[harborman]

Originally Posted by fwayfarer

Why does anything go bad when it sits? I guess chemical changes happen somehow idk. I've always been told since I was a kid that letting any mechanical thing like a car etc sit unused is bad for it without preparing it specially first.

Chemical reaction does go on just with time and inter-reaction with other chemicals and materials. Case in point, my ground strap to the battery went bad recently. The connector and braided cable corroded inside the crimp. You could not see it and all looked fine but when I pulled it apart, all full of white powder! As cars get older, rubber hardens, wire insulation deteriorates, fluids collect moisture, etc. In fact almost everything changes, some fast some slower, just like your body or the Universe. If you didn't keep fixing your house it would be a pile of dust eventually!