Titebond Shelf life

[Hudson Carpentry]

Over the past 3 days I have had an alarming amount of failed glue joints. I buy the glue in the largest tub they do and this batch is about 18 months old. Thinking about it all the fails have been with redwood (scandi.. pine). Cost me quite a bit of time today and turned today into one of them days.

Any ideas on shelf live. Stuff I glued up last week is holding up fine and its the same stuff. Its TB1

 

[jasonB]

I also buy the big 4lts bottles but keep it inside and transfer to a smaller8oz bottle, no risk of frost damage if the workshop gets too cold.

J

 

[MIGNAL]

I haven't used it in years but I seem to recall that there was some sort of date code on the bottles.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

I also buy the big 4lts bottles but keep it inside and transfer to a smaller8oz bottle, no risk of frost damage if the workshop gets too cold.

J

I do just that, Transfered to two smaller bottles (with different dispensing heads) and there all stored suitably. I may have though frost damage but its not been as cold this winter I don't think in my shop and the shop has been above 10deg for about a month so would have thought if frost I would have had frost damage it would have been apparent weeks ago?

Ill look for the date tomorrow. Im going to glue up some pieces and test.

 

[jasonB]

Just looked on titebonds site, 24mths in a sealed container.

So allowing for it sitting on a shelf before you got it could put it at the end of its life.

J

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Just looked on titebonds site, 24mths in a sealed container.

So allowing for it sitting on a shelf before you got it could put it at the end of its life.

J

Very much so. Looks like bin. Quarter of bottle as well.

 

[Bradshaw Joinery]

check it first... joints could have been extra resinous, wrong moisture content, left in the sun heat for too long etc...

when it gets hot, its a reall pita with joints cracking.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Well out of the 5 samples I glued up none failed and the wood gave away before the glue did. Its the same glue and same application method.

So im guessing some resin or oil of some sort is effecting the glue? How can I counter this if sanding sealer isn't enough?

 

[Bluekingfisher]

I also use the Titebond, as a hobbyist I only buy it in the smaller bottles. Mine is probably more than a year old. I have just bought the TB3 (waterproff version) which as part of the sales pitch states it has a longer shelf life, although doesn't specify times......which of course they would not commit themselves to.

 

[jasonB]

They do state a shelf life for all their adhesives, interestingly III is given as the same as II

http://www.titebond.com/product.aspx?id ... 3970f736af


If oil/resin is a possible problem them maybe treat it like an oily wood and wipe the surfaces to be glues with acetone first

J

 

[newt]

Unless your a pro I would have thought buy in the smallest size, the cost of glue as a fraction of the cost of the project in most cases is small. False economy buying big to save a few pence.

 

[DIY Stew]

I emailed Titebond technical support and this is what they said regarding Titebond II, asking what the shelf life is and how to read the code printed on the bottle, the code on mine is A112090035.

Titebond II has a conservative published shelf life of 2 years. But if kept in a good temperature controlled environment, it more likely will last 3 to 4 years. The signs of degradation are all physical. If the adhesive becomes very thick, or lumpy or stringy and does not wet out a wood surface well, it is going bad and losing bond strength. Titebond II will also sometimes get an orange gel separation, and that is a bad sign. However, if it is still smooth, creamy and wets out a wood surface well, it is still good. Your particular bottle was manufactured on 12/09/11, so it is a good fresh bottle. In the future, you can interpret our lot codes as follows:
 
Current format: Aymmddbbbb
 
The first letter is A for made in America, the first digit after the A is the last digit of the year of manufacture, the third and fourth digits represent the month, the fifth and sixth digits represent the day of the month and the last four digits represent the batch number. 
 
Example:
 
A904270023 – This material was manufactured on April 27, 2009
 
Thanks,
 
Bee Miller
Technical Service Representative
Construction Products Division
Franklin International
2020 Bruck St.
Columbus, OH 43207
614-445-1372
 
 

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Still haven't looked at the date on mine.

 

[No skills]

Well out of the 5 samples I glued up none failed and the wood gave away before the glue did. Its the same glue and same application method.

So im guessing some resin or oil of some sort is effecting the glue? How can I counter this if sanding sealer isn't enough?

Some sort of solvent? saw a program with staved worktops being made, think it was from a kind of teak (?) the machine operator had to wipe the glue up faces with a solvent due to the oily nature of the timber.

Random thought but there you go.

FWIW

 

[Bluekingfisher]

Strange though the glue is playing up after only several months. Being Water based it could be that the cold snap over the early part of the year affected its chemical make up.

Is your wshop insulated?? It may have frozen then thawed without you being aware it had actually frozen, if it's not used often.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Hello Blue

I guess you didn't see my last couple of posts. After testing the glue with 5 samples its held up well and the wood has gave before the joint. I use the glue nearly everyday and the shop is supposed to be insulated. I don't believe its as insulated as the landlord says but saying that even in the summer it's very good at keeping the cold in :S

 

[Bluekingfisher]

Hi Hudson, ah yes, a bit ike leaving the window open on a cold n frosty winters day to to let some heat in?

Anyway, glad you got it sorted, nothing worse than seeing money sitting there on the shelf knowing it is useless...............or it just me being a tight sod

 

[devonwoody]

I got a new bottle of Titebond 3 yesterday and the code is A202080024 what do you make of that for date?

(rutlands doing 14% off and free postage)

 

[9fingers]

8th feb 2012 batch 0024 according to the decoding scheme earlier in this thread.

code is ymmddbbbb

Bob

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks,