Old JB Weld?

So I'm sitting here surrounded by too many loose parts so's I decides to glue 'em into something like a rocket. I open a new (?) package of JB Weld and puncture the tubes the same as at least a half dozen times and the catalyst flows out as expected. The base is like tar-very cold tar. I couldn't find an expiration date and the package looks brand new. I'm doing a set test, as I don't want to trust an Aeropack to this quite yet. This is literally the first time I've ever experienced this. It mixes like (pick any disgusting semi-solid). Any body else ever had this happen? It was stored indoors in the package.

For the past three years I have been buying "old stock" JB Weld from a local (Champaign, IL) hobby store for less than half price compared to the new stuff. It is a bit thicker but it seems to cure fine and is plenty strong--really haven't noticed any measurable difference.

I bought my current JB Weld 19 years ago. The tubes are ripped open, I store them in plastic baggies. It looks like (pick any disgusting semi-solid), but still cures fine.

dix- thanks! makes me feel a little better 'cuz I bought 3 packs at the same time and this is one of that batch.

CG- 19 YEARS ago?? Man- I thot I was frugal! You win!

I also recently used some that I bought and opened over 5 years ago and in that time it has been sitting in my toolbox in a garage that regularly saw inside temperatures of 105 in the summer and well under freezing in the winter. It might have been a little thing but as others have mentioned it cured fine.

JB Weld can be thinned with lacquer thinner or acetone. I thinned some with lacquer thinner a couple weeks ago so I could pour it into a rusted void in a pipe. Worked like a charm. You won't need to thin it as much.
The company website recommends about a tea spoon of either one to a full package of JB Weld.

tbzep said:

JB Weld can be thinned with lacquer thinner or acetone. I thinned some with lacquer thinner a couple weeks ago so I could pour it into a rusted void in a pipe. Worked like a charm. You won't need to thin it as much.
The company website recommends about a tea spoon of either one to a full package of JB Weld.

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Agreed. I have drastically thinned down mixed batches of it (down to paint consistency) using 91% (i.e., nearly anhydrous) isopropyl alcohol or acetone in order to paint it onto ejection baffles, aft centering rings and the insides of staging couplers. It cures to a very hard, heat-resistant coating.

Wow, guys thanks! It did set up and cure-don't have a durometer but looked good-just really stiff and hard to tool. I really never thot of thinning it...This will now work for the project I had in mind. I love TRF'rs!

Mark- Somehow this didn't make it in the last post but thank you for the tip about thinning it to a paint consistency- I didn't know you could do this and am going to use it on (in?) a balsa tailcone I just spun out for a scratch build. I need to line about .70 of a 32mm exhaust outlet for a long burn H54 Cez. I'll also bond the retainer cap for a 29mm Aeropack inside it. In the famous last words of many a mad scientist:" it's only an experiment..."!

Thanks. The baffle in the photo was painted with two coats of thinned JB Weld. Most likely you will have to put in multiple coats, too. I used a cheap tin-handled horsehair brush to paint it on. If you really want to, you can clean the brush afterward by standing it up in a glass jar partially filled with isopropyl alcohol or acetone (or lacquer thinner) and letting it soak for awhile.