I opened up my can of Ten to One, 24-hour cure, high tear strength, RTV silicone mold rubber only to find part A about the consistency of bread dough. I had screwed the lid on tight enough as I had to put up considerable effort to get the lid screwed off. I checked both labels on containers A and B; B says to refer to container A for expiration date. Container A has no information on the label and no information stamped or engraved in the container stating an expiration date. I asked a person at the order department for some clarification and they didn’t know anything about the subject. Does anybody in this forum know an about answer? Also are there any tricks to proper storage of the ingredients? Magoo
I can think of a couple of issues…
One, there’s a chance that you may have inadvertantly gotten a tiny drop of the catalyst in contact with the RTV… It doesn’t take much, even the fumes of the catalyst are enough to set it eventually…
The other is that RTV, once exposed to the air, or rather, the moisture in it, will congeal, eventually… Most of the manufacturers I’ve looked at range the shelf-life from 6 to 9 months once the container is opened…
The main trick to keeping it is not to buy more than you can use in a reasonable amount of time, although refrigerating it is one way to increase the shelf-life, however, I’ve never tried it… From what I understand, it has little to do with the temperature, but more with the huimidity in the refrigerator… Wish there was a “silver bullet” to solve the shelf-life problem, but that’s the way some things just are…
Hans,
Thanks for the reply, I will carefully watch what I’m doing the next time. The silicone is way over 9 months so most likely that is my problem! do you have a favorite resin you could tell me? If that is going to violate the rules my Email is andymi@bresnan.net Magoo
i use Alumalite RTV (both “Quick-Set” and “High Strength 3”) for the molds and Amazing Casting Resin… The HS-3 is for casting parts with deep undercuts, like radial engines, certain figures, etc…
http://www.amazingmoldputty.com/index.cfm
I get both at Hobby Lobby…
Thank you for the information it is helpful. Living in Wyoming has its benifits and drawbacks. Hobby shops are one big drawback closest Hobby Lobby is 145 miles. My favorite family owned hobby store is 300 miles away in Rapid City SD. Magoo