I keep a gallon tin of West Systems epoxy in my (room temperature) basement,
for general purpose use. It usually lasts about 5 years. I have never
noticed any degradation in performance as it gets older. The only change is
that the hardener gets a mahogany color after a year or so, but it still
works fine.

I've got some cheap ($30/gal on EBay) stuff down there now that's several
years old. It's still clear and works fine.





"Dennis Johnson" wrote in message
. ..
I keep my supply of epoxies at room temperature and I believe they will
have a very long shelf life; years if not decades. Of course, for any
critical bonding application, you should do a simple adhesive test to
confirm it's still good before proceeding. Using epoxy before its
expiration date is always the safest course, if not the cheapest.

Keeping some types of epoxy at cold temperature, such as in a
refrigerator, will cause them to crystallize. The crystallization should
be reversed by slowly heating the jug of epoxy in a pan of water until the
crystals dissolve before the epoxy is used.

Dennis Johnson