# New tube of Sikaflex-512



## hero

Evening all,on my way home stopped at Cranham m/h"s in essex and bought a tube of sikaflex 512 for a small job,when i got home and read on the tube its got a best before of 02/2010,its a good few weeks out of date,thinking of taking back but its an hour each way would this matter, as long as tube is new and sealed should be ok,what do you think cheers Matt :roll:


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## Jezport

As long as it has been stored correctly, not near heat and it is sealed you will be OK. I would phone cranhams and ask for either half your money back or they replace it using a courier at their cost.


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## trek

Over the years I've bought several tubes of the stuff & almost every one was close too or exceeded the date by a couple of months

& I never had any problems using them (though they were used up soon after purchase)




sounds like you bought it to use immediately so you should be ok

but if it's just to keep for emergencies then it maybe worth trying to get a fresher tube


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## trek

For emergencies I can recommend this stuff :- SOUDAL FIXALL

UKSealants

Soudal FixAll

I always carry a tube of the stuff in the camper


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## Vennwood

*Re: new tube of sikaflex-512*



hero said:


> Evening all,on my way home stopped at Cranham m/h"s in essex and bought a tube of sikaflex 512 for a small job,when i got home and read on the tube its got a best before of 02/2010,its a good few weeks out of date,thinking of taking back but its an hour each way would this matter, as long as tube is new and sealed should be ok,what do you think cheers Matt :roll:


I had a similar experience with out of date Sikaflex. Bought it last June with a sell by date of Sep 08. My problem was that I didn't need to use all of it straight away and found that after a month or two the remaining stuff became so solid inside the tube that I broke the dispenser trying to get it out so ended up throwing it away - at around £9 its not so economical. I would suggest you contact Cranhams and see what they say. You could always return it by post as a cheaper than driving option


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## Jezport

*Re: new tube of sikaflex-512*



Vennwood said:


> hero said:
> 
> 
> 
> Evening all,on my way home stopped at Cranham m/h"s in essex and bought a tube of sikaflex 512 for a small job,when i got home and read on the tube its got a best before of 02/2010,its a good few weeks out of date,thinking of taking back but its an hour each way would this matter, as long as tube is new and sealed should be ok,what do you think cheers Matt :roll:
> 
> 
> 
> I had a similar experience with out of date Sikaflex. Bought it last June with a sell by date of Sep 08. My problem was that I didn't need to use all of it straight away and found that after a month or two the remaining stuff became so solid inside the tube that I broke the dispenser trying to get it out so ended up throwing it away - at around £9 its not so economical. I would suggest you contact Cranhams and see what they say. You could always return it by post as a cheaper than driving option
Click to expand...

*Any type of PU sealer should be used shortly after opening or it will set even if it was well in date,*


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## Vennwood

*Re: new tube of sikaflex-512*



Jezport said:


> *Any type of PU sealer should be used shortly after opening or it will set even if it was well in date,*


Not necessarliy true. I've been using all sorts of sealers, glues and mastics for years and rarely had a problem. If you don't put the caps back on properly then you can expect problems. I agree if you keep them months and months they will go off eventually (that's probably cos they are out of date 

After all if the cap is on properly then it should be no different to being sealed as it came in the first place.


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## gaspode

*Re: new tube of sikaflex-512*



Vennwood said:


> Not necessarliy true. I've been using all sorts of sealers, glues and mastics for years and rarely had a problem. If you don't put the caps back on properly then you can expect problems. I agree if you keep them months and months they will go off eventually (that's probably cos they are out of date
> 
> After all if the cap is on properly then it should be no different to being sealed as it came in the first place.


As Jezport indicated it's a problem specific to PU sealers, nothing to do with mastic, silicon etc. Once a PU sealer is opened there is no way you'll keep it useable for very long regardless of the "use by" date. In fact my experience is that out of date PU sealant will often be found to be more viscous than it should be even if unopened. Unless the sealant is to be used immediately I'd ask for it to be replaced with an "in date" item. My local retailer will reduce the price of PU sealant once it's approaching its "use by" date just to get it off the shelves.


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## hero

*Re: new tube of sikaflex-512*

Hi,rang cranham,said they give me a full refund,and were going to take the rest of them off the shelve,as they are an hour away i rang their sister company Countryside caravans who sell it for £3 cheaper and got in date stuff so i went to them 15 miles from where i live,used it today .good stuff to work with made a better job than what was on the van previous,got a tip off someone that once you put silka flex on spray watered down fairy liquid on to it and you can work with it and smooth it in ,came out a real treat,cheers Matt


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## trek

so happens that I needed some sikaflex today to seal around a hole I made in the floor

I was fitting a Thetford Automatic toilet vent to my C-250 (similar idea to the SOG)

the un-opened tube of SIKAFLEX 512 that I had showed a use by date of 06/2009, opened the tube & it was fine. 

(now I've opened it I will have to find some more jobs that need doing to use it up)


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