I used to think that it is light, and primarily UV light, which damages plastics and causes accelerated aging. On the other hand, I also thought that plastics (not biodegradable) are very stable with respect to the room range of temperatures and humidities. In fact most plastics that I know are fully water proof and will not degrade even if immersed for extended periods. Of temperature effects, only at the extreme ends of the range of usability we have either softening or becoming brittle - but with no memory effect (after bringing the plastic back to normal use temperatures it will regain normal plasticity). I was therefore surprised to find a thesis that A/C damages plastics http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LGBFamily/message/3147 (I tend to think, the aging damage observed was due to UV light in brighter rooms with A/C, while little UV is found in storage or older buildings…) Best wishes, Zubi
Well, if you read it on the Family Feud, it must be true.
Jon Radder said:I see!;-) Zubi
Well, if you read it on the Family Feud, it must be true.
Especially considering the author who does very fine empirical research in various fields. 
One recent topic was “couplers”, wasn’t it?
I think I would have to question this. Did his lamp cords also become brittle? What about the house hold wiring? I could also be wrong on this but doesn’t cold weather also cause dry air? Its been so cold a few times in St. Louis that the mosture in the air froze so is it the dry heat or the cold air?
I do know that rubber can get dry rott but I have never heard of plastic doing it.
Geoff George said:
… I could also be wrong on this but doesn’t cold weather also cause dry air? Its been so cold a few times in St. Louis that the mosture in the air froze so is it the dry heat or the cold air?
Geoff, you are entirely correct. Amount of water in the air (absolute humidity) decays quickly with temperature when a certain level of relative humidity is maintained, say 100% meaning saturated = dew point:
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Relative_Humidity.png)
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidity Best wishes, Zubi
So you see…its Gunthers Revenge. The last minion of LGB left the factory, flipped a switch and began a preprogrammed virus taht causes all LGB to break down…all plastic to crumble to dust, the metal bits to rust away and ultimately the red boxes to turn brown. Display cases full of dust inside a generation…the horror of it all…
Bart, things could actually be worse… Imagine the boxes started turning gray with KISS written on them or yellow with BRAWA on a side!! HORROR!! I agree… Zubi
Zbigniew Struzik said:That would be worse! Imagine opening the transformed boxes and discovering [b]G[/b]ummi instead of scale items! That would be the true horror!!
Bart, things could actually be worse... Imagine the boxes started turning gray with KISS written on them or yellow with BRAWA on a side!! HORROR!!;-) I agree... Zubi
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:One wonders whether the ursi horribili in HJ's neighborhood are gummi bears.
[Imagine opening the transformed boxes and discovering [b]G[/b]ummi instead of scale items! That would be the true horror!!
Chris Vernell said:The bears that I have seen didn't look like Gummi.Hans-Joerg Mueller said:One wonders whether the ursi horribili in HJ's neighborhood are gummi bears.
[Imagine opening the transformed boxes and discovering [b]G[/b]ummi instead of scale items! That would be the true horror!!
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:And, being a sensible man, HJ didn't try to put a scale rule on them ... :DChris Vernell said:The bears that I have seen didn't look like Gummi.Hans-Joerg Mueller said:One wonders whether the ursi horribili in HJ's neighborhood are gummi bears.
[Imagine opening the transformed boxes and discovering [b]G[/b]ummi instead of scale items! That would be the true horror!!
Zbigniew Struzik said:Zubi, it was Greg Elmassian who first suggested, on this forum, using ArmorAll as a plasticising agent on track ties. I have tried that this summer on both ties and the plastic PC bases I use for bridges - so far, so good.
Of temperature effects, only at the extreme ends of the range of usability we have either softening or becoming brittle - but with no memory effect (after bringing the plastic back to normal use temperatures it will regain normal plasticity).
Over a period of years, the plastic parcel tray in the rear of one of our cars suffered serious deterioration due to sunlight through the rear window. Since we’ve started tinting our car windows, though, there’s been no repeat performance.
There are other Aussies who reckon they’ve had track down for years with no ill effects showing. I adopted Greg’s approach because I thought it was a sensible, low-cost precaution in Perth’s hot, dry climate.
Dave, thank you for this very useful info! I was not aware of Greg’s approach. We have very high level of UV here in Tokyo and most Sunset Valley track which I have seen seems to perform well but some deterioration is visible. My LGB track seems to perform very well but it is partly shaded. Best, Zubi
Zbigniew Struzik said:Locals here like LGB. The ties are softer than USA and Aristo. Austrack, Australian-made code 332, uses ties akin to LGB.
Dave, thank you for this very useful info! I was not aware of Greg's approach. We have very high level of UV here in Tokyo and most Sunset Valley track which I have seen seems to perform well but some deterioration is visible. My LGB track seems to perform very well but it is partly shaded. Best, Zubi
We have no LGB outside, but we do have a lot of Aristo and Austrack, and a small amount of USA (mostly switches). I’ve treated the lot, and noticed no difference so far.