JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

I went to my shop to get a bottle of CA earlier today for a small repair. This is Zap brand in a 2 oz. bottle. The bottle is about 1/3 full. The glue had thickened to the consistency of molasses. It is much thicker than even thick CA. Since this is Zap in its original bottle, I can't even take to top off to get the stuff out of the bottle. For those of you who have never used Zap, the bottle including the tip is all one piece--the top doesn't screw off like many others do. I was not aware that CA could or would do this. Anyone else ever have this happen? I guess from now on I'll buy one ounce bottles.

fancman

My Feedback: (16)

Left in warm temps all CA's as far as I know will thicken and eventually harden. I never buy a big bottle unless I'm doing major building and I keep any that I'm not using right away in the fridge. 1/2 oz bottles is about all I will buy now and by the way. Make sure you check out that bottle at your LHS. Last time I bought a bottle of thin CA it turned out to be bad and it's 12 miles back to the store for a refund/replacement.[]

CA is used where I work and they used to have it on the shelf in their storehouse until the day I went to order some and all 10 bottles they had were all thickened. Now they store all the CA they have in stock in a fridge.

aerowoof

keep it in the freezer it will stay fresh.

broke_n_bummin

Refrigerate ... just like super glue. In a pinch, you can use that plastic (fake) fingernail glue, it's cyanocrylate also ... but in some cases, it costs a little more. It will stick a hinge so you can fly on a Sunday.

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks guys. I keep unopened bottles of CA in the fridge, but the open bottle was in an unheated shop. I opened it in the winter, probably some time in December, to rebuild a Cessna 182 that I bought used and was a POS. Major rebuild. Used in on a couple other small repairs also and then put it in the adhesive caddy in the shop thinking it would be OK. WRONG. Live and learn, I guess.

sebo

I don't understand why your zap is thickening. I live in Florida and leave my ZAP opened and on the shelf in my workshop for as much as a year. I don't even put the cap on the Zap a Gap. It is just as good as the day I opened it. I did have one bottle of thin Zap thicken after a little over a year but I had never even opened it. I buy my Zap from Tower Hobbies because I believe that their stock is fresher than that in any hobby shop. I usually buy 5 bottles 2 oz Zap a Gap and 2 bottles of 2 oz thin Zap at a time. To have only one bottle thicken in over 20 years of modeling attests to the quality of ZAP. That's my $1.98 cents worth. Ron

bluestratos

I mix thin ca with bottles that turned too thick. I can then make any consistancy I want from the thickend bottle, from gel to medium. It takes a while for the thin to dilute it but just keep shaking it every so often.

Regards,
Randy

JollyPopper

My Feedback: (6)

Bluestratos, I like your idea. Also, since I had nothing to lose except a couple cc's of acetone, I took a very thin syringe and injected acetone into the thickened CA. It thinned considerably, and I tested it on a couple of things including some balsa. It took it awhile to flash but seems to be holding well. I won't use in on anything important (like an airplane), but I can use it for minor repairs around the house, I think. So the $2.00 or so of CA is not a total loss. Really stupid what a guy will do so as not to waste a couple bucks.