Today I received my order of 3M 5200 Fast Cure from WalMart. It arrived with the package backing card already opened, but the plastic front covering undisturbed. The tube itself looks intact, and the foil seal of the tube’s tip is unbroken. Both the packaging and the tube bear Copyright © dates of 2013. This stuff supposedly has a shelf life (unopened) of 2 years. The copyright date might not have been “ updated” over the years and this could be a perfectly serviceable tube. Or, it might just be outdated old stock. If anyone has a tube of the 5200 around, would you look at it and see if there is any more recent copyright date on it? It’s on the back of the tube in the fine print below the instructions. Just curious. Thanks! — Jon
Jon, I looked 3 tubes of 5200 FC and all carry 2013 as the copyright date. A copyright date is the date that the product came to market, as far as I know, and not the date of the actual manufacture of that particular tube. I didn’t see any other dates on the packaging or the tube itself, including a “use by” date.
If the tube contents feel pliable and “soft”, it’s probably a fresh product.
The tubes come with a plastic nozzle; I don’t use this because the plastic cap is a harder material than the soft aluminum tube neck conection. Since it takes a bit of “squeeze” to get the goop out of the tube, the tube neck bends when pressure is put on the plastic nozzle.
Let us know how it works out!
Thanks, Joan! Good to go. — Jon