Trouble with Brodak Clear Dope

[Phil Spillman]

Over the past year + I have had n less than 1 gallon plus two quarts of Brodak clear go solid except for the thinners in each. I have bee told that I am the only bloke having this trouble and that I must be doing something wrong! Has anyone else had this experience? In addition is there a wahy to keep this from happening? I close all metal containers with a channel lock plyers so I am confident my cans are tight!

Thanks ,

Phil Spillman

[Dave_Trible]

I've never seen that with clear,  short of simple evaporation from a non-sealed container.  I did recently pitch some red Sig dope that did this although it had been sitting in a jar for a couple years.  I am disturbed that I have about 3/4 gallon of high end epoxy resin I make props from went solid in the can........and in a separate squeeze bottle I use with it.  It's only about 2-3 months old from the manufacturer.

Dave

[Doug Moisuk]

I have never seen anyone use channel locks. Maybe it’s twisting and not allowing a good seal. I have cans that have been opened and are years old. I place the lid on the can cover with a cloth or paper towel and use a hammer to seal invert and place upright. If it’s left over special colour blends I put it in a glass jar close tight and invert then upright.

[Dan McEntee]

Over the past year + I have had n less than 1 gallon plus two quarts of Brodak clear go solid except for the thinners in each. I have bee told that I am the only bloke having this trouble and that I must be doing something wrong! Has anyone else had this experience? In addition is there a wahy to keep this from happening? I close all metal containers with a channel lock plyers so I am confident my cans are tight!

Thanks ,

Phil Spillman

   I'll agree that if you don't know your own strength, you could be distorting the cap, and/pr the spout of the can, and it will never seal no matter how tight. Sometimes I think the answer to this problem when buying dope by the gallon is decanting into quart cans or good sealing jars. Then as you use the dope, clean the cans/jars well so you can use them on the next gallon, being careful when pruing off the lid and resealing to avoid damaging the lip.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Balsa Butcher]

You are not alone in this. I can't comment about the expoxy but I have had this happen with Brodak dope after a few years, both clear and colored. The fact that my dope is kept in an unheated/non-air conditioned garage work shop probably doesn't help either.  The pigment will settle to the bottom of the jar and sit there like a big ball of coagulated goo. Stirring or adding thinner will not restore it, it's unuseable. The clear will just get dark colored and gelatinous.

[Perry Rose]

I'm tickling 80 years old, I'd be happy to have something go solid.

[Miotch]

I've had it happen to some really old cans and jars of dope, both Brodak and SIG.  Whenever I think about it, I turn my cans and jars over.  Flipping them about every two months.  Don't know if that helps or not, but I have plenty of stock I've had for more than 20 years that is still good.  I've never purchased a gallon of anything except when covering and painting a real plane.

[Phil Spillman]

Many thanks for your responses! First Channel Locks are simply extension plyers for larger lids. Second this phenomoneunm never happened to me in the good old days ( I have been building and flying  and painting model planes for over 70 years) and my old Beauty rate dopes never congeiled into a solid mass no matter how long they sat in their container. I suspect that the EPA has once again screwed up perfectly good products in the name of protecting us or our environment! Boy are they ever so helpful but the Tobacco industry goes merrilly on it way poisioning its customers! EPA doesn't do a damned thing about that  though! Perhaps cancer is lost on their money hungry political guvenors!  or Big Pharma.

Phil Spillman

[Steve Lotz]

I note that Brodak sold 2 types of clear...regular labeled fuel proof and the other labeled Crystal Clear. Which was it that went bad?