Dye life and maintenance?

[luminous]

So, can someone tell me a bit about the keeping qualities of mixed dyes?

Because of the size and shape of parts I intend to do, I will likely need at least 8 gallons of liquid in my dye tanks. However, I won't be doing that many parts, and it may be a long time between anodizing sessions. Do the dyes keep well? Like months or years? I'd hate to buy enough dye for 8 gallons each of 6-10 different colors and then have it go bad after 2 months...

Do the dye tanks need to have lids that are really air tight, or just something that covers it well but not necessarily sealed (like a garbage can lid)?

Any recommendations for dye/tank maintenance other than don't poison it with other chemicals..?

Any good recommendations for tanks that might comfortably hold 8-10 gallons of dye? My pieces will tend to be kind of wide and flat, so a fairly wide shallow tank is probably best.

Thanks!

[sswee]

The dyes keep well as long as they don't get contaminated. I have dyes over 6 months old that work as well as when they were new. The tanks I have in use just get covered good but I have air tight lids on tanks not in use. I can't say if it is really needed to be air tight. The clear plastic storage bins work ok and come in various sizes with decent lids. Watch out on the dyes, the colors on the dye page are not all very accurate. I have all the colors and chips made, if you have a question about one.

[luminous]

Thanks sswee, I'm glad that the dye seems to keep for a good long time.
Tomorrow I'll head into town and start shopping for dye tanks.

Originally Posted by sswee

I have all the colors and chips made, if you have a question about one.

Ooooh... you have color chips made up? Do you have photos of them? If so, would it be possible for you to send them to me or post them somewhere so I can get a better idea of what all the colors look like? I'm really not sure which ones I want yet. I'll probably get 4 colors + black to start, and add 4 more colors very soon if things work well.

Reasonably accurate colorchips of the Caswell dyes would be GREAT!

[sswee]

I'm dyeing the last 10 chips now to the weekend. I can send some pics if you want.

[luminous]

Originally Posted by sswee

I'm dyeing the last 10 chips now to the weekend. I can send some pics if you want.

Yes please!
Caswell has a sale going on the dyes, and I'm scratching my head deciding which ones to get. With the sale going, I can probably buy 10 colors without my sweetie (AKA: CFO) getting *too* freaked out over the $$$.

Which ones... which ones...

Color photos would be GREAT!