Loctite storage temperature

[Maker]

I was going to ask a while ago if anyone had known of loctite going off in the bottle, I had a small bottle of 243 which was coming out as a paste, as I went to take a picture of it I squeezed all the paste out and it was coming out as a liquid again, I decided it must have just gone off in the nozzle or something.



Picture off the mess, you can see an opaque lump near the front of the puddle. That's just a crappy old bottle I found amongst a load of second hand tools so I wasn't too bothered, someone's cut the fine tip off the nozzle too so I'm almost trying to get rid of it, I didn't really think any more of it going off.


Today I went to use some 638 (in a 50ml bottle I bought new) and it's much thicker than it should be, so I checked my other bottle of 243 (Another new, 50ml bottle) and it's thickened too.

I've now googled it and seen "Storage below 8 degrees or above 28 degrees can adversely affect product properties". I've got it all in an uninsulated garage, I can quite safely say it's below 8 degrees out there.

I'm going to machine a couple of test pieces to check the bond strength, hopefully they still cure properly and I haven't completely wasted seventy quid worth of glue.

 

[brightspark]

have some bottles in garage 15 years old and still good

 

[frank horton]

Like u I have the same problem….
just need to buy smaller bottles….I cannot buy “Loctite” here but some other German make…so far it's held up, we’ve been +5 +18 all this winter but summer it will 35-40 degrees….
Also there are Chinese copies out n around…I know ur's is old n prob not..
mines going in the top of the fridge (warmest part) n I’ll let y’a know..
when in the Uk I only ever bought from engineers merchants etc but guessing the copies were not around
on a similar subject I always keep super glue in the fridge, it does last a little longer…

 

[PhillipM]

Only had trouble if they've been stored too hot, or in the sun where UV can get into the bottle.
Or where someone squeezed the bottle then shut the lid so there was no air in it. I don't get why people do that but it just sets the stuff curing.

 

[T5FAU]

Odd timing, as it was only the weekend when i found my bottle of Loctite that's only months old had cured in the nozzle, completely blocking it. Shelf life seems poor, even when you buy the decent stuff.

 

[PhillipM]

I mean, why is the loctite in the nozzle anyway?
If it's been left in there because the air has been squeezed out of the bottle, it'll cure. That's what it's supposed to do.

 

[Barking Mat]

Interesting, we had a bottle go off this winter, it's not even been particularly cold this winter.

I write the dates we buy stuff on the bottles, I'll look tomorrow.

Like @Maker it had seperated.

 

[Brad93]

Yet Loctite Cryanoacrylate likes to be stored below 3°

 

[Barking Mat]

Yet Loctite Cryanoacrylate likes to be stored below 3°

So it's best kept in a fridge ?

Genuine question.

Our workshop gets over 30 + degrees in summer.

Freezer in winter, oven in summer.

 

[optima21]

So it's best kept in a fridge ?

Genuine question.

Our workshop gets over 30 + degrees in summer.

Freezer in winter, oven in summer.

yeah I keep mine in the fridge

 

[bourbon]

My CA is normally kept in the fridge. Unless I forget, then it's in the garage attached to the house.

 

[8ob]

Loctite does have a sell by date and a max recommended shelf life once opened.

Bob

 

[brightspark]

Loctite does have a sell by date and a max recommended shelf life once opened.

Bob

but it doesnt mean that it goes off it means you will bin it and go buy a new bottle as i said i have a 15 year old bottle i glued something with it and cocked up and had to remove it would it hell move . a big hammer and drift along with heat removed it

 

[Guzrik]

Loctite does have a sell by date and a max recommended shelf life once opened.

Bob

Yes indeed, but I think it has not always had this date printed on the bottom of the bottle?

 

[Maker]

I've kept superglue (Cyanoacrylate) in the fridge for years, for some reason it never crossed my mind threadlock should take any special care. I know paint doesn't like being frozen either, there's a load in the same cupboard I kept the loctite in...

 

[8ob]

Yes indeed, but I think it has not always had this date printed on the bottom of the bottle?

The ones I have here do, according to loctite`s blurb its a code that you have to decipher . Cant see whats wrong with just putting the date on them

 

[8ob]

but it doesnt mean that it goes off it means you will bin it and go buy a new bottle

Maybe a bit of sales scarmongering, its not something I use gallons of and these small bottles don't last long enough around here to get a chance to go off.

Bob

 

[brightspark]

Maybe a bit of sales scarmongering, its not something I use gallons of and these small bottles don't last long enough around here to get a chance to go off.

Bob

i use it all the time no probs .if it was used on aerospace a helicopter or a plane id buy a new bottle but out of date would be used elsewhere

 

[dan.taylor.1]

I think the date is more for safety critical stuff, don't use it after the date if its holding a prop on a plane etc, for general use I've never had anything come loose, I generally spill the bottle without realising before I use it or it gets to the date, that or weld too near it and spatter melts a bloody hole in the plastic!

 

[RichardM]

If I remember right, someone rang Loctite and they said if it's still liquid it's Ok.

My Loctites are well over 15 years old (bought / scrounged before we moved into current house). Still works fine for me, glued a piece of steel to a rod as I couldn't hold it in the lathe to machine without last week and it's still glued on waiting for milling now.