After I read about it here, I bought a tube of 3M Fire Barrier Sealant, but when I got home and read more I decided it wasn't what I want.
I put it in the car to take it back and didn't think about temperature. It was there for 2 days, all of it 30 or below and last night was 10F.
Am I obliged to keep the stuff and try to find a use for it?
The tube itself says to "store between 40 and 90F for maxmum shelf life."
Whether you intended to or not, the caulk was likely compromised, and it is a life safety item. You know the store will assume you did the right thing and didn't damage the caulk, they have no way of telling what you did or didn't do, and they will put it back on the shelf. Someone else will buy it. The question is - would you want to be the guy buying that compromised caulk? Let that guide you.
R
Your caulk shrunk in the cold.
I wholeheartedly agree with Rico's & Red Green's comments....... returning potentially compromised material (especially something like a fire protection product) is unethical.
But here the are the "Storage Conditions" from the 3M product information
Packaging Product packaged in cartridge or pail is enclosed in HDPE plastic containers, sausage is packaged in aluminum foil wrap Storage 3M=99Fire Barrier Sealant CP 25WB+ should be stored indoors in dry conditions between 40=B0F and 90=B0F (4=B0C and 32=B0C) in the original unopened package. Avoid repeated freeze / thaw exposures of the 3M=99 Fire Barrier Sealant CP 25WB+ prior to installation.
Shelf Life 3M Fire Barrier Sealant CP 25WB+ shelf life is 12 months in original unopened containers from date of packaging when stored above 68=B0F (2=B0C).
the operative phrase is " Avoid repeated freeze / thaw exposures of the 3M=99 Fire Barrier Sealant CP 25WB+ prior to installation."
Looks like you're home free with only a single freeze thaw cycle. What's expiration date or date of mfg?
cheers Bob
It may have water in it, I just used a tube a couple of days ago and was able to wash it off my hands with plain water. I don't know if freezing will break it down or not but the trailer it's shipped to the supplier in is not heated and I'm sure it gets below freezing when shipped in the winter months.
TDD
That was my first reaction. But then it occurred to me that maybe people who actually knew would say that it truly doesn't matter, that they are good down to -20, and shelf life is the same. In the same way someone asked about the warnings "California has determined that ingredients in this product may be dangerous to your health". I hadn't seen that at the time, but I recently bought a little bag of little plumbing parts, all of them copper. They're not dangerous, but it seems they include the ingredients warning on almost everything now.
So of course I will do the right thing, or I wouldn't have bothered to ask. I just thought it conceivable that I had done no harm.
I wrote this and then DD_ replied to you:
That's what it says, but fwiw, 68F isn't 2C. I think they do mean
68F.It turns out that it is 3M? Fire Barrier Sealant IC 15WB+ but inspired by you, I looked for that product sheet and it is word for word the same as th eone you found.
It's getting there. What do other people think?
Hard to read: 0_IARN maybe. That would mean 2010 and the next 3 characters are supposed to be numbers, so I can't tell at all. But most of 2010 was less than a year ago. If it were about to expire anyhow, that would get me off the hook, but if it's not, does that mean anything?
I'm not the right one to ask. I make a point to buy dented cans and damaged packages so the stores won't loose money, so that society won't waste resources. In this case, if I knew it was out in the cold for 2 days, I might well buy it. Especially after DD_'s and Dufas's posts.
Dented, not bulging, which tends to mean that poison is growing.
Ya might try calling 3M customer care,
I have no reason to contact 3M, I'm completely satisfied with the performance of the product. :-)
TDD
Hmmm. Most people do that to save money. Do you pay full price? ;)
I do appreciate your thinking, though. And I do appreciate that you cared enough about the caulk to ask the question.
Bob's comment that you're home free is assuming that the caulk wasn't already exposed to repeated freezing, and, again, that's something you don't know. All you do know is that you subjected it to one hard freeze and increased the odds of there being a problem. It's a latex caulk, so you could find a place to use it up.
R
Call them anyway and ask for some coupons for something.
I posted recently about microwaving cold caulk. It was suggested that I put it in warm water for a while. Then someone found a site that said plainly that it could be microwaved for about 30 seconds. I'd let it get room temperature, see if that works, and inspect for any foil, and if none is found, microwave the room temperature caulk for 15 seconds, and then try that. Freezing may have affected it on a nonrepairable basis. You just have to get it warm and try it. Maybe it will work. At worst, you lose $5, and gain the experience of keeping your caulk warm.
Steve
Shelf Life 3M Fire Barrier Sealant CP 25WB+ shelf life is 12 months in original unopened containers from date of packaging when stored above 68°F (2°C).
reply:
Some analysis. 2C=35.6F. I thought that was wrong, as 0C is 32F, and 2 isn't far above that.
Steve
"FatterDumber& Happier Moe" wrote
Dollar to a donut hole I bet they tell you to buy more caulk.
Steve
When your caulk gets cold, doesn't it shrivel up? :-)
TDD
rom date of packaging
stored above 68=B0F (2=B0C).
WB+ shelf life is 12
hs in original unopened containers from date of packaging
n stored above 68=B0F (2=B0C).
Yes, we all realize that. Thanks.
R"The Daring Dufas" wrote
It's like the answer to "Do you smoke after sex?"
Don't know. Never looked.
Steve
That was my first reaction. I only posted on the possibility that people who actually knew would say that it truly doesn't matter, that they are good down to -20, and shelf life is the same. In the same way someone asked about the warnings "California has determined that ingredients in this product may be dangerous to your health". I hadn't seen that at the time, but I recently bought a little bag of little plumbing parts, all of them copper. They're not dangerous, but it seems they include the ingredients warning on almost everything now.
So of course I will do the right thing, or I wouldn't have bothered to ask. I just thought it conceivable that I had done no harm.
I'm also mailing a copy because this thread is so old, I don't know if you'll seen it on home repair.
I'm happy to save money, and I look at the discount rack, but if it's in the rest of the store, at full price, I'll still do it.
It's been a long time. I may have started on purpose, or maybe when the only can they had was dented, or a box was unglued at the top but the cellophane or whatever was sealed, or when I didn't notice this and the cashier pointed it out, I didn't want to leave the checkout line and rush around, and I thought, Heck, it's okay anyhow. After I did it, I felt like I had accomplished two things, gotten the food and saved it from destruction, so for 10 or more years I've made a point, not to buy something I wasnt' going to buy, but to buy what I intended in damaged packaging.
I'll buy something I wasn't going to buy but might like if the price is reduced enough. On the discount rack here, it's marked at 50% off.
True.
Well, I don't do that much and I have 90% of the tube left that I did use, the similar product (fire block instead of fire barrier), also by
3M, so I probably never will use the unopened tube.I haven't called 3M for their advice yet. It's always the weekend or late when I think of it, but I'm keeping the tube warm and cozy, under a baby blanket.
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