spirit burners

A general discussion and Q & A forum.
Post Reply
shaz.H
Posts: 27
Joined: 15 Nov 2012, 12:47
Job Title: jack of all trades
School: Thomas Hassall Anglican Coleege
Suburb: Middleton Grange
State/Location: NSW

spirit burners

Post by shaz.H »

Hello everyone,
Just interested to know -after you use your spirit burners in a prac do you store them 'as is' in your chemical cupboard, do you tip leftovers into waste bottles and wash them out? Do tell :popcorn:
shaz
User avatar
sunray18
Posts: 1488
Joined: 14 Feb 2008, 12:30
State/Location: NSW

Re: spirit burners

Post by sunray18 »

I store them as is in the flammable liquids cabinet. The trouble with doing that is if a teacher wants a different set of reagents in them - which does happen occasionally.
Replacing the contents is not an issue, just that the wick needs changing for the new reagent. I have just found out that you can use those sport's show laces, the good cotton ones, as replacement wicks. This makes it easy to change over and have a fresh wick for a new reagent
User avatar
lada
Posts: 1024
Joined: 29 Jun 2006, 10:00
State/Location: NSW

Re: spirit burners

Post by lada »

I store them as is in flammable cabinet. We have 5 different alcohols, and I have set of 2 burners for each alcohol. No need to change anything, only top up the burners.
Lada
User avatar
Labbie
Posts: 3234
Joined: 28 Nov 2006, 10:00
Job Title: Retired
Suburb: At Home
State/Location: NSW

Re: spirit burners

Post by Labbie »

We also have 4 different alcohols, all labled, and a few spares so I also have no need to change anything. I have not washed them for some years now. All stored in the Flammable cabinet.
Regards Labbie

Lab Manager/Lab Tech, mind reading etc etc
Now retired :wub:
User avatar
rae
Posts: 1045
Joined: 31 May 2006, 10:00
School: Oxley College
Suburb: Burradoo
State/Location: NSW

Re: spirit burners

Post by rae »

I empty them out and leave the residue to evaporate. I'm lucky that we only use them for one prac so I leave them ready labelled and refill them every year as needed!
User avatar
fibreweb
Posts: 620
Joined: 20 Jul 2006, 10:00
School: Oxley High School
Suburb: Tamworth
State/Location: NSW

Re: spirit burners

Post by fibreweb »

I store mine in a metal locker in the chem store (they won't all fit into the flammables cupboard so it is the best alternative I could come up with)
I have
8 x Metho
5 x Methanol
7 x Ethanol
7 x Propanol
5 x Butanol
1 x Pentanol
1 x Octanol
6 x Diesel and 3 kero
When they are ordered for junior classes they get 3 or 4 each of Ethanol,Propanol, Butanol and Metho and share around.
For Year 12 they have methanol, Pentanol and octanol added leaving off the metho.
I also supply 10 small tripods that just fit over the spirit burners.
They are refilled as necessary.
User avatar
Rita
Posts: 242
Joined: 01 Jun 2006, 10:00
State/Location: NSW

Re: spirit burners

Post by Rita »

We have an acid cabinet which stores flammables on top shelves and acids on bottom shelves.

The covers on the spirit burners always show signs of corrosion and always need cleaning.

Have been unable to find a supplier for cover replacements...only seem to sell complete burners.

Tipping out after use is best option.
User avatar
Lyn
Posts: 706
Joined: 16 May 2006, 10:00
Job Title: Lab Assistant (Technician)
School: St. John's Catholic College
Suburb: Darwin
State/Location: NT

Re: spirit burners

Post by Lyn »

Hi Rita,
I think you may need to ask for a separate flammables cupboard for your flammable liquids. I have always been under the impression that flammables must be stored separately to acids in separate purpose built cupboards. What is the feedback from you other labbies out there on this issue.
You will also find that anything metal stored in proximity to acids, particularly hydrochloric acid, will inevitably rust. During an upgrade of a prep room and science labs I stored everything from the prep room in a lab on benches over one Christmas break. They didn't tell me that they were acid washing the lab floor before painting it. The acid wash (hydrochloric acid) sat on the lab floor over a weekend and the acidic atmosphere generated rusted anything that was metallic even if it was stored in boxes. It was a bit of a disaster.
Lyn.
User avatar
lada
Posts: 1024
Joined: 29 Jun 2006, 10:00
State/Location: NSW

Re: spirit burners

Post by lada »

I agree with Lyn. I will not store anything else in acid cabinet. I have flammable cabinet for organics.
Lada
MariaC
Posts: 174
Joined: 29 Oct 2008, 12:34
School: Central Coast Grammar School
Suburb: Erina Heights
State/Location: NSW

Re: spirit burners

Post by MariaC »

I have quite a lot of pre-labelled spirit burners, multiples of some eg ethanol. After use I filter the remainder into appropriately labelled bottles which are stored in the flammable cupboard for next time. What little residue is left in the spirit burners is allowed to evaporate in the fume cupboard, then they are stored away for next time. No washing up between uses :D MariaC
Post Reply