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Does magnalium go bad over time?


dangerousamateur

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I still have a few pound bags of mgal around here and I'm unsure if I should put the stuff in PE Bottles or even in Glas bottles or jars.

Aluminium will stop oxidizing after forming a thin layer of oxide, magnesium does not, so how about mgal?

 

It forms an oxide layer, but will this layer become thicker over time and eventually eat my magnalium up?

Also there is always some air humidity present.

 

 

I would like to be able to use it even in 10 years.

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Well i know for a fact that proper storage and lack of water is a must for long storage . I have mag that is completely inert due to age and improper storage . It usually goes black then to a grey white when totally gone.

As for magnal , it can last longer with proper storage . I cant attest to the length of time , but have a few samples that are at least 5y old , and are still of good quality . Air tight , and lacking of water in the metal, are a plus to lengthen the storage. One container of Mag. that i have surprisingly old as it is stored well. I imagine due to the container ( metal can and its markings ) to be at least 10+ y old maybe up to 20. This just goes to show that even touchy Mag can be stored for long periods of time(in the proper conditions).

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I think ziplock bags are not good for that job.

 

But what kind of vessel would be ideal? I have lots of HDPE Bottles and not so many glass bottles. The caps seem to seal very well, but i wonder if oxygen and moisture can get through the plastic in a way that they can degrade the materials inside.

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How much are planning to store? The HDPE bottles should be fine for storing for at least 5 years. My metalls cans aren't airtight and older then 5 years and still fine (now i store them in vaccum). Just throw in a bag of dessificant (silica gel or molecular sieve based one) and change this every couple months and you will be fine.
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Hdpe is fine as long as the lids are tight. I use those for most of my storage . Plastic baggies are not a good tight seal. As much as they seem to be. The best is using a container that has a gasket in the lid. some 5 gal containers for dog food and such have a nice O ring lid and serve well for such storage.

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My HDPE bottles have a very nice flexible gasket that seals very well. I just thought that moisture or oxygen can eventually pass through the HDPE itself. This certainly wont happen with glass.

 

The question is, in what amounts does that happen. If the amount is small enough, we could ignore it.

 

I will use the HDPE bottles, I dont have enough glass anyway.

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