Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Bad days in the lab or with glassware?

Bad days in the lab or with glassware?

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Zyklon-A - 16-1-2014 at 15:47

Just broke one of my Hg thermometers today as well, it over heated and shattered, so stupid of me. :mad:

Hey, look my 200th post!

[Edited on 16-1-2014 by Zyklonb]

Pyro - 16-1-2014 at 16:03

I broke one a few weeks ago, it was however inaccurate and the bottom 5 cm were intact so no mercury escaped

Zyklon-A - 16-1-2014 at 20:18

Wow, everybody's braking thermometers now.

elementcollector1 - 16-1-2014 at 20:39

When I was younger, I was tempted to break one on purpose and recover the mercury for my collection. Ah well, I ordered it from Elemental Scientific instead - well worth it.
On topic, I keep breaking glass tubing like tomorrow isn't a thing. Luckily, short lengths of tubing are exactly what I need in most applications...

Zyklon-A - 16-1-2014 at 21:41

I once broke three test tubes in one day.

blargish - 17-1-2014 at 07:33

Quote: Originally posted by elementcollector1

On topic, I keep breaking glass tubing like tomorrow isn't a thing.

Story of my life

UnintentionalChaos - 17-1-2014 at 23:51

Quote: Originally posted by Eddygp

A hot test tube dropped in a cold water bath... CRACK! thought it was Pyrex.

Eh, even pyrex has it's limits. Properly annealed quartz or vycor might stand a chance with such severe thermal stress.

repo1030 - 26-1-2014 at 23:47

I was scraping ammonium nitrate crystals out of a beaker earlier today (1/26/14) when my glass stir rod snapped in half. I cut my thumb which proceeded to bleed quite profusely, despite the cut being no bigger than your average paper cut. Unlike a paper cut though, it didn't hurt very much. My thumb is just a little sore and I can barely see the cut.

*FWOOSH* - 31-1-2014 at 13:06

Lived up to my name today.
Runaway nitration, which proceeded to deflagration and thankfully stopped short of explosion. Almost burnt my damn house down. The one time I think "Oh I'll just do it inside at a window this time, it's gone fine every other time and it's -20 F outside..." :cool:

Luckily I was wearing goggles, gloves, a respirator and at least keep a fire extinguisher nearby when that voice in my head says "What could go wrong?" So I escaped with some minor HNO3 burns on my my hands and arms, some really watery eyes, a cough, and a slightly well done windowsill.
And nobody even felt the need to call the fire department!

I'm waiting for the smoke and fumes to finish clearing out of the room before I start cleaning up all the extinguisher dust...

UnintentionalChaos - 31-1-2014 at 23:43

:mad:

Goddamnit. I just broke my 250ml sep funnel (aka: my only useful sized sep funnel) and largest glass funnel simultaneously. Granted, I have not been very kind to the sep funnel over the years (using free flame to break emulsions for example) and it's probably accumulated a lot of internal stress. But I had my back to it (I hold it with a very large castaloy clamp instead of a ringstand) and was filtering some distillate through a cotton plug into the sep funnel when suddenly, CRASH. Maybe I had the clamp a bit too tight or maybe it was just tired of my shit, but it scattered bits all over my bench and the floor. Snapped the neck off my good funnel too, and took 25ml of furfural-laden distillate with it.

I managed to mop up most of the distillate from my relatively clean work surface with a paper towel and wring it out back into the flask, so it could have been worse. So much for representative yield numbers though.

Mailinmypocket - 2-2-2014 at 09:58

I flushed a 20$ stir bar down the toilet and didn't even realize it until I was cleaning up and saw the nice clean empty rbf

Pyro - 2-2-2014 at 16:29

I hate it when that happens. I often tip them out into my waste bottles.

zenosx - 4-2-2014 at 21:00

Not really an accident, but because of a recent house addition the county building inspector will be where my lab is.
Because gov officials in my lab in a county touching the worst meth lab county in the state didn't sound like a good idea, and tarps would look suspicious, I am having to move my entire lab to the other side of our basement. Luckily there is an addition with an existing garage door that when closed doesn't look suspicious, (and no windows in it).

Thankfully my bench has all metal drawers and all my glassware and chems are on rollable shelves, but it is still going to be a MAJOR hassle to get done. Arrrggg.

At least I can hopefully not be facing a warrant by backwoods hillbilly cops (I live in what is pretty much the Deep South) or at the least being fined for possible (incorrect storage of hazardous chemicals). I keep my stuff seperate ect. But there is no flammable a cabinet for example., or a gov sanctioned chlorinated waste bin.

I start tomm, fingers crossed I don't break anything. I'm keeping my Dr Bob shipment upstairs till the move is done (arrived today).

(EDIT: Fingers crossed but I have the entire lab moved with no breakages in one direction. Hope for the same on reconstruction. Took over 2 hours)

[Edited on 6-2-2014 by zenosx]

Brain&Force - 5-2-2014 at 20:22

I tried dissolving cobalt in nitric acid for a complexation reaction. It was a bad idea to remove the cobalt with a neodymium magnet because it caused the bottom to crack, leaking cobalt nitrate and nitric acid.

blargish - 6-2-2014 at 19:56

I was being really clumsy and accidentally bumped my 300 mm Liebig condenser whilst it was resting on a stone table. It rolled over and one of the glass tubing connectors broke off and shattered... Gah

ParadoxChem126 - 21-3-2014 at 15:55

Today I was taking apart a lithium battery to recover the lithium. At one point the battery shorted out, so I chucked it outside before any of the chemicals in it were released. It soon started to smell like H₂S, and then it caught fire! Luckily I was ready with a bag of sand to snuff it out... Everything was fine, there were no serious catastrophes

*FWOOSH* - 21-3-2014 at 21:12

I broke my 2L seperatory funnel...
Then I melted the stopcock out of my 125mL sep funnel...
I'm currently using the upside down remnants of my other 1L sep funnel I broke the stopcock off of a while back (glass, it froze up to the point that I snapped it off trying to twist it) along with a 24/40 stopcocked vacuum adapter when I need to seperate things. It works but I miss having a proper funnel.

Texium - 22-3-2014 at 21:17

One time I was scraping some boric oxide off of a glass stirring rod, and it just wouldn't come off. So I got so fixated on it that I just started scrubbing it harder and harder, not even thinking that it probably wasn't the best idea since it's made of glass, until after it had broken into a few pieces in my hands.
It wouldn't have been such a big deal, except that it was my last stirring rod! On my next supplies order, I made sure to buy a copious amount...

smaerd - 23-3-2014 at 07:24

Well this is just dumb and it wasn't a big loss.

I was dissolving some vitamin b tablets in acetic acid(vinegar), yea this isn't even chemistry... I was working on a light demo for a presentation in physics (at home so it still counts). So anyways I broke the tablets up a bit by hand instead of using a mortar and pestle. After letting them sit for a few hours I decided to poke at the tablets with a pocket knife. Punched a hole right through the bottom of a small beaker. Not a big deal, figured I'd share a daft moment.

[Edited on 23-3-2014 by smaerd]

copperastic - 23-3-2014 at 12:02

Once when i was re-sublimating iodine I lifted the flask on the top off and it instantly cracked in the air (Winter) so i needed to quickly put it somewhere (It was just a little crack so it didn't fall apart) so i put it on the still-hot hot-plate.... a plume of iodine vapor came off so i dropped in into the snow and ran away. luckily it was windy.
I dont know what i was thinking.

higgsbosonman - 7-4-2014 at 20:54

I'm new to this forum, but i have my share of stories from high school that i didn't really understand were bad until i came to college and saw how careful (and well equipped) the college chem labs are. In high school, we had a class of around twenty five people sharing a single fume hood in a room with no windows and a tiny vent fan, working with hydrochloric, nitric, and sulfuric acid, along with sodium hydroxide. We had to boil down acidic reactions often, and while i would always wait in line to use the fume hood, others would not. I realized my chronic trouble breathing for the months i was in that class was because of the horrible ventilation. We were doing qualitative analysis of a mixture with up to fifteen unknowns, if i remember. My chemistry teacher was aware of the issues in his lab, but he didn't have the funding to upgrade it to what he wanted. It was a few years ago.

I remember spilling 12M HCl all the way down my arm one day, but i was able to make it to a sink before it burned me. The person washing some test tubes was very eager to step aside when i rushed up and stuttered 'I spilled acid on my arm!'.

Bert - 7-4-2014 at 22:02

Oh boy. A two fer-

I don't know how I lived to grow up?

TheAlchemistPirate - 8-4-2014 at 09:11

Well recently I managed to freeze a glass stopper in my two-necked round bottom flask by leaving an assembled distillation setup overnight (I now know how dumb this was). After trying many different methods and chemicals to free the stopper I ended up attempting to break it off in frustration. I actually managed to safely remove most of the stopper when the neck suddenly snapped off

. But I had to learn the hard way that you never leave distillation apparatus for longer than necessary.

Zyklon-A - 8-4-2014 at 09:16

I broke two test tubes a couple days ago. Not really a big deal though.

plante1999 - 15-4-2014 at 14:07

A disaster happened in my lab today. I just had transferred my pyridine from my ground glass bottle to a 30 ml polycarbonate bottle. When I came back today after school, the bottle was non-existent and "luckily" for me, all the other bottles under it where made of polycarbonate... The bottles melted up.

About 20 of my reagents are too messed up to be recovered, mixed with melted polycarbonate, pyridine and other reagents that where aside of them...

That was a shitty day, at least I will know polycarbonate is a no-no for solvents...

I'm quite disappointed, I mean, it is like 300$ of chems destroyed... most of which that were very exotic, like vanadium pentoxide etc.

aga - 15-4-2014 at 15:16

Quote: Originally posted by plante1999

That was a shitty day, at least I will know polycarbonate is a no-no for solvents...

Sad day dude.

I may well cry if/when i break one of my distillation rigs.
The glass work is Artful. Truly beautiful.

HeYBrO - 15-4-2014 at 15:17

I can only say you should of checked the solvent compatibility charts that are online. http://www.wilkersoncorp.com/brochure/FRL-TEC-600.pdf it says pyridine is not compatible believe it or not

Im sorry that it happened though.

[Edited on 15-4-2014 by HeYBrO]

copperastic - 15-4-2014 at 15:59

I just was doing something with potassium permaganate and I added an excess. After the reaction was done i doused it with water.... My whole concrete outside was purple. I got all of my hydrogen peroxide and made the pink go away. Then i realized that that just made manganese dioxide (even worse). I managed to scrape it up though.

The Volatile Chemist - 15-4-2014 at 18:15

A few days ago I broke a 50 ml beaker. I now only have.... 2 :(

confused - 16-4-2014 at 05:23

i had the bottom of a beaker fall out during heating.

Zyklon-A - 16-4-2014 at 06:29

I broke my last test tubes. Not a big deal, just really annoying.

The Volatile Chemist - 16-4-2014 at 06:35

Quote: Originally posted by confused

i had the bottom of a beaker fall out during heating.

Ouch... Did you ruin the heating device?

confused - 16-4-2014 at 08:10

Bunsen flame, so it was alright, i blame the poor quality of the glass

The Volatile Chemist - 16-4-2014 at 08:27

Quote: Originally posted by Zyklonb

I broke my last test tubes. Not a big deal, just really annoying.

Funny, I have way too many test tubes, but am at a lack of larger equipment and glassware. I had been given one of those beakers that has a glass tube sticking out of it's side for distilling and condensing (Can't remember the name), but dropped it when I was about 12 (2 years ago, when I knew almost nothing of chemistry). Pity, I had no use for it then, now I need one!

Lab life...

Zyklon-A - 16-4-2014 at 09:17

It's not a big deal because I rarely use test tubes, I doubt it was Pyrex. I bought a 12 pack, and in three months, they have all broken from thermal shock.

mr.crow - 17-4-2014 at 17:13

Quote: Originally posted by plante1999

A disaster happened in my lab today. I just had transferred my pyridine from my ground glass bottle to a 30 ml polycarbonate bottle. When I came back today after school, the bottle was non-existent and "luckily" for me, all the other bottles under it where made of polycarbonate... The bottles melted up.

About 20 of my reagents are too messed up to be recovered, mixed with melted polycarbonate, pyridine and other reagents that where aside of them...

That was a shitty day, at least I will know polycarbonate is a no-no for solvents...

I'm quite disappointed, I mean, it is like 300$ of chems destroyed... most of which that were very exotic, like vanadium pentoxide etc.

Damn, dude! Sorry to hear that. Must have smelled horrid.

Glass bottles only! With proper caps (teflon or polycone for boston round bottles). I always wrap the outside of the caps with electrical or metal tape for an extra seal.

plante1999 - 17-4-2014 at 17:33

Yes, at least I guess it smelled horrible. Better luck next time I guess.

copperastic - 17-4-2014 at 17:33

Mr. crow do you know were to get teflon coated caps? I really badly need some.

Zyklon-A - 18-4-2014 at 07:57

Quote: Originally posted by copperastic

Mr. crow do you know were to get teflon coated caps? I really badly need some.

http://www.ptfelinedproducts.com/ptfe-laboratory-products.ht...
http://www.calpaclab.com/Bottle-Caps-with-Teflon-Liners-s/29...

