Learned a valuable lesson today. God is on my side.

[Mmbullion1776]

I’ll start by saying this, one time on these forums I saw a mod post “those YouTube guys will kill you”. So here is what I happened. I had my distillation apparatus set up ready to go, to distill concentrated nitric acid from Potassium Nitrate and Concentrated Sulfuric acid. This is my first ever time doing this procedure so you could call me green but, I like to think I take every precaution I can when it comes to safety. Face mask, respirator, proper garments, I am working in a ventilated area, and I try to pay as much attention to hazards as I can with the work space I have. So anyways I have seen these YouTube guys do the same procedure I have watched and memorized EVERY aspect, well a few of the guys on there use a dish with sand on top of their heating sorce to evenly heat the lab glass so I thought I could do the same. I had silica sand heating in a clear corning dish getting ready to go so I could start the reaction, I go inside to use my scale to measure out the potassium nitrate. I hear a sharp bone chilling crack I go back outside and in that very time window of time the Corning dish with silica sand EXPLODED and sent glass shrapnel flying. It really bummed me out. I felt defeated. I put my aparatus away. Time to try next weekend with a new source of heat something more controlled I’m thinking a crock pot from good will with sand, or maybe a metal pot. Anyways this is definitely a learning experience I’m just thankful I wasn’t outside and I can still see and feel god was on my side today.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

If the Corning dish you're talking about is the clear casserole we see in the first picture, that's not Corning ware. It looks like a Pyrex casserole. I would guess that on the bottom, it said "not for stovetop" or something like that.

There is some good information about pyroceram at What will hold up? Pyroceram.

Dave

 

[Mmbullion1776]

If the Corning dish you're talking about is the clear casserole we see in the first picture, that's not Corning ware. It looks like a Pyrex casserole. I would guess that on the bottom, it said "not for stovetop" or something like that.

There is some good information about pyroceram at What will hold up? Pyroceram.

Dave

Thanks for your reply you guys are awesome on here! Actually it did say “oven safe” so I assumed it would be able to withstand medium heat on a burner. That’s what I get for assuming I will check that list out. I’m thinking about just spending the 86$ on amazon prime for a proper hot plate with stirring.

 

[Mmbullion1776]

I will post a picture when I get home of what I have that I think matches that list. I have a few white ones that say “Corning” underneath they have that fall type floral pattern on them. I believe I have seen one similar to mine in one of sreetips videos.

 

[galenrog]

“Oven safe” and “stovetop safe” are not equivalent statements. I suggest you follow the link Dave gave you.

And yes, YouTube can kill.

Time for more coffee.

 

[Mmbullion1776]

These say range and look just like the ones from the list. I think they will do. I appreciate you guys showing me that, I don’t really have anyone in my area with a similar hobby, so I’m kind of at the mercy of my own wits, my ability to look through this forums and you guys. YouTube has been helpful I’ll give it that, at the same time though there is a lot to be desired a lot of the info is pretty ambiguous and when it comes to my safety I need black and white. Also I run on coffee! Next weekend when I run the setup I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated.

 

[everydayisalesson]

I would also put a thin sheet of metal on top of the burner to spread the heat so its not concentrated where the coils are. This is just a personal preference of mine and Im not an expert. I think it was Butcher told me a long time ago you want heat but you want it to increase slowly.

 

[anachronism]

I'm really glad and happy that you are good and nothing happened to you. On a side note- I think that "luck on your side" would be more appropriate given the forum rules.

Jon

 

[Mmbullion1776]

I'm really glad and happy that you are good and nothing happened to you. On a side note- I think that "luck on your side" would be more appropriate given the forum rules.

Jon

I meant it in more of a the song Bob Dylan did kind of way then a religious way. I’ll definitely keep that in mind though.

 

[Shark]

Range-Oven-Microwave is the line to watch for. Once you try them, you won't use those glass ones again. Stay safe!

 

[anachronism]

I'm really glad and happy that you are good and nothing happened to you. On a side note- I think that "luck on your side" would be more appropriate given the forum rules.

Jon

I meant it in more of a the song Bob Dylan did kind of way then a religious way. I’ll definitely keep that in mind though.

Fair comment mate.

