Heat stabilizer, how important?

[fish_4_all]

I am finalizing my first order and I got to thinking about the heat stabilizer. I know this, I want to make the most out of every ounce I get, less than 2 ounces of waste would thrill me from 1 gallon of plastic.

I know this means a lot of reheats, but does that calculate into needing heat stabilizer? If it means I will get more use without burning any plastic then I am for it.

So is it worth it to get it and how much plastic will one 5.5 ounce bottle do for how many reheats?

I even figure that I will reheat every color I make mixed together until I use it up as efficiently as I possibly can. Salt water fish won't mind an ugly gray black bait  made by mixing 3-7 colors together. Might even get a good leech color out of mixing it all together.

[captian chaos]

Dont hesitate!!! Grab some you wont regret it especially when you are learning leaves much more room for error and adds life to your plastic.
There is a thread currently in general discussions about "using up the plastic" worth a look.

[Jason]

It's a must. A small bottle should last for thousands of baits. There's a thread on here that explains the how's and whys.

Jason

[ghostbaits]

If you are going to reheat alot, get some.

Plastisol has some added already and I have never used it in all the years I have been pouring/injecting. Call me different! 

Jim

[CrabbyBass]

I don't use it, but my buddy does.  He swears by it.  I just make sure I keep an eye on my plastic as I am heating in the microwave.  As the plastic gets close to the point of injecting and if there are still a few little lumps left, I either take out the lumps or continue heating for 15 sec intervals.  I also don't let the plastic go for more than 2 minutes straight in the microwave without stirring.  I have only burnt one batch of plastic and it was because I got distracted and lost track of the time. DOH!   

[kipbass]

Someone here already said it in a different post...what ever you cook in the microwave continues to cook after the microwave has stopped it's cycle.  Seconds, minutes? Very easy to over cook.

[Jason]

Here is a more detailed explanation of what's going on and why stabilizer is important.  Your plastic has stabilizer in it, so this really applies to reheats or prolonged heating cycles.  It's important to thoroughly cook your plastic (350+ all the way through), failure to do so can cause your baits to cloud up...

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When you cook your plastic it is actually changing what it is at a molecular level.  Chlorides (the "C" in PVC) want to attach themselves to something.  In the absence of a heat stabilizer, it will attach itself to the vinyl.  This is what causes yellowing.  With heat stabilizer present it attaches itself to it - thus preventing yellowing.  Each molecule of heat stabilizer can only be attached to one time.  That is why at some point you may need to add more.

With that said, if you are using Crystal Clear there is no way you need to add stabilizer on the first or second heating - even if you are taking it up to 420 degrees.  I test this on a regular basis (every batch).  It is not until the third heating at this extreme temp is additional stabilizer needed.  Under less intense circumstances (not exceeding 360 / 370) you can easily get 3 - 4 heatings out of it (I will normally add 4 drops of stabilizer to a half cup on the 4th heating if I'm abusing it).  Disclaimers - this is with my microwave, using all CCM products (they are designed to work together).  There are literally thousands of different stabilizers to choose from, we use a blend that we have found to be optimum for what we are doing.

Here is an easy test, go through your process with clear plastic.  Make sure and roll the box over a couple times first.  See if your plastic changes.  Then try it with colorant (add it before heating).  Then try it with glitter.  Then try it all together.  If you keep your temps reasonable you will be able to reuse all the plastic so there isn't any waste.  This will give you a good idea what each component is doing so you can identify where the problem is.

A final note on stabilizer...  Adding to much when it's not needed will produce additional smoke and smell.  I haven't seen it make a bait softer or harder (I'm sure if you used it like softener it would do something???), but I have seen where to much will make a bait more brittle.

Hopefully something in here is helpful.

Jason