The Volatile Chemist - 18-4-2014 at 08:24

Quote: Originally posted by Zyklonb

Quote: Originally posted by copperastic

Mr. crow do you know were to get teflon coated caps? I really badly need some.

http://www.ptfelinedproducts.com/ptfe-laboratory-products.ht...
http://www.calpaclab.com/Bottle-Caps-with-Teflon-Liners-s/29...

That first link is SO funny

Very specific needs. Side note: I accidentally sniffed some fuming sulfuric acid about a day ago. I know it's a big deal, but are the effects delayed more than 24 hours?

aga - 20-4-2014 at 12:11

Glass sheet, forming the bottom of my fume hood.

HotPlate, modified to fit the space.
Heat.
Time.
Lack of thought or attention.

Shattered Glass sheet. Bugger.

thesmug - 20-4-2014 at 14:39

Shattered or cracked? Either way that sucks!

aga - 27-4-2014 at 04:28

And there goes the burette.

Tap got stuck because i did not take it out or loosen it before storage.

Neck & Valve body snapped off whilst trying to un-stick it.

Nectarine - 29-4-2014 at 18:36

today, my organic extract was in an rbf on the rotovap, which fell off before I could pull a vacuum.

So I had to re-wash, etc.

But when I went to pour the contaminated organic layer in my sep funnel, the bottom was open.

Today was full of cursing.

the worst day ever

quantumchromodynamics - 4-5-2014 at 14:57

I was drying out Epsom Salt in a 2L flask with my heating mantle. I rigged up a glass tube to pump air into the flask, and it was drying nicely. I went upstairs to talk with my wife for a few minutes, which turned into an hour. When I came back the hard angles of the flask were glowing this weird deep red color. It was very strange to see black body radiation! The mantle melted the flask into the glass webbing. It was a super thick nice flask and the nichrome wire had come through the webbing and had become integrated with the bottom of the flask. Somehow it had melted into the glass and then hardened this way. I literally had to cry for a few minutes.

[Edited on 4-5-2014 by quantumchromodynamics]

Blue Matter - 4-5-2014 at 15:38

I feel the pain you feel I accidently let a solution of sulfuric acid and 2-napthol-sulfonate boil over and it completely destroyed a 300 dollar heating mantle, makes you sick doesn't it.

Zyklon-A - 16-5-2014 at 20:31

So, today was a pretty shitty day. My brother was helping me with a simple distillation, while I was away. Everything went fine... For a while. While he was gone, it somehow fell down and was completely destroyed - well both adaptors survived, but the condenser and both RBF's where goners. Luckily I didn't use a thermometer that time, because that would have been a big loss in it self. The whole day was a pisser to be honest.
While I was away, I was playing football with some friends, I generally go all out as that's my favorite sport. Anyway I dived at a bad pass to me, caught it with one hand, and used the other to brake my fall. I twisted it (my wrist) pretty bad. I don't give up easily (not for "minor" injuries,) so I continued playing after several minutes because I can catch quite well with one hand. It was my left wrist that I hurt, and I'm right handed, so I could pass it as well as usual. About 30 minutes later, I (stupidly) did nearly the same thing!

Dived, and landed on my wrist. The only differences where, I didn't catch it, and I sprained it this time. So, my left arm is in a lot of pain, and close to useless. :mad:

The day, went on with several more disappointments. All in all, Today sucked donkey balls. I guess it's not as bad as plante1999's Shit day.

elementcollector1 - 16-5-2014 at 21:00

I'm guessing it was ground glass? Sucks, man. That's at least $30 in replacement costs, assuming you make some damn good deals.

Zyklon-A - 16-5-2014 at 21:08

Yeah, ground glass. I'll buy a new one from Dr. Bob if he has any left. I don't want to buy another whole setup, since the adaptors are intact. They are 24/29, which isn't all that common, so my hopes aren't up about him having any, but I'll check.

Texium - 17-5-2014 at 06:39

Damn, that really sucks… The same thing almost happened to mine once. I stupidly left it outside and a big gust of wind knocked it over. Luckily I had other stuff on the table that prevented it from falling over completely. Nothing was broken.

aga - 17-5-2014 at 07:12

Yesterday was *almost* a total disaster with glassware.

My glassware shelf is about 2 feet from where i sit, and i noticed a green tint to one of the measuring cylinders.
Reaching down to pick up the cylinder, i startled the 4 foot long grass snake that slithered in there behind the shelving.
In it's panic, it fortunately went Up instead of forwards, so nothing got smashed.

Texium - 17-5-2014 at 08:46

It was a snake-in-the-glass!

The Volatile Chemist - 17-5-2014 at 08:51

Quote: Originally posted by aga

Yesterday was *almost* a total disaster with glassware.

