# stannous chloride shelf life



## gobot (Sep 7, 2012)

What is the shelf life of stannous chloride if it is kept in a dark cool place?


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## jimdoc (Sep 7, 2012)

gobot said:


> What is the shelf life of stannous chloride if it is kept in a dark cool place?



You should have a known gold standard solution to test it with, no matter how old it is, to be sure it is good. I have heard many different lengths of time, but you can't really go by that anyway without gambling to some extent. 

Jim


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## NobleMetalWorks (Sep 8, 2012)

JimDoc is right, you should make a standard gold solution and use it to test against your Stannous Chloride, generally speaking it starts to loose it's potency in about 30 days, but sometimes can last for much longer.

Scott


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## Irons2 (Sep 8, 2012)

Oxygen will render the test solution ineffective by oxidizing the Stannous to Stannic. An airtight glass bottle and putting the cap back on as soon as you finish using it will prolong the life. Putting a bit of metallic Tin in the bottle also helps.


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## goldsilverpro (Sep 8, 2012)

The first time I ever made it, I used the Hoke instructions and added some tin metal. I put it in one of those small amber bottles with a rubber eyedropper in the lid. Not a good idea. After a couple of weeks, I noticed the rubber had ballooned out to about triple its diameter from the gas created. Luckily, I caught it before it exploded.


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## Irons2 (Sep 8, 2012)

goldsilverpro said:


> The first time I ever made it, I used the Hoke instructions and added some tin metal. I put it in one of those small amber bottles with a rubber eyedropper in the lid. Not a good idea. After a couple of weeks, I noticed the rubber had ballooned out to about triple its diameter from the gas created. Luckily, I caught it before it exploded.



Funny Visual :mrgreen: 

I use those fancy dropper bottles with the t/s stopper/dropper. any pressure just lifts the stopper. I do see your point, though.


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## Geo (Sep 8, 2012)

i know its wasteful, but i discard any unused test solution every sunday and make a fresh batch during the night on sunday night. i only make 30ml's at a time. i bought a 1Lb roll of lead free solder for under $4 and it will make hundreds of batches. hcl+solder= .3¢ worth of solution per batch.


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## Irons2 (Sep 8, 2012)

Geo said:


> i know its wasteful, but i discard any unused test solution every sunday and make a fresh batch during the night on sunday night. i only make 30ml's at a time. i bought a 1Lb roll of lead free solder for under $4 and it will make hundreds of batches. hcl+solder= .3¢ worth of solution per batch.



Good thinking. That, along with a standard Gold solution to compare results.

No point in losing some Gold because of an old bottle of Stannous. 8)


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## lazersteve (Sep 9, 2012)

I make my stannous chloride with tin powder and HCl, 2 grams to 60mL. I keep it in a stoppered test tube. I use all of the solution before it ever goes bad.

Steve


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## gobot (Sep 9, 2012)

I had a hard time finding tin so I bought some stannous chloride on ebay awhile back. Well it seems that I bought it before I really had an actual need for it and was concerned about shelf life. After reading a post by Irons2 who mentioned buying lead free fishing weights/tin I was now able to find tin right where he said I could find it, Walmart . I won't go into all the places I tried to find tin in my small town area but I will say that I wish I had found his post sooner. Bought my tin today in the sporting goods isle at Walmart. Thanks Irons2!


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