Adhesive age - expiration date

[entropy]

I've got 2 containers of Bostik 2402 with the catalyst that have an expiration date on them of April 2010. How closely does one have to adhere (pun intended) to these dates for adhesives?

I hate to just throw it out, but I don't want to redo repairs a few years down the road because of expired glue.

[willk]

Any 2402 I've bought has had a sell by date of under 12 months so I'm guessing they don't have a shelf life of much over a year (anyone?). Six months over that is a big stretch....

[jyasaki]

Pretty much everything I've heard says that 2402 has a shelf life of 12 months.

Whether or not to try your existing stock kind of depends on a couple of things: Are you gluing something critical (i.e. if it fails, will it endanger you or your passengers?) Is the glue still actually usable (my builder supplied can of 2402 was a lump of solid rubber after 2 years)? Is the the money you save by not buying a fresh can worth hassle of re-doing whatever you glue, should it be fail?


Caveat: 2402 shelf life doesn't concern me all that much, as the product is pretty much unavailable here in the US.

jky

[entropy]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Pretty much everything I've heard says that 2402 has a shelf life of 12 months.


Caveat: 2402 shelf life doesn't concern me all that much, as the product is pretty much unavailable here in the US.

jky

You can get 2402 from Clavey River Equipment in California. They bring in one shipment a year I believe. They are a dealer for Avon rafts, so they may have a connection with Bostik as last I knew Avon used Bostik for their boats.

Based on what I'm hearing I'll probably scrap this glue out and buy fresh adhesive.

[willk]

Originally Posted by entropy

Based on what I'm hearing I'll probably scrap this glue

Better than being stuck with it

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by entropy

You can get 2402 from Clavey River Equipment in California. They bring in one shipment a year I believe. They are a dealer for Avon rafts, so they may have a connection with Bostik as last I knew Avon used Bostik for their boats.

Based on what I'm hearing I'll probably scrap this glue out and buy fresh adhesive.

I saw your post on that; the only worry I have about it is their shipment date.

The Weaver glues seem to work pretty well, and they're relatively easy to find, so....

jky

[entropy]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

The Weaver glues seem to work pretty well, and they're relatively easy to find, so....

jky

jky,

Another adhesive to try is made by Clifton. This is also a 2-part glue. You can get it from Northwest River Supplies. This glue is also used in the manufacture of hypalon boats. I may switch over to this stuff since it is easier to get and as you point out may not have the expiration problems of Bostik.

Greg

[jyasaki]

In talking to Guy at Polaris Inflatables, he said he had poor results with Clifton. He uses 2402; and while I realize that his report is a single data point, but you have to take info where you can get it

With 2402 nearly unavailable here, and the dicey report on the Clifton, I went with the Weaver glue. Seems to have worked well (I am currently only doing little stuff, rather than large jobs, if that makes any difference.) Another advantage of Weaver is that an Inflatable repair shop about 15 miles away carries it, and uses quite a bit, so the stock is fresh.


jky