My glassware shelf is about 2 feet from where i sit, and i noticed a green tint to one of the measuring cylinders.
Reaching down to pick up the cylinder, i startled the 4 foot long grass snake that slithered in there behind the shelving.
In it's panic, it fortunately went Up instead of forwards, so nothing got smashed.

Sounds close! Where do you keep your glassware, in your shed?

How'd a snake get in your house?

aga - 17-5-2014 at 11:09

Quote:

It was a snake-in-the-glass!

LOL !

The Lab is just a corner of my shed.

The shed is about 30m from the house, and the snake must have come in through the open doors while my back was turned, which it generally is when i'm busy.

This is the Wilds of Spain's Costa del Sol.

Snakes have been in the house before, but the dogs tend to keep them away. The cats eat the smaller ones.

Toads, weirdly, only come and troll about in Summer, when there is NO water here !

kitchen chemistry

Magpie - 22-5-2014 at 16:54

I had been using 3A mole sieves to dry some 95% ethanol. Wanting to re-activate them I poured them into a 9"x9" glass cake dish and set them on the kitchen counter to dry. They were already mostly dry after sitting in a large beaker overnight. After about an hour on the counter they looked dry so I set the kitchen oven for 500°F (260°C) and placed the sieves in the oven. Some time after the oven had reached temperature I hear a loud bang while sitting in our family room watching TV. I looked in the kitchen expecting to see some heavy object laying on the floor; but there was nothing amiss. I then surmised that the noise must have come from the oven - an explosion of ethanol/air pushed the spring loaded oven door open and then it closed itself with a bang! So I just continued the heating until the time (2 hrs) was up then turned off the oven. A short time later I opened the oven and retrieved the sieves, after assuring myself that the oven temperature was below the auto-ignition point of ethanol.

[Edited on 23-5-2014 by Magpie]

UnintentionalChaos - 3-6-2014 at 19:48

Shortly before I dropped off the radar a few months ago, I had a 125ml sep funnel fall and shatter while full of a product in DCM. Shortly thereafter, I got a 1L sep funnel from Dr. Bob, which after using a single time, I smashed the drip tip and joint on while cleaning it. I am not used to pieces of glass that large...

Now, that Im finally getting back into chem, I am running a prep of phenylhydrazine. Inside of 20 minutes, I have my 60ml sep funnel (my last one...) explode and I drop a stirbar down the drain in seperate incidents. That sep funnel had a hastily fixed star crack in it, so, it's demise was, while infuriating, somewhat expected.

I fished the stirbar out with magnets, but I now have no sep funnels.

[Edited on 6-4-14 by UnintentionalChaos]

thesmug - 3-6-2014 at 22:44

A few months ago I was distilling something (i think it was isoamyl acetate) when my hot plate just stopped working. I returned it and about 2 weeks later I was using my new hot plate when it suddenly started melting. It was at a perfectly normal temperature and out of nowhere it melted! I returned that and last week I was refluxing toluene and potassium permanganate when it just stopped working again! It made me really angry and I'll definitely buy a different brand of hotplate next time!

bismuthate - 7-6-2014 at 06:20

Curious and upsetting. I mixed some around 40%-55% nitric acid and cobalt. It spent the first minute bubbling lightly without any visible NO2 so I left it outside. A minute later I came back and found it furiously evolving NO2 and overflowing! :mad:

The Volatile Chemist - 7-6-2014 at 07:08

Quote: Originally posted by bismuthate

Curious and upsetting. I mixed some around 40%-55% nitric acid and cobalt. It spent the first minute bubbling lightly without any visible NO2 so I left it outside. A minute later I came back and found it furiously evolving NO2 and overflowing! :mad:

Ouch. Did yoou make or buy your nitric acid?

bismuthate - 7-6-2014 at 07:15

Bought. I use my nitric acid for when I want high purity metal salts. I love my nitric acid.

I have plenty of nitric acid the problem is the cobalt and cleanup.
http://iconosquare.com/viewer.php#/detail/737629900139414460...

The Volatile Chemist - 7-6-2014 at 09:53

Quote: Originally posted by bismuthate

Bought. I use my nitric acid for when I want high purity metal salts. I love my nitric acid.

I have plenty of nitric acid the problem is the cobalt and cleanup.
http://iconosquare.com/viewer.php#/detail/737629900139414460...

Keep in mind not everyone (like me) has instagram...

