What's the trick to keep CA bottles from stopping up with dried CA? I am tired of using maybe a half bottle, only to cap it and 2 weeks later it be stopped up and dried.

Anyone have any tricks to get around this?

Put some acetone in a safe container. Use something with a fairly airtight lid to prevent evaporation. I use 1# coffee cans. You can get spare CYA bottle lids and spouts from Tower for their products or possibly from the manufacturer if not a Tower product. When the CYA spout you are using gets clogged replace it with a clean one and put the clogged lid in the container of Acetone for 24 hrs. It will come out as clean as new.

I use a t-pin unless you cut to much off tip of bottle, I have a bottle left from last year and used it the otherday, just turn the t-pin and pull it out, do your glueing and put it back in, works fir me.

Oh yeah it helps to keep the bottles upright same for your thread locker to, I had bottle go bad cause it was laying down and clogged the whole spout.

Hi!
The trick is to never put on the cap...!!
Have followed this tip for years and it works good!
I use "Flash" Ca glue.

Regards!
Jan K
Sweden

When the tip clogs, unscrew the tip and drop it in a jar of acetone, preferrably a jar with a metal screw on lid with a gasket (like used for home canning).

Put a piece of celophane tape ("Scotch" tape) over the open CA bottle, and press it down all around to seal the bottle.

Let the tip soak in acetone for a day, and you're back in business.

Save the tips from empty CA bottles and store them in the jar of acetone. You'll always have a clean tip when you need it. Just make sure to let the acetone evaporate completely from the tip before putting it on the CA bottle.

The other 'trick' is to store your partial CA bottles in a sealed jar with silica gel. See [link=http://home.mindspring.com/~the-plumber/Hints-Kinks/CAjar.html]CA working life.[/link]

Make sure that you make as small as posible in the tip to begin with. then start using a straight pin to plug the hole, then as the hole gets bigger use a bigger pin/plug. the ice box works good till it gets tipped over and then hear the wife scream at you. my best solution is to put only a small amount in the bottle that your using, from the big 4 oz bottle, which you keep in the freezer. its also much cheaper to buy a big bottle than a bunch of little ones. dick

I agree with Dick. Keep the larger bottle in the fridge or ice box and fill a small working bottle. I have a bar fridge in the workshop to keep glues and drinks while I work. Just a cheep small fridge is all you need to store all the stuff you will need.

Cheers

Agreed.[sm=thumbup.gif]

The trick is to tap the CA container on the work surface to drain all residue from the tip. Every time you use it.
Works!

What type of store would sell the silica gel stuff?

I use one of those micro tips on my thin CA, and don't use a cap. The glue never really drains out of the capillary tube part, and hardens at the end. I just cut 1/16" or so off and it's ready to use. I get 10-15 sessions from 1 tip.

Is the Teflon tubing like we used to get for Hotstuff still available? I only have a half dozen packages left. It came in a fine size for the thin, and a larger size for the gap-filling CA.