old epoxy
 

I had some epoxy left over from a project two years ago and I tried to
use it. It seemed to have separated into a watery top part and a
thicker milky bottom part. The whole mess smelled like ammonia.
Nevertheless, I did use some of it by mixing it very well. It took a
long time to cure but it did work. A couple of weeks later, it had
gotten so that I could not even mix it so I had to throw it away. I
am wondering if moisture had condensed as water in the container
somehow but this would be a lot of water, almost a half gallon.

old epoxy
 

On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 07:50:31 -0800, Frogwatch wrote:

I had some epoxy left over from a project two years ago and I tried to
use it. It seemed to have separated into a watery top part and a
thicker milky bottom part. The whole mess smelled like ammonia.
Nevertheless, I did use some of it by mixing it very well. It took a
long time to cure but it did work. A couple of weeks later, it had
gotten so that I could not even mix it so I had to throw it away. I am
wondering if moisture had condensed as water in the container somehow
but this would be a lot of water, almost a half gallon.

I have some epoxy which is probably over 10 years old. It has
darkened over the years, but it seems to work about the same.
It did not separate, and doesn't smell like ammonia. So, I'm
not sure what's going on with that.

Julien

old epoxy
 

I had left some West system at a friend's and forgot about it.
He brought it back because he is moving. It's at least 10yo.
both pumps are solid as a rock, but the stuff in the cans is just fine.
Matt

Frogwatch wrote:
I had some epoxy left over from a project two years ago and I tried to
use it. It seemed to have separated into a watery top part and a
thicker milky bottom part. The whole mess smelled like ammonia.
Nevertheless, I did use some of it by mixing it very well. It took a
long time to cure but it did work. A couple of weeks later, it had
gotten so that I could not even mix it so I had to throw it away. I
am wondering if moisture had condensed as water in the container
somehow but this would be a lot of water, almost a half gallon.

old epoxy
 

Frogwatch schrieb:
I had some epoxy left over from a project two years ago and I tried to
use it. It seemed to have separated into a watery top part and a
thicker milky bottom part. The whole mess smelled like ammonia.
Nevertheless, I did use some of it by mixing it very well. It took a
long time to cure but it did work. A couple of weeks later, it had
gotten so that I could not even mix it so I had to throw it away. I
am wondering if moisture had condensed as water in the container
somehow but this would be a lot of water, almost a half gallon.

Are you sure it is real epoxy and not one of the nearly but not
completely similar mixtures mostly made for car repairs?
Regards,
Rainer

old epoxy
 

Frogwatch wrote:
I had some epoxy left over from a project two years ago and I tried to
use it. It seemed to have separated into a watery top part and a
thicker milky bottom part. The whole mess smelled like ammonia.
Nevertheless, I did use some of it by mixing it very well. It took a
long time to cure but it did work. A couple of weeks later, it had
gotten so that I could not even mix it so I had to throw it away. I
am wondering if moisture had condensed as water in the container
somehow but this would be a lot of water, almost a half gallon.

the part A has begun to crystallize on you. Heating it up (like honey)
would dissolve the milky crystals and make it as good as new!. The part
B will darken over time and develop a strong amonia smell, it is fine to
use.
paul oman progressive epoxy polymers, inc
www.epoxyproducts.com/marine.html

old epoxy
 

wrote:
On Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:01:55 -0500, Paul Oman
wrote:


Frogwatch wrote:

I had some epoxy left over from a project two years ago and I tried to
use it. It seemed to have separated into a watery top part and a
thicker milky bottom part. The whole mess smelled like ammonia.
Nevertheless, I did use some of it by mixing it very well. It took a
long time to cure but it did work. A couple of weeks later, it had
gotten so that I could not even mix it so I had to throw it away. I
am wondering if moisture had condensed as water in the container
somehow but this would be a lot of water, almost a half gallon.


the part A has begun to crystallize on you. Heating it up (like honey)
would dissolve the milky crystals and make it as good as new!. The part
B will darken over time and develop a strong amonia smell, it is fine to
use.
paul oman progressive epoxy polymers, inc
www.epoxyproducts.com/marine.html


Will it still achieve full strength? Are any of the properties of the
cured product be affected? ---- have never heard or read anything suggesting properties any less with old epoxy. -- paul oman

old epoxy
 

On Mar 3, 10:01*am, Paul Oman wrote:
Frogwatch wrote:
I had some epoxy left over from a project two years ago and I tried to
use it. *It seemed to have separated into a watery top part and a
thicker milky bottom part. *The whole mess smelled like ammonia.
Nevertheless, I did use some of it by mixing it very well. *It took a
long time to cure but it did work. *A couple of weeks later, it had
gotten so that I could not even mix it so I had to throw it away. *I
am wondering if moisture had condensed as water in the container
somehow but this would be a lot of water, almost a half gallon.

the part A has begun to crystallize on you. Heating it up (like honey)
would dissolve the milky crystals and make it as good as new!. The part
B will darken over time and develop a strong amonia smell, it is fine to
use.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *paul oman *progressive epoxy polymers, inc *www.epoxyproducts.com/marine.html


I had some West System epoxy that was easily 12 years old that I used
for some repair work and other than the dark-coffee color, it was
fine. I called Gougeon before I used it and they said that other than
the color, so long as it's kept reasonably well sealed it's fine. As
it turns out, the limitation is on the can itself - a year or so
later, the can perforated with rust and began to leak....s

old epoxy
 

On Mar 2, 11:50*am, Frogwatch wrote:
I had some epoxy left over from a project two years ago and I tried to
use it. *It seemed to have separated into a watery top part and a
thicker milky bottom part. *The whole mess smelled like ammonia.
Nevertheless, I did use some of it by mixing it very well. *It took a
long time to cure but it did work. *A couple of weeks later, it had
gotten so that I could not even mix it so I had to throw it away. *I
am wondering if moisture had condensed as water in the container
somehow but this would be a lot of water, almost a half gallon.

I believe the resin itself has a long shelf life. But the shelf life
of the hardener is very short. If I found some left over old epoxy, I
would throw away the hardener, but kept the resin, and tried a test
batch to see if it cured similar to the way of fresh resin.

Jay Chan