Texium - 7-6-2014 at 10:31

Quote: Originally posted by The Volatile Chemist

Quote: Originally posted by bismuthate

Bought. I use my nitric acid for when I want high purity metal salts. I love my nitric acid.

I have plenty of nitric acid the problem is the cobalt and cleanup.
http://iconosquare.com/viewer.php#/detail/737629900139414460...

Keep in mind not everyone (like me) has instagram...

Haha, yep, me neither. What is the picture of?

bismuthate - 7-6-2014 at 11:10

Well you should be able to view it without one. I should fix that it's a 2.5 liter jug of 67.5% nitric acid

. That's why i wont be running out anytime soon.
EDIT I can look at the picture while logged out. That's odd...

[Edited on 7-6-2014 by bismuthate]

aga - 7-6-2014 at 13:26

nope. cant view it.

bismuthate - 7-6-2014 at 13:40

http://web.stagram.com/tag/nitricacid/
This page won't stay the same forever (but it should have some time).
And in a shameless advertisement attempt anybody who does view my profile feel free to provide feedback (I'm also a nood at photography)

[Edited on 7-6-2014 by bismuthate]

The Volatile Chemist - 7-6-2014 at 14:09

Quote: Originally posted by bismuthate

http://web.stagram.com/tag/nitricacid/
This page won't stay the same forever (but it should have some time).
And in a shameless advertisement attempt anybody who does view my profile feel free to provide feedback (I'm also a nood at photography)

[Edited on 7-6-2014 by bismuthate]

Scrolling down, we can see a lot of your posts

Looks good!

Texium - 8-6-2014 at 07:17

Yep, that link works just fine! Looks like you've been having a lot of fun with that cobalt.

Tsjerk - 8-6-2014 at 07:23

Never underestimate the power of a superheated liquid! I found out the hard way, I was melting some agarose medium (300-400ml) in a 3 liter Erlenmeyer in the microwave, business as usual.

The flask was stoppered with a plug of wool, as usual, very loosely. With just two fingers and without any force you can remove the plug. When I took the flask I swirled it a bit to check if all agarose had melted. When I did that, the sudden boiling was so violent the flask exploded and my arm and face were covered in boiling viscous liquid.

Happily the glass in my eye (glasses aren't usual in biology labs) didn't leave any scratches and the burns weren't that severe that they left scar tissue, but it did hurt pretty bad for a couple of weeks.

aga - 8-6-2014 at 10:06

wow. that is something i personally wouldnt like very much happening to me !

Always wear glasses and a lab coat.
Wearing them hurts less than glass in eyes and scorched skin.

From an employer's point of view, also means you get back to work quicker

Hope you're ok and mostly unsinged.

Tsjerk - 8-6-2014 at 11:48

I understand Aga, when I was working in chemistry labs I always wore a lab coat and glasses. It's just that in the average biology lab there is not really any need for wearing them, there are only two things really that can go wrong, and those are the microwave and the pressure cooker... We all assume we are fine using them as long as you don't forget to unscrew the cap of the bottle you put in the microwave, but a Erlenmeyer that is a bit weak and a small amount of superheated liquid are enough apparently.

The craziest things I get to work with are 70% ethanol and buffer solutions, although a grain of ammonium sulfate or potassium hydrogen sulfate in an eye probably wouldn't be to pleasant either

Edit; Ok, and maybe a full blown pathogenic MRSA/extremly resistent tubercolosis... but working with those a lab coat or glasses won't make much of a difference. If you need a coat for that, you already fucked up.

[Edited on 8-6-2014 by Tsjerk]

[Edited on 8-6-2014 by Tsjerk]

aga - 8-6-2014 at 12:24

Quote:

full blown pathogenic MRSA/extremly resistent tubercolosis

Kanga pants required. Definitely Kanga pants.

Texium - 10-6-2014 at 14:53

Today I was attempting to get some recrystalized copper sulfate pentahydrate crystals out of a 250ml beaker by very very gently tapping the bottom with a rubber mallet, but I guess it wasn't gentle enough because the whole thing shattered in my hands. Luckily, the crystals, which were fairly decently sized, came out in a few large clumps, one of which makes a nice display for my desk. Now I need to buy another beaker or two, because that was the only one I currently had!

arkoma - 23-6-2014 at 08:56

*sigh* JUST got it--the supplier is actually (they say) going to warranty it. (deschem, China)

Going to take it to my buddies and cut the neck off and figure out some productive use for the 24/29 joint.

Thank goodness nothing flammable in it!

aga - 23-6-2014 at 11:30

Warranty from a Chinese seller ?
Be sure to do another post if they honour the warranty !

