Automotive Clear Coat Shelf Life

[Mcleod]

I am hoping you guys / gals may be able to assist me with some Automotive topcoat information. I am thinking of changing my topcoat when I have suitable safety gear sorted, part of the decision logic is to try and understand the shelf life of the product once open. I havent decided on what sort to try, however, I am going to look at a 1K and 2K product from Dupont and another 2K product from PPG.

Does anyone have experience with the shelf life of the Automotive clear they are using? Given the quantity I understand you have to buy, shelf life is a big concern for me as I dont paint near enough baits to ensure it is all used up quickly.

Any help apprieciated.

Thanks,

Angus

[Frank]

Well the clear you dont have to worry about it is the catalyst. Buy it in the smallest portion possible. And when storing it keep the temp as consistant as possible so you will get a long life out of it . Now I have not said how long because it depends on your temp and humidity in your area. We use our so fast it is not an issue but at home it does go bad once in a while. Frank

[FishThanks]

I have been using the same can of Dupont clear for three years. As Frank said my catalyst went at two years because the cap was not screwing down tight. I broke the rules and bought a different brand of catalyst because Dupont stopped making the clear I was using. As they promised it worked perfect. I do store my paints and clear indoors in the winter (Michigan). You should be able to buy clear coat by the quart.

[68KingFisher]

As Frank pointed out, it'll be the catalyst that ya gotta worry about goin bad. I will say that i've kept clear as long as 6 yrs from the time I purchased a gallon, till the time I used it completely up, and never had an issue.....but i've also had a can of catalyst go bad within weeks for some unknown reason, but for the most part i've never had any issues with old product. I do keep all my paints inside climate controlled areas year round so they never get too hot or too cold, and i'm almost OCD about wiping excess material from the lip or threads of the cans I pour the product from.....by doing so, i'm getting a good solid seal when I put the lid on, plus it makes it a zillion times easier to remove the lid the next time.....I learned the hard way that a little dried catalyst can make a lid almost impossible to remove from some of these cans...lol.

[Mcleod]

thanks for the info guys, very interesting. Sounds like there is some decent shelf life obtainable for the clear, the catalyst is a bit more tricky. From my perspective, I live in a part of Australia where the temp can go as low as 8 degC or so in the winter and 45 in the summer on a bad day, so decent temp fluctuation. Humidy, who knows, dry as all buggery to shirt soaked wet. I guess there is not much I can do about all that though, I doubt very much my wife will be very sympathetic to my topcoat climate control needs and allow use of the fridge.

I did manage to get hold of a technician from PPG and Dupont today, the most interesting bloke was from Dupont. He mirrored your experiences. I also discussed with him my current method of preserving moisture cure poly with Argon gas and he felt that this would increase the shelf life of the catalyst if that helps you at all.

Thanks again

Angus