Storing Resin

**VkingMike** · 01-17-2022, 02:01 PM

Are there any issues with temperature? As in, can it withstand cold/hot with no ill effects, while still sealed an unused? I was just curious on the proper storage method is preferred. The smell is so strong, no way it could be kept at room temp or inside. lol

**XstreamVking** · 01-17-2022, 04:49 PM

Protect from freezing. Stable temps are best.

**Instigator** · 01-17-2022, 06:54 PM

In 70*+ temps (approx) shelf life is normally spec’d at 6 months but I know in my shop, here in Ohio, where I keep it at 50* f in the winter and normally at 70 - 80 I have seen 2 yrs.

In garages at ambient in Fla, I have seen it go off at 6 months.

I know some store epoxies in their fridge.

**VkingMike** · 01-17-2022, 07:01 PM

Thank you guys, at 400 a bucket I just wanted to be safe

**89LASER** · 01-20-2022, 08:58 AM

I put a 5 gallon bucket in a plastic sealed barrel and stored it in a back room in my house so no smell escaped until you opened the barrel. Room stayed in the upper 60 degree temps. It was still good in the spring.

**LakeFever** · 01-20-2022, 09:19 AM

Promoted Vinylester has a shorter shelf life than poly. Best to use it up within 3 months. I was told cool, not cold is best and not to store it in heat at all. A little trick I got was to put a gallon in the fridge the night before my big lays to slow kicking the next day. Worked for me. I used empty windshield washer jugs carefully cleaned with acetone and dried to pour the resin into out of the 5 gal pails.

**VkingMike** · 01-20-2022, 09:28 AM

It's been in the 40's over night here, mid 70's in the day. Sometimes Florida is wild.

**MattGreen** · 02-24-2022, 08:38 AM

Epoxy resin will form little granules (like rock salt) if it gets too cold – even somewhat above freezing. I’ve screwed up and had this happen 3 or 4 times over the years, including to an injection tube of WEST 410 adhesive (face-palm). You can “fix” it by sitting the resin jug in a bucket of hot water for a few hours but it’s still a real pain.

Although that’s frustrating, I’m also cheap so I don’t like to keep my shop heat cranked up if I’m not in there. This fall I made this resin storage locker to solve both of these problems. It’s under my engine assembly bench and will hold up to four 5 gallon pails, although I usually decant to 1 gallon cans for mixing typical batches. It’s based on a 100W thermostatically controlled floor tile warming blanket. The base you see under the jugs is 2” of EPS foam with the heating element on top embedded between two layers of ¼” cement board. The locker is lined with 1” of polyiso foam (and the shop itself is well insulated although not the concrete slab). It works awesome. I have a second dial thermometer that reaches the center of the locker to verify adequate heat distribution. It keeps the locker between 60 to 70F even when it’s -35C (-31F) outside and I have the main heat off. There's a little shelf for caulking tubes too.

Anything else that I don't want to freeze or get excessively cold goes in there too, like water-based cleaners.