Today's Losses :
10 clear test tubes, standing on a wall ...
If one clear test tube should accidentally fall ?
Now there are 6 clear test tubes ...

Proof that Bistromathics is a reality.

arkoma - 23-6-2014 at 14:37

Made the best out of it--managed to get the ground glass neck off in one piece. With a bit of ptfe tape now have an insertable 24/29 sleeve for my Erlenmeyer!!

2014-06-23-153603.jpg - 9kB

arkoma - 19-7-2014 at 15:07

got impatient with my alcohol burner so broke out the MAPP gas torch. oops. first melted a hole, then a piece popped outa this test tube after the water ran out

Texium - 19-7-2014 at 16:00

Oops indeed, poor little test tube!
I like my propane Bunsen burner for that sort of stuff. I got a pretty good deal for it online, and it just runs off of a normal barbecue propane tank.

And I had a glassware issue two days ago When I was cleaning a bunch of glassware, I accidentally broke a 50ml erlenmeyer, getting very tiny pieces of glass in my fingers that I didn't notice until later, one of which is still bugging me now.

[Edited on 7-20-2014 by zts16]

The Volatile Chemist - 20-7-2014 at 08:12

I broke my second to last 50mL beaker by accidentally dropping it on my hotplate....Those things don't like me!!! Luckily one was in the mail.... I got a bunch of equipment for my b-day

digitalemu - 24-7-2014 at 20:08

Had brand new pair of designer jeans on that I just pulled the tags off and wearing for the first time. Picked up bottle of 4 molar H2SO4 to put it away before I left, top disintegrated in my hand, tried to catch it with the other but failed. Smashed on the floor and splashed all up my legs. Did not hurt me, but those jeans are done for. Fortunately nothing got above my waist and onto my good shirt or in my eyes

They tell you never to pick up a bottle by the lid, and this is exactly why. I usually wear safety goggles but was just putting something back that I forgot to put away. Accidents happen when you are least prepared it seems.

mnick12 - 24-7-2014 at 21:30

Today I pulled a kim wipe soaked with trimethylsilylmethyl lithium out of a glove box, as soon as I opened the vacuum chamber the wipe burst into flames.

mrTrifaziux - 19-8-2014 at 13:46

I was boiling down some weak sulfuric acid to concentrate it and accidentally spilled it all on my hotplate. Luckily there was only 20ml of liquid but still produced room full of sulfuric acid fumes. Not fun lol

kt5000 - 21-8-2014 at 20:06

Quote: Originally posted by hissingnoise

Adding any antibumping granules to a hot liquid is practically a recipe for bumping.
They should be in before the heat goes on. . .

I learned this the hard way..

Oscilllator - 21-8-2014 at 21:56

Quote: Originally posted by digitalemu

Had brand new pair of designer jeans on that I just pulled the tags off and wearing for the first time. Picked up bottle of 4 molar H2SO4 to put it away before I left, top disintegrated in my hand, tried to catch it with the other but failed. Smashed on the floor and splashed all up my legs. Did not hurt me, but those jeans are done for. Fortunately nothing got above my waist and onto my good shirt or in my eyes

They tell you never to pick up a bottle by the lid, and this is exactly why. I usually wear safety goggles but was just putting something back that I forgot to put away. Accidents happen when you are least prepared it seems.

This is why I have special clothes I wear when doing chemistry. I NEVER go into my lab unless I am wearing these clothes and this has paid off, as my chemistry clothes now have all these holes in them.

nezza - 22-8-2014 at 00:50

Boron is more inflammable than I thought.

I know boron should colour flames green (Trimethyl borate certainly does) so I have had some amorphous Boron for a while and thought I would see what colour flame it gives with an oxidant. I had some powdered potassium permanganate so I mixed a little boron powder with it using an orange stick. Bad move. It flashed and I ended up with some nice burnt fingers. (See picture taken 2 weeks down the line). Moral of the story - Even materials not usually thought of as very inflammable can go up when mixed with an oxidant. The flame is not noticeably green in any case.

aga - 22-8-2014 at 14:13

A picture says 1000 words.

In brief : you invented fake tan remover.

4 out of 6 fingers say so.

aga - 22-8-2014 at 14:19

Quote: Originally posted by Oscilllator

Those 'special' clothes must be quite well holed by now.

Please change your handle to:

'The Scantily Clad Chemist'

smaerd - 23-8-2014 at 16:59

All summer I worked with pirhana solution and no lab coat. I'm not 100% sure how I didn't spill the stuff once but would find mysterious holes in my shirts and pants. Clothes are impermanent and there's no reason to be dressing up for lab work.

