Posted for "Eric M. Jones" <emjones@charter.net>:

My nickel--

When making epoxy and many other things, shelf-life is sometimes important and sometimes not. I had some two-part epoxy sticks that were over 20-years old and hard, and on a hunch heated them in the microwave for 15 seconds. They seemed as good as new, and performed extremely well, but I would not have bet my life on them.

It is in the interest of the manufacturer to give abbreviated shelf-lives for several reasons--

1) Corporate liability-tail reduction;
2) Requirement for certification--i.e. can you prove the shelf life is what you say it is?---You can't prove what you can't test;
3) Selling more product (not to be cynical...but there is some motivation there). 4) Credit card requirements (most are unhappy with long guarantees because of potential charge-backs). Million$ could be made reselling out-of-date Loctite, epoxies, etc. Good for the environment as well. Regards,
Eric M. Jones
www.PerihelionDesign.com
113 Brentwood Drive
Southbridge MA 01550-2705
Phone (508) 764-2072
Email: emjones@charter.net