{"id":1698,"date":"2026-11-13T17:13:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T09:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bosssealing.com\/?p=1698"},"modified":"2026-11-10T12:00:37","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T04:00:37","slug":"rubber-seal-shelf-life-iso-2230","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bosssealing.com\/de\/rubber-seal-shelf-life-iso-2230\/","title":{"rendered":"So lagern Sie Gummidichtungen: ISO-2230-Regeln zur Lagerf\u00e4higkeit f\u00fcr Lagerh\u00e4user"},"content":{"rendered":"

The complaint arrives with a photograph: a bin of 400 O-rings, cracked along the parting line, some flattened on one side. The purchase order says FKM 75, the batch is 18 months old, and the parts were stored in a rack under a skylight next to the compressor room. Nothing in the quality system flagged it, because the seals met print when they were received. They simply sat in the wrong place for a year and a half.<\/p>\n

Rubber ages whether or not anyone is using it. Storage is the cheapest part of a seal’s life to control and the most common reason a good batch fails on installation. ISO 2230:2002, “Rubber products \u2014 Guidelines for storage”, is the standard most buyers cite. It is short, it is often misquoted, and the part everyone forgets is that the shelf-life clocks start at the cure date, not at goods receipt.<\/p>\n

Here is what the standard actually specifies, what it leaves to you, and how to run a stores area that produces predictable parts instead of surprises.<\/p>\n

\"Warehouse
Sealed bags, dated labels and a visible hygrometer do more for seal reliability than most incoming inspection plans.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What ISO 2230 Says, and What It Leaves to You<\/h2>\n

The standard does three things. It sets storage conditions \u2014 temperature, humidity, light, ozone, deformation and contact with contaminants. It groups rubber compounds into three families by aging resistance. And it gives each group an initial storage period plus an extension period that applies after a technical inspection.<\/p>\n

It does not give a shelf life for a specific part. That number depends on compound, cure system, cross-section and application criticality, and the standard is explicit that the periods are guidance subject to verification. Two FKM compounds from two suppliers can age at different rates because one uses a different filler package or a shorter post-cure.<\/p>\n

DIN 7716 covers the same ground for the German-speaking market and is still referenced on many European drawings. The storage conditions are nearly identical; the shelf-life grouping differs slightly. If your customer cites one and your warehouse follows the other, nobody is badly wrong \u2014 but write down which one your procedure follows.<\/p>\n

Three Groups, Two Clocks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Group<\/th>\nTypical materials<\/th>\nInitial storage period<\/th>\nExtension after inspection<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
A<\/td>\nNR, IR, BR, SBR, AU\/EU polyurethane<\/td>\n5 years<\/td>\n+2 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
B<\/td>\nNBR, XNBR, HNBR, CR, IIR, ACM, ECO<\/td>\n7 years<\/td>\n+3 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C<\/td>\nEPDM, EPM, FKM, FFKM, VMQ, FVMQ, CM, CSM<\/td>\n10 years<\/td>\n+5 years<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Group membership per ISO 2230. For blends, the shorter period of the two components applies. Polyurethane is the one group A material most seal warehouses actually stock, and it is the one that ages fastest.<\/p>\n

Two practical consequences follow from this table. Polyurethane rod seals and wipers \u2014 group A \u2014 have half the storage window of the NBR rings sitting on the next shelf, and nobody treats them that way. And a 10-year period for FKM is not permission to keep FKM in a hot room for a decade; it assumes the storage conditions in the next section are met for the whole period.<\/p>\n

The Five Numbers a Stores Area Has to Hold<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Parameter<\/th>\nISO 2230 target<\/th>\nWhat we find on site<\/th>\nCheap fix<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Temperatur<\/td>\n5\u201325 \u00b0C, ideally below 15 \u00b0C<\/td>\n28\u201335 \u00b0C in summer, roof space<\/td>\nMove stock to the lowest, most shaded rack; no roof-only storage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Relative humidity<\/td>\nBelow 65% (70% general guidance)<\/td>\n75\u201390% near doors and in coastal plants<\/td>\nSealed polyethylene bags with desiccant; hygrometer on the wall<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Light<\/td>\nNo direct sun, no unfiltered UV or fluorescent glare<\/td>\nSkylight directly over the rack<\/td>\nOpaque bins or a UV film on the glazing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ozon<\/td>\nNo motors, welders, forklift exhaust nearby<\/td>\nRack beside the compressor and battery charging<\/td>\nRelocate; ozone cracking shows as fine cracks under stretch<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Deformation<\/td>\nRelaxed, unstressed, nothing hung or stacked<\/td>\nSeals on hooks, cartons crushed under pallets<\/td>\nFlat shelves, loose bags, large rings coiled in their own packaging<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Temperature dominates. The rule of thumb used across the industry is that storage life roughly halves for every 10 \u00b0C above 25 \u00b0C, and roughly doubles when stock is held at 10 \u00b0C or below. A group C FKM ring with a nominal 10-year period stored at 35 \u00b0C is not a 10-year part; treat it as nearer five. The same ring in a cool, dark store at 12 \u00b0C gives you the margin the standard promised.<\/p>\n

Humidity matters most for polyurethane, which hydrolyses, and for any part with a metal insert or bonded metal cage. Condensation cycles are worse than steady humidity: a store that swings between 15 \u00b0C at night and 32 \u00b0C by afternoon will condense water on cold metal every morning.<\/p>\n

Batch Dating: The Field That Actually Drives FIFO<\/h2>\n

Most warehouses date stock by receipt. ISO 2230 counts from cure. Those two numbers can differ by a year if the part was molded, shipped by sea and cleared customs before it entered your system \u2014 which is normal for anything sourced from Asia.<\/p>\n

Three habits make the difference:<\/p>\n