What is the shelf of flexcoat after the bottles have been opened? I had a bottle of their regular resin go cloudy/crystallize on me in less than a year. I have a bottle a bottle of their "lite" resin that I used to finish one rod last may. It has not crystallized, and I want to make sure that it is okay to use before I ruin my work.

Pretty much forever as far as I can tell. Just warm up the resin if it crystalizes. I use short bursts in ma's microwave just to watch the terror in her eyes (I like that; gets me even for the cast iron skillet :) ). Leave the caps off so pressure doesn't build up, though. Some use hot water in pans and set it in there.

I've still got finish from the early 80's that I've had to zap a few times through the years. It's still fine. Kept at room temps, it doesn't seem to crystalize very often; it is temperature related as to how frequently it'll do this.

Putter
Williston, ND



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2006 11:55PM by Randy Parpart (Putter).

Putter, That stuff is not like whiskey, you don't have to "age it" Earley 80's that's got to be some kind of record. How many gallons did you start out with? Jesse

I only started with two each of this stuff. I've been saving it; hoarding it for a while, now.

Can't get it anymore. Probably have maybe 5 oz. of each/hardner-resin left is all. Man, this stuff isn't amber, it's BROWN. Wraps are still clear unless put over white thread, though. Even then, it's really not that noticeable.

Putter
Williston, ND

I've had flexcoat crystallize like that, I hate to see it go to waste. I have noticed that even after microwaving and mixing with hardener that it still doesnt apply as well as "fresh" epoxy does. My theory is that no matter how hard you tighten the caps on the plastic bottles, air always finds its way in there and causes the crystallization. (at least in my book). What I think the solution is finding bottles that are absolutely air tight, glass maybe and using them for storing epoxy.

Cold temperatures and age, somewhat, are what causes this.

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