does monokote get too old to use?
 

In a recent archaeological dig through my shed, i unearthed an electric sailplane i started a few years ago. It is almost built and ready for monokote, which i bought with the plane. But it is >ahem< about 15 years old. Does anyone know if the monokote would still work, or is worth trying? Or should i just spring for some new stuff? I have been flying some rtf stuff and heli's, so i have never covered a model before, and i am not sure if i will be able to tell if it is behaving correctly or not!

Thanks a bunch,
Mike

RE: does monokote get too old to use?
 

I think you will be fine with old MonoKote. I’ve used 20 year old MonoKote without problems but it was not stored in a shed.

RE: does monokote get too old to use?
 

It's not going to hurt to try. But my guess is that it will work just fine. I've got Monokote that's probably at least that old that I still use with no problems at all. Do a test piece on scrap wood before you try it on your plane.

Ken

RE: does monokote get too old to use?
 

Is it still in the sealed tube ? If so, puncture one end and sniff...[:'(]If you can still smell the adhesive, It's OK. If it's been exposed all those years probably not. Best to just try it out on some old airframe to see if it still bonds.
Hope it still works for you.
Ugo

RE: does monokote get too old to use?
 

OK, thanks for all your help and suggestions, guys!! It is sealed still, I will give it a test go on a piece of scrap before I start, and just check it out I guess.

RE: does monokote get too old to use?
 

I am in Texas and I was storing my Monokote in the garage. It got hot enough that the adhesive must have activated because I could not peel the backing off without the adhesive coming off with it. Had to dispose of several rolls that were affected in this manner.
Since then I store it in the house and have used stuff that is more than 5 years old without problems.
I figure that if you can peel the backing off of it normally it will work just fine.

RE: does monokote get too old to use?
 

The green on this is 17 years old. The blue is 10+. Both were open and have been in my shop the whole time. It seems to take a little more heat to work with it other than that it is fine.

David

RE: does monokote get too old to use?
 

Just a couple of days ago, I got out a roll of Monocote that my dad had left in there, not knowing how old it was. I tried to separate the film from the covering and both ripped in small pieces. When I finally got separation, part of the adhesive was on the film and part on the covering. My first thought was that it might not work. If you get to that point, I would suggest throwing it away. :D

RE: does monokote get too old to use?
 

I bought out a retired flyer last year. Included was a bunch of Monokote as well as other brands. Storage wasn't an issue as our climate is very moderate here. I used a lot of the "old stuff" on there different planes. What I found was that all covered without a problem, but some of the colors were faded some. I also ran into some that was very brittle. I came back from a flight and found 1/4 of my horzinontal Stab was without cover. Other times I found that a rookie run off the runway into the greeen stuff, actually brown that time of the year, made some major holes. With the fresh monokote, the same trip resulted in some dings that needed ironing out.

I've used a lot of the glider weight covering and it seems to hold up very well.

Try it. If it sticks down and shrinks OK, you should be good to go. I may be a little brittle, but it sould be OK.

The one thing I've found though, and this isn't just the old stock, is that my "original formula" windex for clean up results in lifted edges of the covering.

Don

RE: does monokote get too old to use?
 

I have some really old monokote ( 16 ++ ) and it seems to work fine. I would suggest cleaning up the areas to cover and maybe even sanding them a bit, then spray the whole area to be covered with Aquanet hair spray, works for me.
ENJOY !!! RED