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D-limonene -Does it go bad with age?


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I occasionally use d-limonene as it's the most gentle solvent I have. Mostly I use it for roofs with 5-thou slates, as any other solvent eats straight through them.

 

However the limonene I'm using at the moment seems to be more feeble than I remember it from the last time I used it, seeming to take much longer for anything to grab.

 

The bottle I'm using must be a couple of years old. Does it have a shelf life and degrade with age, or could I have done something to contaminate it?

 

None of my other solvents seem to lose their power - although, to be honest, they get used up more quickly anyway!

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If it's a gentle solvent, is it actually constituted of an active ingredient and a dilutant? Because, if it is, it's possible the likely more volatile active bit has evaporated over time, leaving you with a bottle of water (or whatever). 

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1 hour ago, Siberian Snooper said:

I bought a litre of it several years ago and I'm still using it without any problems.

 

 

 

Presumably decanting it as you go along and leaving the 1 litre container firmly sealed inbetween times?

Not being a chemist, but, I would imagine the aggressive part of the adhesive will flash off if the lid is left off the bottle for any length of time, I have had a similar problem with other such glues.

 

Mike.

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I'm using the similar Orange Turpene and my bottle is now about 3 years old - no sign of it becoming weaker when I used some a couple of weeks ago.

 

 

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21 minutes ago, newbryford said:

I'm using the similar Orange Turpene and my bottle is now about 3 years old - no sign of it becoming weaker when I used some a couple of weeks ago.

 

 

My Turpine bottle is slowly contracting inwards after just having a look! I'll have to find a glass bottle!

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Limonene is widely available as a food ingredient as well as a de-greaser so it hardly needs diluting to stretch it out.

 

It is not miscible with water, and with a boiling point of around 176C almost anything that you might think as a cheap solvent is going to be more volatile not less.  So if it were diluted with anything it would over time become more concentrated and more effective not less.

 

The molecule looks to be a pretty stable one and while it can be chemically attacked, I doubt that simple storage would cause a major chemical change.

 

I doubt therefore that your bottle has "gone off".

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16 hours ago, sharris said:

...However the limonene I'm using at the moment seems to be more feeble than I remember it from the last time I used it, seeming to take much longer for anything to grab...

You wouldn't be working in a cold room, or the limonene or workpiece is cold by any chance? Very (very!) loose rule of thumb is that solvent function drops by roughly half for a 10C fall in temperature. (Think of the difference for sugar dissolving in cold water compared to your hot tea or coffee.)

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Hi

 

Mine now seems to have lost its strength. I have built several wagons using this bottle to stick the plasticard together without issue. Two months later I’ve started a new project and the glue doesn’t stick any more. I have left pieces overnight and been able to easily separate them in the morning.

 

At the moment I’ve gone back to Liquid Poly but it is too strong for the thinner plasticard and strip.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

Edited by PaulCheffus
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It oxidizes over time, saying that I cracked open a bottle I got from Hobby Holidays about 5 years ago for the first time today, and it worked a treat.

Not sure how long I've got until it stops working though.

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On 03/05/2020 at 23:12, Dagworth said:

Other than Amazon which I refuse to use on principal where else is good for buying Limonene?

 

Andi

 

Hobby Holidays Andi.

 

http://www.hobbyholidays.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=LIMONENE

 

I won't use Amazon either!

 

 

Edited by Tim Dubya
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