Devcon 'pot life'?

[inchpincher]

I have an unopened 500g tub of Devcon aluminium putty F to be used to taper the inside of a carb manifold as an experiment. Whilst reading the spec sheet over a cup of tea it has a 'pot life' of 60 minutes, it's cure time is 16h so does this mean once I've cracked the seal it all needs using?

Ta,

 

[awemawson]

he he.... I had pot of Devcon aluminium putty that I bought in 1975 from Radiospares (Now RS), and it was still going strong when I moved here in 2007 and chucked it out as part of the clear out. 500 gram pot with a tidly pot of ??catalyst??? and a double ended plastic spoon to measure it. Formulation may have changed, after all it works so the EU have probably banned it

 

[wyn]

Isn't it an epoxy so whatever you mix up will have the "pot life"

This pdf says 3 year shelf life.

 

[zzr1200]

I think that "Pot Live @ 75 Deg" is possibly that the mixed filler has to be used within 60 minutes and then allowed to harden without being touched again.

 

[inchpincher]

Ok that makes sense, it's the mixed product that remains useable for an hour. At £40 a tub I feel relieved!

Thank you guys.

 

[Luke]

Yes, 'pot life' is how long you've got to get it on to whatever it's going on. After that it'll be going off and won't bond properly.

The other issue with epoxy-based compounds in a mixing pot is self-heating - the reaction is exothermic, if you have too much mixed epoxy in a short/stout pot it will overheat.

The following link might be useful. It refers to Epoxy in general, rather than the compound you have.

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/epoxy-chemistry/