WP 34S: Estimated shelf life of Eric's overlays?

[MarkHaysHarris777]

(02-27-2015 08:27 AM)Gerald H Wrote:  Can anyone realistically assess the shelf life of the glue in unused overlays?

If they were hermetically sealed (or at least stored in a good plastic air-tight baggie with moisture and oxygen reducers, probably years. I think we may have had the same thought; purchase a few extra sheets from Eric now (in case they are rare later) knowing full well that the calculator is going to out-live the labels. I'm going one step further than that... I'm making 'several' units which I plan to store in a cool dry sealed environment hopeful that at least one of them will survive into old age with me (assuming of course that I survive into old age with me)


i am also working on moving forward with a design that will not require HP, nor Eric's labels.

Having said all of that... the enemy of the vinyl label is oil. The oil from your finger tips (hair) &c will weaken the gum. If you keep your hands clean and dry when using any fine instrument it will last longer. (don't smoke around your calculator; smoking destroys calculators and smoking destroys humans) Keep the calculator out of the sunlight, or any bright lighting frankly, and when possible keep it in a cool dry place (avoid dust, moisture and oils). I make sure my calcs have a zippered case where they are reliably and religiously stored when not in use. Hey, before I play my guitar, piano, flute or clarinet I was my hands and thoroughly dry them. I consider my calculator a fine instrument too (clean dry hands are essential, especially if you want your Eric stickers to last a long time).

And after all that... these vinyl labels are similar to the vinyl labels on a Rubic's cube (if you've played with one of those before, you know what I mean). I have a couple of those that are more than twenty-five years old... you guessed it, clean dry hands.

Cheers,
marcus