Texium - 23-8-2014 at 19:10

I've been finding mysterious holes in my clothes too, despite not spilling anything on myself. I don't know for sure what causes them, but just in case, I've started to wear only the clothes that have holes when I'm doing chemistry.

Zyklon-A - 23-8-2014 at 19:13

Same with me, its sulfuric acid I'm sure. I don't know how, it just happens.

[Edited on 24-8-2014 by Zyklon-A]

elementcollector1 - 23-8-2014 at 19:15

Quote: Originally posted by Zyklon-A

Same with me, its sulfuric acid I'm sure. I don't know how, it just happens.

[Edited on 24-8-2014 by Zyklon-A]

Actually, sulfuric doesn't fume all that much, nor does it poke holes in stuff. I did some tests with some cuts of a pair of old pants, and the culprits turned out to be HCl and bleach.

In this case, I'd suspect nitric, as it fumes like crazy.

Texium - 23-8-2014 at 19:19

Interesting, I also assumed that it was sulfuric, despite it not fuming, because the holes seemed to start appearing only after I obtained sulfuric acid. I'd used hydrochloric for months before and never noticed any holes, and I've never had any nitric acid. Your test seems pretty conclusive though. What was the material of the pants?

Metacelsus - 24-8-2014 at 07:14

I have so many holes in my clothes . . .

I wonder if I could start a new fashion trend, similar to torn jeans.

bismuthate - 24-8-2014 at 07:27

ONce im pretty sure i nitrated a cotton shirt with N2O5.
also i get the weirdest discolorations that change color occasionally. who knows what happened there.

Oscilllator - 24-8-2014 at 17:27

Quote: Originally posted by elementcollector1

I have to disagree there. I once pulled apart a car battery in a stupid manner to get the sulfuric acid out, and the next day I discovered that my trousers were COVERED in holes. There were even a couple of holes around the shoulder area of my shirt

. This was the experiment that led me to my policy regarding the clothes I wear while doing chemistry.

violet sin - 24-8-2014 at 18:13

I also disagree, I KNOW sulfuric makes holes in things. every morning I pick up my tool belt for work, I can still see 30% through the tape-measure pocket. and the holes in my nylon tool bag. maybe polyester? is's man-made plastic fiber for sure. they were front row for the spill. my acid fumes just fine also. common hardware store drain cleaner.

Pyro - 24-8-2014 at 18:56

you should see what the battery delivery guys look like!
part of the service you get when buying new batteries is that they remove the old ones for free! they wear tyvek suits, I guess that's a bare minimum for carrying 24 old acid filled batteries up a ladder through a small hatch and 24 new ones back down, because their clothes still have holes in them.
and we get a floor full of black spots..

smaerd - 25-8-2014 at 17:47

Quote: Originally posted by Cheddite Cheese

I have so many holes in my clothes . . .

I wonder if I could start a new fashion trend, similar to torn jeans.

Hahaha, I was thinking the same thing. Not so sure how much the ladies would be in to chemical spill chic. These posts did encourage me to buy some new pants because seriously, all of mine are holy. Not in the praise jesus way.

Texium - 25-8-2014 at 17:54

Quote: Originally posted by smaerd

Quote: Originally posted by Cheddite Cheese

I have so many holes in my clothes . . .

I wonder if I could start a new fashion trend, similar to torn jeans.

Haha, when I told my parents the other day that I needed to change out of my "holy clothes" before going to dinner, they were a bit confused at first, until I pointed out the multiple pinholes dotting my shorts.

MrHomeScientist - 26-8-2014 at 04:59

The fact that so many of you seem to have sulfuric acid mist spraying all over you and burning holes in your clothes is pretty alarming. I've never had this happen to me, ever. You guys should really review your safety procedures and how you pour and react things. Pour things slowly. Do reactions outside. Wear a lab coat. If I ever do anything that makes a gas, I cover it with a watch glass to contain the tiny droplets that are always formed. If something is eating through your clothes, it might be getting on your face and eyes!

HgDinis25 - 26-8-2014 at 05:09

I also only wear old clothes when in the lab not because of the chemicals themselves, but more because my lab isn't just chemistry. I find a lab coat completly useless.

MrHomeScientist, when handling concentrated sulfuric acid there's absolutly no chance you're going to avoid holes in cotton made clothes. It just happens. Back in the day I remember PIPPTETING a sample of Sulfuric Acid (using glass pippetes) and finding my t-shirt with those tiny holes, in the following day. Coincidence or not, it has happened to me more than once.

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