 

[DylanDownright84]

I just had a pyrex vessel fail on me yesterday and explode while there was 20+Toz of silver cement drying in it on low heat and I was stirring it when it blew. I have yet to have a piece of corningware fail on me, but that's the 2nd or 3rd pyrex vessel that's failed. Got it from goodwill, as with most of my glassware, and didn't notice any defects after cleaning it before putting the powder in to dry. Was a 4qt vessel too! I dang near jumped ontop of the island when it shatterd. Wasn't quite as loud as a close range shotgun blast, but it was loud. Smh, giant headache cleaning it up too.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

I'm going to guess that your Pyrex was something like a Pyrex measuring cup. If so, they can handle heat changes like pouring hot liquids into them, but they're not meant for direct stove top / hot plate top use. Even in a secondary container, the stresses of expansion can cause them to fail.

If the glass is thick, it will probably not survive multiple cycles on direct heat. Thin Pyrex lab glass, on the other hand, can survive the extreme internal stresses created by direct heating, in part, because they are thin and the stresses equalize more quickly.

Dave

 

[Shark]

I agree with Dave and I learned it the hard way. Even the Pyrex stove top safe dishes will not hold up as well as the pyrocyram stuff will. If there is the slightest scratch it reduces the stress they can take many fold over the normal unscratched stuff. I have been very happy with the money I spent on buying a few pieces of quality lab glass and pyrocyram.

 

[Striker753]

I can't stress enough the usefulness of good quality laboratory grade glass; I've gotten my hands on a second hand set of lab instruments from a school's chemistry classroom, and after throwing out the ones that were damaged, even very slightly (some of them ended up as decorative items at a friend's house!), I still had an array of excellent beakers, test tubes etc. which have already been submitted to many experiments, successfully. The only ones that broke were because of a gravitationally motivated kinetic shock on a flat concrete surface :mrgreen:

 

[rickzeien]

"gravitationally motivated kinetic shock "

I resemble that remark! LOL

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Refining Rick]

I use a stainless steel fry pan for my sand bath. Works great.

 

[Thipdar]

I’ll start by saying this, one time on these forums I saw a mod post “those YouTube guys will kill you”. So here is what I happened. I had my distillation apparatus set up ready to go, to distill concentrated nitric acid from Potassium Nitrate and Concentrated Sulfuric acid. This is my first ever time doing this procedure so you could call me green but, I like to think I take every precaution I can when it comes to safety. Face mask, respirator, proper garments, I am working in a ventilated area, and I try to pay as much attention to hazards as I can with the work space I have. So anyways I have seen these YouTube guys do the same procedure I have watched and memorized EVERY aspect, well a few of the guys on there use a dish with sand on top of their heating sorce to evenly heat the lab glass so I thought I could do the same. I had silica sand heating in a clear corning dish getting ready to go so I could start the reaction, I go inside to use my scale to measure out the potassium nitrate. I hear a sharp bone chilling crack I go back outside and in that very time window of time the Corning dish with silica sand EXPLODED and sent glass shrapnel flying. It really bummed me out. I felt defeated. I put my aparatus away. Time to try next weekend with a new source of heat something more controlled I’m thinking a crock pot from good will with sand, or maybe a metal pot. Anyways this is definitely a learning experience I’m just thankful I wasn’t outside and I can still see and feel god was on my side today.

Glad that happened while you were turned away...

My son made the mistake of setting a Corningware plate on the electric stove in our kitchen. The heating element was on and it caused the plate to explode. So much for their claim of it being "unbreakable" Oh, and hot pieces of Corningware aren't very good for linoleum, either.

I think for your particular application, It would be better to use a stainless steel or cast iron frying pan of sufficient size. I'm not sure if the sand would be useful or not.

-- Thipdar

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Well, there are several varieties of Corning ware. There's a good thread in the Library about it. Some of it can stand up to direct heat like a stovetop or hotplate. Some can't. Pyroceram is highly recommended here. Be sure to use the right stuff.

Dave

 

[nickton]

Another thing I learned the hard way: Not all lab ware is reliably heat resistant. I had a 1000ml. beaker full of heated black gold powder blow on me, after thinking I'd been as careful as I could. Luckily I had a corning ware casserole dish under it, but boy was I surprised. The borosilicate beaker came from china. Beware!