CA's - Should they be stored in a Fridge?

 

Question: Should CA's be stored in a refrigerator?

Short Answer:  Good quality CA's like the Pacer ZAP line do not require refrigeration unless you plan on storing the product for more than a year. Keep the bottle sealed and out of direct sunlight or hot rooms. If you do refrigerate any CA, allow it to stabilize and come to room temperature overnight before using.

Better Answer: There has long been a controversy over the need to refrigerate CA's in order to sustain their shelf life. It is helpful to understand the history of this practise, the original reasons for it and what we recommend today.

1) Background.

Refrigeration slows down the decay of CA's and subsequent hardening caused by contaminants in the glue, evaporation of additives, UV light, water vapour and poor packaging. Prior to 1982, most CA's offered into the hobby market, were in fact industrial products that had failed against some factory criteria. Hobby "packagers" would buy this discarded material and package it for consumer sale. In many cases, the shelf life of the material was 60-90 days and if you wanted to extend the life, refrigeration was required. This practise continues today for adhesives sold at the lower end of the price scale.

2) In 1982...

Pacer Technology introduced the ZAP line of adhesives that were blended and formulated specifically for consistency, quality and long shelf life. Pacer also introduced nitrogen bottle purging and filling, welded bottle nozzles and CA's that were more pure than anything on the market up to that time. Unopened shelf life was guaranteed to the purchaser for 1 year.

3) Today...

Only the low cost cheap grade CA's require refrigeration in order to extend their shelf life longer than 90 days. Good quality CA's such as ZAP (Pacer) products are made from the purest materials, packaged to ensure long shelf life and do not require refrigeration.

4) If refrigeration is undertaken...

There are several issues to concern yourself with. Let the adhesive come to room temperature overnight before using. Cold glue is slower to cure, offers weaker bonds and condenses water from the air as room temperature air is sucked back into the bottle to replace cold glue dispensed. The warmer air condenses over the cold glue remaining in the bottle. This addition of condensed water further contaminates the glue and dramatically shortens the life of the remaining CA in the bottle.