TOPIC:

Would some kindly person let me know if Polythene tubing would be ok to use to make cds ,, I know Jim says polypropolene tubing, but that polythene is what I can buy locally here. is any other sort of tubing suitable ie laytex?

Silicone tubing is good too, I am using that, and it seems to hold up well.

I had to order it online though.
Clint

I use silicon tubing sold at aquarium departments - it's readily available and very inexpensive.

I use glass baby bottles for the reactor bottle (5 oz - couldn't find 2 oz ) and 8 oz (X 3) for the collector bottles. I found that gas leaks were mainly from poor seal at the caps. So I cut additional nipples at the shoulder to produce a washer to double up.

I've found the aquarium pump method is the most effective. Working in the kitchen with the exhaust hose running up to the range hood exhaust fan (running of course). The 3 collector bottles I put in a large bowl with ice and water to chill them. The reactor bottle goes in a mini crock pot for a little heating. Using containers for the bottles also gives you a safety container around everything so if there's a disaster - it's contained - not all over the kitchen. Also run a room fan at the whole production so you'll never get a concentrated gas build up .

I use 1 oz of 28% and 1 oz citric acid into 3 8 oz bottles. That produces 24 oz (a mix of the the bottles) of 6000 ppm CDS. Use glass for storage containers and chill them before pouring CDS into them (other wise you'll get a off gas coming at you). I use 1 litre beer bottles that have the resealable wire hinge apparatus thingy cap, for storage (in the fridge!).

I'm producing ~ 1.5 litres a week now - but I'm prophylacticly treating a menagerie (horses, donkey, cows, dogs, chickens, ducks, turkeys - and Wendy and I)

If you're just producing for yourself and to start with CDS try Jim's blow method for a day's dose.

Good luck

Mac,

My only concern with the silicone has been with it absorbing odors....

my experience was with silicone ice trays in the freezer, they absorbed all the odors in the freezer

and made horrible tasting ice........so the concern is, if it is absorbing

some odors, then perhaps the receiving bottle is getting less gas than were it vinyl or polyethylene!!!

It could be that I am nit picking here and the loss wouldn't be much but over time it could add up!....just saying.

Any thoughts?!

p.s. I'm gonna add a small latex extension onto my polyethylene tubing on the blow side with a pincher.
and I think I'm gonna wrap the bottle with some electrical tape then attach a "C" clamp on the tape
as a weight and stabilizer to keep it from tipping over. I'm just looking for my hole puncher then I'm all set.

Good point Ken,

When I made CDS, the silicone tubing was very yellow.... I was surprised cause it was nice and clear when I started.... then, the next morning... the tubing was perfectly clear again. Weird.

Please post a pic of you set up so we all can see.


Clint

It does absorb some of the gas (which is a yellowish color), and then slowly releases it into the environment (assuming you don't do what I did, early on, which was pull the project before the gas had gone over, the tube was FULL of it, then I took it outside in the cold to off-gas. The cold caused some sort of contraction and darn if it didn't do little explosions, with flames shooting an inch or so from the end of the tube!) - however, once I started letting the CDS "make" until the liquid in the mixing jar had turned clear and there seemed to be nothing coming any longer into the receiving jar, I didn't have that problem.

Pam

WOW Pam, glad you weren't hurt ... how cold was it to get those kind of contractions ?

C

Explosions and flames!?! Whoaaaaaa!!!

I'll bet your heart had a jump there for a sec or two!

I wonder if the pyro institute knows about that concoction?!

Thanks for the heads up....them kinda surprises I can do without!

kw

Oh, no, I wasn't hurt at all. Just a bit surprised - my first batch I had let off-gas in the root cellar and it did a great job of the mold - was in the 40's in the root cellar. I'm guessing it was in the 30's when I placed it outside on the porch.

It's one of the reasons I was so cautious earlier on about the shot glass method and even the 7 day fridge method. But never had any problem with gas building up in either of those methods which leads me to believe that it was something specific to the tubing/heat application, fast change to cold causing the gas in the tubing to harden, etc. It would almost seem that when we do the shot glass method, the gas is heavier than air(?) and drops down into the water or is attracted into the water.

Obviously I'm noodling here, because I know NOTHING about chemistry. Also, remember in the early experiments with CDS, we would pull over into the receiving jar some "red stuff" - particulates? That may be what hardened and caused the problems.