Do Calibration Gases Expire? What You Should Know

If your company regularly deals with gases, there’s a good chance you have gas monitors set up to warn you of potential gas leaks. However, if these monitors aren’t accurate, they won’t be able to detect if there’s a problem.

This is why many industrial companies use disposable calibration gas. With this type of gas, you can calibrate your monitors to ensure they remain precise at all times, but does this gas stay accurate forever? In this post, we’ll cover everything you should know about calibration gases and their expiration dates.

Do Calibration Gases Expire?

In case you didn’t already know, all calibration gases have a shelf life and will eventually expire. Just like other perishable goods, there is a set time that these gases remain at the quality needed to be effective. That means you need to check each container of calibration gas before using it.

How Long Do They Last?

So, if all calibration gases eventually expire, you’re likely wondering how long they typically last. Fortunately, the manufacturer will always include the expiration date of the disposable calibration gas on the container it comes in. They base the date on the day the gas was made.

However, depending on the type of calibration gas you have, the time it takes for the gases to decay will vary. Some industrial gases, like CO2 and Methane, can last as long as 28 months. On the other hand, Cl2 only lasts for about seven months. All other gases will fall somewhere in this range.

Why Do They Expire?

Even though the containers manufacturers put these gases in are airtight, no closed system is perfect at keeping contaminants out. Any bits of moisture or oxygen that seep into the container will begin degrading the calibration gas inside. That means there’s nothing you can do to stop this process, which is why we sell disposable calibration gas. When the time comes to throw out gas past its shelf life, we want to ensure you can do so safely.

Should You Ever Go Past the Expiration Date?

Now that you better understand why calibration gases expire, there’s one more thing you should know. Since calibration gases must be in an extremely pure form in order to be effective, any extreme amount of dilution will make them unusable.

That means you should never go past the recommended expiration date. Doing so will put your facility and everyone inside at risk. Bad calibration gas won’t let you know if your monitoring equipment is working. Be sure to replace expired gas as soon as possible to avoid this issue.