Curious Question-Grease

steviewonder7 · Unread post by **steviewonder7** » 21 Apr 2008, 10:05

Hi Folks,
Does grease have a shelf life? I ask that because I have been using copper grease for several years and its 18 years old.Does it still hold all its properties after all this time.I know some you would probably say...go buy some fresh grease...but I still have a lot of this stuff left to last ages and hope its still effective.
I'm just curious to the longevity of the stuff in various guises.

regards Steve

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 21 Apr 2008, 10:13

It lives a very long time Steve,

Normal Lithium-based greases (like Castrol LM) will eventually start to go hard and waxy after the more volatile parts evaporate by this takes donkeys years in a sealed container.

If the copper grease is still slippy enough to be applied with a stiff paint brush, it'll be fine. After all, you are only using it for it's anti-seize properties and this will not be largely affected with age.

If it's gone really hard and waxy, it might not be so good, simply as it's hard to spread.

My pot of copper grease is a good 10 years old now, always open with a paint brush sticking in it and it remains good.

steviewonder7 · Unread post by **steviewonder7** » 21 Apr 2008, 12:56

O.k Jim thanks for the reply.