Does nitrous go bad?

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Apr 24, 2011 | 10:19 PM

vetten76

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Drifting

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From: San Diego CA.

Does nitrous go bad?

Does nitrous have a shelf life? I have a bottle that's about 5 years old, at least. Still good?

Apr 25, 2011 | 12:25 AM

mooney201

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From: Ca.

Shelf life for Medical Nitrous Oxide is 36 months.
I do not believe there is a shelf life for nitrous oxide for cars. I do not have data one way or another, just an educated guess.

Apr 25, 2011 | 12:26 AM

p1bz

Burning Brakes

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From: Houston Tx

Tilt it back in forth in your hands and see if it still has liquid. I bet it just has air in it. Crack the valve and see if liquid nitrous sprays out, or just air. Probably just air.

Apr 25, 2011 | 02:00 AM

MR.Z06

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Quote:

Originally Posted by p1bz

Tilt it back in forth in your hands and see if it still has liquid. I bet it just has air in it. Crack the valve and see if liquid nitrous sprays out, or just air. Probably just air.

What?

Apr 25, 2011 | 02:07 AM

p1bz

Burning Brakes

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From: Houston Tx

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR.Z06

What?

Uh, nitrous is a liquid. You can feel it slosh around in the bottle if there is any in it. Most of the time if left too long and the valve leaks, which they all do over time, it will flash off and you will have 800-900lbs of decompressed nitrous "air" in the bottle. You can tell if you have nitrous or air in the bottle by cracking the valve and seeing if you have ice cold liquid nitrous spray out, or air. Sorry if I didn't make myself clear in my first post.

Apr 25, 2011 | 02:10 AM

MR.Z06

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Ahhhh gotcha.

Apr 25, 2011 | 01:48 PM

vetten76

Thread Starter

Drifting

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From: San Diego CA.

Quote:

Originally Posted by p1bz

Easy way to tell. Thank you. It costs about $60.00 to fill a bottle and I'm cheap! What can I say........ I quit drag racing my 76 a while back and I have nitrous on my 04. Thought it would be cool to swap bottles if it was still good. Sounds like the bottle may make a better tire inflater than a power adder!

Apr 25, 2011 | 04:19 PM

Higgs Boson

Race Director

Joined: Jul 2007

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From: Texas Hill Country

Yes it does go bad. It will still spray but it will be weaksauce after about 6 months in my experience. Just get it refilled, it's not like its 1000 dollars.