Question about aerosol paint cans?

[FordRodnKustom]

I have more than a few cans of paint from various manufacturers on the shelf doing this. They have been there for quite some time. The room and house is climate controlled and house is about 35' above sea level.

What exactly is that leaking out and what is causing this? Will the paint still be usable? Sorry if this subject has been covered before. Many thanks!

[talon63]

Looks like lacquer. Apparently cans will fail after a while, based on the "leaky spray can" search I did on Google. "They don't make `em like they used to" seems to be the common response.

[FordRodnKustom]

Looks like lacquer. Apparently cans will fail after a while, based on the "leaky spray can" search I did on Google. "They don't make `em like they used to" seems to be the common response.

Makes sense. Thanks.

[High octane]

I've only had a couple of those "leakers" over the past few years, and I just toss 'em.

[Pete J.]

The bottom seal is defective.  Over time, this one has given up.  All paint is made of four things.  Pigment, binder, solvent and additives.  If paint sits long enough it will settle out.  What you see is the binder.  I suspect you have a very tiny pinhole in the seal of the can.  Over time the pressure in the can has cause the binder to leak out a very small amount at a time.  It has harded as it came in contact with the air and created this glob.  It did it very slowly.  It is a manufacturing defect that took a long time to develop.  

The paint may still be good if the can remains pressurized, but it is missing some of the solvent and binder.  You could possibly decant the paint and add more solvent to it(thinner) and blow it through an air brush but it is unlikely that the can will be usable.  

[Zoom Zoom]

The only cans that I've had this happen are "modern" Testors lacquers. A friend w/a large stock of it has seen many of these failures over time. 

"Testors, it's always something"...should be their motto for rattlecans 

None of my Tamiya sprays has done this...yet.

[FordRodnKustom]

Thanks all. I understand what's going on here now. These cans are old so it all makes sense, I always decant and airbrush anyway so I should be able to use them later.

[Pete J.]

The only cans that I've had this happen are "modern" Testors lacquers. A friend w/a large stock of it has seen many of these failures over time. 

"Testors, it's always something"...should be their motto for rattlecans 

None of my Tamiya sprays has done this...yet.

I've had a couple of Tamiya cans let go also.  Not that I am bashing Tamiya as I have hundreds of their cans, but that is another story all together.

[Brett Barrow]

Yeah, in my collection I've only seen it happen with Testors Lacquers. About 1/4 of mine have done it.   Probably something different with lacquers on the molecular level that lets them seep out of the seam.  I've decanted a couple of them afterwards and they were fine.  Luckily they had enough pressure left to force the paint out but it wasn't enough to atomize it.  Actually made decanting easier now that I think about it. 

It's great paint, like Bob I wish Testors had better cans/nozzles or made all their lacquer colors available in bottles. 

Edited April 29, 2017 by Brett Barrow

[D. Battista]

I have never had this happen with any can.... and some I have are the Testors lacquer cans..... Luck of the draw I guess

[Cool Hand]

Have a couple old Tamiya cans in the paint stash.