CA have a shelf life??

[Danny Fenton]

I have been using Zap for several years without any complaints. However I did notice that as the bottle got older the thin Zap would take longer to set. I would then take this as a hint to open a fresh bottle. I stopped buying the larger 4 oz bottles (though they are more economic) I simply wasted the excess.

So I bought smaller bottles thinking the unoppened bottle would be okay for quite some time.

Anyway the point of my question, the bottle I have been using for about 18 months has become almost useless, and will not set. I opened a new bottle (bought at the same time but unnopened) and it too is useless. I can put some on my finger tips and it fails to stick my fingers to balsa, now that used to be absolutely normal!!

It has been very warm in the workshop, and I did notice someone suggest glues should be kept in a fridge.

So has anybody else come across this?

Cheers

Danny

Edited By Danny Fenton on 14/09/2016 10:19:51

[Geoff S]

I find cyano gets thicker with time and slower to set. In fact it gradually takes on the characteristics of the thicker, slower types that are sold as such. I confess to buying and using Pound Shop cyano which, at least in my local shop, is fresh in regularly (they are sometimes out of stock). I usually buy a couple of cards of 5x 7gm bottles and keep what I'm not actually using in the fridge and it remains as bought (medium thin) for ages. I think your warm workshop might be the reason yours has gone off. I admit, I have a very tolerant wife who also keeps some of the adhesives she uses for more mundane purposes in there too.

I find the Pound Shop cyano (promoted by Tommy Walsh who I guess must be a TV personality but I've never heard of him) to perform perfectly well and tiny fraction of the price of other manufacturers.

Geoff

[Denis Watkins]

Most volatile liquids are deteriorating pretty much from manufacture, but as a compromise the mix should have peak strength for a matter of months. Fresh purchasing is a good idea, and it is so annoying when you bulk buy for economy and the stuff does not last long enough to get your moneys worth

Edited By Denis Watkins on 14/09/2016 11:28:40

[Keith Berriman]

At a recent model show whilst purchasing some superglue the trader advised me to keep it in the dark and not in the fridge. I actually store it in a Jam Jar with some of the little silica pouches supplied with some goods. As is said smaller containers are expensive but more usable

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

I tend to find its OK pretty much indefinitely, until you break the seal. Then it starts to deteriorate. I suspect one of the main issues is water vapour contaimination, also temperature accelerates the effect. So a dry, very cold, store is the best - but TBH its a lot easier to just but smaller bottles!

BEB

[Gordon Tarling]

I keep unopened bottles in a ziplock bag in the freezer - I've had some for 2 years or so in there and still good to use after defrosting. For bottles in use, I usually put them in a ziplock bag in my fridge. I've also heard of people who put the bottle into a jam jar that has silica gel in the bottom - keeps the moisture at bay.

[Danny Fenton]

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 14/09/2016 11:37:03:

I tend to find its OK pretty much indefinitely, until you break the seal. Then it starts to deteriorate. I suspect one of the main issues is water vapour contaimination, also temperature accelerates the effect. So a dry, very cold, store is the best - but TBH its a lot easier to just but smaller bottles!

BEB

Thanks for the comments chaps, and I agree the thin usually just gets thicker, this has remained water thin. All makes sense apart from the brand new, unnopened bottle not sticking either? It could be a batch issue I guess? The new bottle was stored in a dark cupboard.

Cheers

Danny

[Stephen Newing]

I too found my bottle of thin zap had lost all stickiness. So I bought a brand new little bottle, the new stuff wouldn't stick 2 bits of balsa together (or my fingers) either. Interested to hear it's not just me, perhaps a dodgy batch.

I've lost confidence in the stuff which is a worry when so many hinges call for it. I tried canopy glue on some fuzzy hinges and it seems to have worked well.

Cyano also started to give me headaches so I'm happy to banish it from the workshop.

Steve

[bert baker]

I have a bottle of thin zap and it, it does not bond any more even when using kicker still no good,looks to be thinner than water.

[Ernie]

Hi Danny, I had the same problem, A new bottle of ZAP had turned slightly yellow, and refused to stick.

Now, I keep new bottles in the fridge. Seems to work fine, until SWIMBO adds it to sticky toffee pudding

ernie

[Geoff S]

Seems like Pound Shop cyano isn't so bad after all

I first came across cyano (at least I think that's what it was) was at work when some very expensive stuff called Eastman 910 was used to fix strain gauges to gas turbine blades.  During a test gauges gradually failed but it wasn't so much the gauges but the connecting wires that came adrift.

Geoff

Edited By Geoff Sleath on 14/09/2016 13:08:45

[John F]

As others have said keeping cyano in the fridge will make it last much, much longer. **LINK**/

In my previous job I used to use small bottle of superglue to close small cuts and wounds. The glue would need to be stored in the fridge and are small "use once" tubes with a foam applicator nozzle. if I I was away on operations in hot conditions the glue would deteriorate so quickly it would not close wounds unless it was within two months of being delivered to us, unless is was refrigerated until needed.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Don Fry]

I have given up on high end superglues, to my mind overpriced ordinary products. I am presently and for a few years,using Everbuild glues, from E bay, and I buy a multipack, last lot cost about £2 for each 2 once bottle. Sold most to club mates at cost, and put the rest in the fridge. I see no deterioration with age, for years, until opened, thereafter about 12 months on the bench. But seriously, glues uses in the kitchen fitting business are a fraction of the price of the same material repackaged for modellers.

As an aside superglues are uses to reveal latent fingerprints in the forensic industry, for base layers like polythene from memory. They go for the salt content of sweat. The operative sprays glue in a warm humid fume cupboard. And after a bit, you throw the cupboard away, as so much glue sets on it. So if you don't want set in the glue, avoid warm or humid.

[brokenenglish]

I keep mine in our cellar, along with other glues and dopes, etc.

I think utilisation time (open) and shelf life have improved greatly in recent years... Much longer than 10 or 20 years ago.

If you do have some old stuff that won't set... I bet it will if you use kicker...

[Bob Cotsford]

I keep my unopened bottles of CA in the SALAD draw in the fridge - along with a couple of LiPos in long term storage. Can't figure out what the SALAD stands for though

[Danny Fenton]

You were right kicker got it to work. When i say its old it is only 18 months old. Stored in a cupboard should have been okay. However there is no date stamp so they could have been in the shop a while

Cheers
Danny

[ken anderson.]

poundland cyno....in the fridge until needed...job's a goodin.

ken Anderson...ne...1...... fridge dept

[Martian]

The only problem using kicker with old .ca is that I have found the glued joint to be brittle

[trebor]

I get mine from Screwfix and it gets thicker over time, I hate the stuff (it gives me superglue flu) I get an itchy nose like having hay fever then the nose runs for days if I use it now I bung tissue up my nose first

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Rich too]

Posted by RC Plane Flyer on 14/09/2016 11:35:59:

At a recent model show whilst purchasing some superglue the trader advised me to keep it in the dark and not in the fridge. I actually store it in a Jam Jar with some of the little silica pouches supplied with some goods. As is said smaller containers are expensive but more usable

Interesting because my workshop is the loft with no windows and mine seems to last forever!