Paint shelf life - lechler 29107?

[charlysays]

I have some lechler 29107 which is just under 4 yrs old. It's always been stored in an almost full, sealed container in my house. Admittedly unheated, but it's still in the house and won't have had shed related extremes of temperature (I live near the sea- frost Very rare and snow almost unheard of).
It's got fast hardener and I sprayed some end of last week and it's sure taking its time to harden up. It's sanding fine, even up to 800 dry but in thicker film areas it's still marking easily with a finger nail. The paint needed a good stirring but then seemed fine and the hardener looked perfect without visual signs of deterioration.
Tbh I seem to remember it taking a while to hard when applied thickly even when it was new so maybe after another few days it'll be ok.

Firstly, what are people's experience with elderly 2k paints? I saw a post from @Dcal where he said he'd used old paint and it was ok. What brands were they? Storage conditions etc and how old? Any more info would be useful

I feel this thread could be useful for people as lots of us struggle to use paints within the official shelf life.
Obviously mixing a test batch is sensible/ mandatory but then some of us love to try it on and risk sanding a load of gunge hahaha.

I did read a tip on the southern polyurethanes forum which was to shoot some welding gas into the paint tins before sealing. With argon being heavier than air it should purge the tins and isolate the contents from air which according to those guys massively extends shelf life as there's a lot less to react with. Would it be worth making a Sticky with this info?

 

[ajlelectronics]

Firstly, what are people's experience with elderly 2k paints?

Don't worry about it. Just make sure it is well mixed and lump free and it will be fine.

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

I used some old 107 on the Jag spot repair recently without any problems.

 

[jo1010]

It's the hardener that will be more critical with age...if hardener had been opened previously it may well have deteriorated.
Otherwise all i do after opening any paint is to invert the whole can briefly before storage ...but I wouldn't expect any finish type paint to last on the shelf in its original form more than a few months tbh

 

[fnlvder]

I've recently sloshed on some 5 year old lechler with a brush and didn't have any problems with it, I did need to mix the tin for quite a while. Don't remember it behaving differently to the last time I used it but I wouldn't say I was a competent painter.

 

[Smallfry]

I have used some 20 year old ICI Belco 2K, actually probably older. Tins were unopened, left over from a job that never happened. Paint was fine after a thorough mixing. The hardener was like thick jelly, which is usual.

Used with newish hardener that hasn't thickened, should not be a problem. Can't comment on the thinners, used that for other things a long time ago, but no problems that I can recall

 

[My_Teenage_Self]

Do you guys filter/strain your epoxy primer at all before putting it your gun?

 

[RaceDiagnostics]

Yes, all paint goes through a filter for me.

 

[graffian]

I stopped painting cars 1990 ish, and still had several shelves of paint, I have thrown away a lot but kept almost prime colours so I can mix whatever I need[in theory].
And haven't had any problems with any of the paint.

As someone said hardener has a shelf life, I have to buy a can whenever I paint something[it's the biggest cost]. I used to buy small cans a few times a week and always had fresh hardener.
Previous to that I had cans that I knew were a few months old, unopened and were solid, opened cans it was pretty much guaranteed to have gone off after that length of time, in the summer it was
often stringy after a week.

I bought some Lechler epoxy, must be about 2010[on Langy's recomendation], I have been using it regularly every few years since then.
I had to paint a bike tank about a year ago, the spoxy had setled and seperated to binding agent and a thick hard layer of crud, took about
half an hour to break up and stir in the crud in so it was smooth paint again.
The epoxy went on nicely and set as expected. I don't filter epoxy.

 

[Turbo]

Metallic paints do not keep a long time in storage. The metallic bit separates out and no amount of stirring will keep it suspended in the paint.
But its ok to use it up in hidden areas like wheel arches and underneath the car.