Sika 291i

[Ian_Rob]

90% of my recently purchased Sika 291i is unused. Will it keep for 12 months without deterioration if kept refrigerated?

 

[ctva]

I keep it on the boat in a locker sealed with a bit of plastic bag under the nozzle. Once it hardens at the nozzle, I just puncture down the tube to squeeze out a needed then tape over the hole. Keeps for well over a season and works as new.

 

[Humblebee]

I keep it on the boat in a locker sealed with a bit of plastic bag under the nozzle. Once it hardens at the nozzle, I just puncture down the tube to squeeze out a needed then tape over the hole. Keeps for well over a season and works as new.

That's a good idea! I. and I daresay many others, get fed up of using part of a tube only to find a lot of the remainder gone solid. Other thing I've done sometimes is cut the whole end off the tube and spread the stuff on with a spatula or whatever. Not a perfect solution but sometimes saves throwing 3/4 of a tube away.

 

[Escapeii]

I keep it on the boat in a locker sealed with a bit of plastic bag under the nozzle. Once it hardens at the nozzle, I just puncture down the tube to squeeze out a needed then tape over the hole. Keeps for well over a season and works as new.

Me too, you can also buy small tubes but weight for weight they are a good bit more expensive.

 

[eilerts]

90% of my recently purchased Sika 291i is unused. Will it keep for 12 months without deterioration if kept refrigerated?

Yes, if you talk about unopened tubes. Their technical data sheet says 12 month, if stores under 25C. From experience, such data are often on the safe side. For opened tube, it depends on how good you are able to seal it. TDS does not say anything about storage temperature, but I guess you can also store it in the freezer.
The first effect of expired Sikaflex will be that it get stiffer, i.e. you have to use more force to spread it, and more force to squeeze out the excess when mounting something. I have no solid knowledge of when adhesion is compromised, but my gut feeling is that it is far later. If you call technical support at Sika, I guess they can tell.

For shorter storage, a week or so, I just squeeze out a 1 cm string out of the nozzle, and just leave it. When you pull it later, it will extract the part that is cured in the nozzle. For longer storage I use aluminium tape. Neither oxygen nor water penetrate aluminium. If you want to seal it under the nozzle, as suggested above, I would go for a piece of plastic, as it is too easy to tear aluminium tape. Why not both?

 

[iamtjc]

I'll second @eilerts suggestion of using aluminium tape. I keep a baggie of 3cm strips of it (on it's backing paper) with the sikaflex.
When I'm done using it, I get a length of tape ready, take the nozzle off, squirt out a couple of cm of sealant, quickly wipe off the extruded sealant with a knife and slap on the aluminium tape working it into the thread of the tube.
That way I get fresh sealant, not exposed to air for more than a moment under an airtight membrane. I clean the nozzle out, screw it back on over the tape and keep the whole thing in the fridge (where possible).
I haven't had to ditch a part used tube of sikaflex since I started using this regime. It has kept for many months.

 

[coopec]

I keep mine at the bottom (back) of the fridge in a brown paper bag. (My Wife has given up complaining) But I seal both the tip of the nozzle (plastic wrap and rubber band) and also plastic wrap on the thread between the nozzle and the body of the cartridge. The adhesive keeps indefinitely.

 

[Ian_Rob]

I will try the aluminium tape idea as I have a roll left over after installing some insulation in the house a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for the ideas.