How does CA glue go "bad"?

[Steve Sawyer]

I had no idea that CA glue has a shelf life until I was doing some research on CA products. I have two kinds of Hot Stuff CA glue on the shelf in my shop - the original thin and the thicker gap-filling formula, and I've had them for at least two or three years, and have continued to use them without problem.

My question is, what happens when CA glue goes bad? Do they stop curing and stay soft like old shellac?

[Rodger Knox]

It takes longer and longer to cure as it gets older, until it doesn't ever dry.

[Steve Sawyer]

Thanks, Rodger - maybe mine has been doing that to me but I just haven't noticed.

[Mike Conner]

I've read somewhere that CA glue starts to age once the container is opened and exposed to air and moisture. I have seen some tubes that have been opened for some time fail to cure correctly and/or very slowly. In recent years I have been buying the smaller tubes like they sell at Walmart in an attempt to avoid it going bad. I date the package with a sharpie marker and toss the unused ones that are over a year old.

In some cases, like attaching piezo transducers with CA gel, I use a fresh tube just to be sure.

[Steve Sawyer]

Obviously single-use packs is the best way to guarantee fresh glue, but it always seems to be a very expensive way to go as I usually throw out half of what's in the envelope, and it seems to be really hard to avoid clogging the nozzle on the consumer-packaged glues after a couple of uses.

Has anyone had any experience with the Gear Up/Gluboost products? They claim "super long shelf life" and "Super Fresh - longest shelf life available of any glue"

[Peter Wilcox]

I know this is heresy, but I get mine at the Dollar Tree, gel or liquid, a buck for 0.12oz in in each of 2 tubes (used to be 3 tubes - inflation strikes.) I've never had a problem with it.
https://www.dollartree.com/bulk/Super-Glue You can buy them by the single pack at the store.

[Randy Roberts]

Several years ago I had a long conversation with the fellow that manufactures a large portion of the CA sold under various labels. Their in house brand is the Satellite City "Hot Stuff" brand.
One of the things we discussed was shelf life and buying larger bottles / larger amounts .
His advice was that, un opened and kept in the freezer their CA should be good pretty much indefinitely. He said they keep samples from each batch frozen and periodically pull them and test them, and that he had just pulled a sample from their first batch manufactured 17 years prior and it still performed flawlessly.
So I usually buy 6-8 2oz or 4oz bottles directly from them and keep them in the freezer.

Once opened, I used to draw up the amount I was going to be using into a syringe, and then keep the opened bottle in the freezer, but I found that for some reason that seemed to cause the CA to somehow wick up to the mouth of the bottle and harden around the lip until, in a month or two, I couldn't get the barrel of the syringe down through it to draw up more.

So now, once opened, I just store the bottle on the shelf at room temperature and don't have that problem any more.

Once opened, the CA is hygroscopic and absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, slowly thickening the thin CA, which I take to be deterioration of it's usability. I unscrew the cap to draw up the CA rather than clipping off the tip, as the threaded screw on cap seems to seal the bottle better than the cap that snaps on the tip, and seems to keep the CA in the bottle fresh longer. If the opened CA seems to be thickened at all, I pitch it.

There is some CA manufactured in China that I don't trust even unopened.

The one thing I can't get out of my head is the nightmares they must have trying to manufacture and bottle this stuff...(Hey Joe, the bulk tank just sprang a leak...)

Hope that's of some help.

[Steve Sawyer]

Peter/Randy - thanks for the input.

I just "inherited" a sh*tload of small syringes, 80% of which have needles. Like an entire shopping bag full to overflowing. I thought that they'd be single-use with CA as I assumed that tiny needle would clog or the stuff inside would cure, but haven't tried them yet.

[Jason Rodgers]

When it comes to the thin CA, I like the Hot Stuff. Good advice here on storage and use, and yes, I've had bottles get pretty gummy and not cure. For the thicker CA, I really like the Loctite gel with the sqeezey sides. They're very easy to use, as whatever internal container or mechanism keeps the glue ready to go, and they're small enough that I've not had them go bad. I'm going to buy a few soon for a binding job (plastic).

[Peter Wilcox]

Peter/Randy - thanks for the input.

I just "inherited" a sh*tload of small syringes, 80% of which have needles. Like an entire shopping bag full to overflowing. I thought that they'd be single-use with CA as I assumed that tiny needle would clog or the stuff inside would cure, but haven't tried them yet.

I've got a bunch of 3ml syringes and 27 and 30 gauge needles to use for applying the glue in a controlled way, like under the fret edges and drop filling. I thought I could re-use them by rinsing with acetone, but they clog sooner or later (usually sooner.) They are handy, though, for applying accelerator to very small areas (accelerator dissolves lacquer.)

[Todd Stock]

CA gets thicker and takes longer to kick as it ages. I used to buy pint bottles from Starbond, and recently found what remained of a bottle of medium in the garage fridge (not cleaned out so often because pretty much just beer, wine, and water)...still good after about seven years. These days, I just buy a couple 2 ounce bottles of BSI thin every month or so from a hobby shop that has high turnover...four times more expensive than buying a pint bottle, but always fresh and I like the BSI stuff.

The GluBoost super thin is pretty nice - I like it for tasks where I need some serious penetration. Their other CA's are good as well - used them all, but not sure that there is any advantage over other brands other than packaging.

On application, I use micropipettes...500 run about $20 from Amazon, and 1 ounce poly dose cups...CA goes from bottle to cup, and is used with the pipette as an applicator.

https://www.amazon.com/Qorpak-Graduated ... HVYW3S8TFT

[Todd Stock]

Starbond is available on Amazon... about $40 for a pint post-paid.

Peter: BSI accelerator in the brown bottle does not affect lacquer - the carrier is naphtha or similar light petroleum-based product. GluBoost accelerator if applied without allowing it to build up on surface (in other words, as a mist) will not harm lacquer, either. Safest is the BSI stuff...you can soak the guitar finish in it and have nothing to be concerned about.

[Alan Carruth]

Some years ago I lucked into part of a roll of Teflon 'spaghetti'; stuff they use to insulate wires in electronics. It makes a dandy applicator for CA. I cut a length about 2" long and put it in the nozzle of the bottle, and just trim off the end if it get plugged up. I get .7 or .85 oz. bottles and have not had to throw any out since I started doing this. I think the narrow tube minimizes air exchange and helps keep the stuff from going bad. I just keep the bottles in the shop. The transparent tube also makes it really easy to get a tiny amount just where you want it.