Glass Carboy or glass wine jug as pot still?

This hobby is fun & enjoyable, but it is not tiddlywinks. Be safe!

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Coyote
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Re: Glass Carboy or glass wine jug as pot still?

Post by Coyote »

lifeodaparty

For a 3rd year med student I can tell you - "You'll never work on me" and trust me I have seen some doctors in my 24 years of rodeo.
You have a science background, by now you should have received training in thinking things through - before acting

Glass does not break due to heat as you discovered - but due to temp changes - as you discovered, but far more common glass fails
due to flaws in the glass, impurities in materials, and the fact that some people can ALWAYS be counted on to use any given product
for other than its intended use.
I once by mistake sat a Coral dinner plate on a hot burner when the door bell rang - it exploded - the largest piece I found was about the
size of an Oreo cookie but more than 90% was very small shards inbeded in every surface and wall of the kitchen -lesson learned

Ethanol vapors can have a flash point as low as 40 degrees F. A flash fire is a REAL DANGER in this hobby.
IF you burn down your house/apartment building and the investigation proves that YOU were the cause,( and it will ) you WILL become the
insurance company that gets to write the check. And being a third year med student you have already witnessed the wide range of ways
that you can throw away any hopes of completing your training.
That sound of running water in the background you hear? That is the sound of flushing years of hard work down the crapper . . . Getting caught BECAUSE
you burned down a building will result in a FEDERAL CRIME, you will not receive a warning.

There are some great minds available to you here with years of experience

I suggest that you take the time to LEARN from them


Coyote
"Slow Down , You'll get a more harmonious outcome"
"Speed & Greed have no place in this hobby"
stock doc
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Re: Glass Carboy or glass wine jug as pot still?

Post by stock doc »

Very dangerous behavior exhibited for anyone over the age of 13.
"Life o da party" what was the name of that institution of high learning in the movie Animal House?
In what country are you receiving your medical training? You must have worked through a few lab sessions utilizing glassware and Bunsen burners. How many gallons of low grade alcohol did your prof allow you to boil up?
Please be careful not to further injure yourself or burn down you parents home.

Doc
lifeodaparty
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Re: Glass Carboy or glass wine jug as pot still?

Post by lifeodaparty »

I never discounted the advice I received from people on this forum. I respected it, and acted anyway as an experiment.

Seriously guys. You are over reacting. I admitted my mistake and knew the dangers to begin with. I had a fire extinguisher close at hand for this experiment. And that risk is small - yes the fumes are very flammable, as is the product, but the wash is not... even at 200ish degrees F. And please do not question my medical or scientific knowledge. Because you are the one who will be found wanting. THAT is not up for discussion here. How would you react if I questioned your livelihood?

As for those who say that I have not done my reading. I read the section on the main site on acceptable materials for stills and found nothing on different epoxies so I thought that I would ask. I apologize for being a newbie at this and only came here because I wanted advice. I still maintain the right to listen to or not listen to said advice. Most of you will say that that is stupid. But as one of you pointed out, I have been trained to think about things before acting (as I did in the previous incident). I maintain that I considered the risks before taking them. And I assure you I had no, 0, zip risk of losing my chances of becoming a doctor. And to coyote I do not take risks with patients like I might in other situations. It was very unreasonable for you to extend my personal life to my profession. Doctors are people too.
lifeodaparty
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Re: Glass Carboy or glass wine jug as pot still?

Post by lifeodaparty »

Also I just want to say that I am very happy with some people's contributions to this even though they were contrary to my own thoughts. But I want to reiterate that it is NOT okay to attack someone personally. And that is what I see it as when someone attacks me as a medical student/future doctor.
rad14701
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Re: Glass Carboy or glass wine jug as pot still?

Post by rad14701 »

lifeodaparty, to be honest, you really don't have any control over how people respond to your posts... This is especially true when you post about known hazardous practices and continue after having been warned of the possible consequences, which turned out to be very valid, as you discovered...

Remember, we don't always point things out just to protect you from yourself but also to make sure other novices don't attempt to make the same mistakes... Don't take any chastisement as personally as you have been... Sure, you learned your lesson, but that doesn't mean that the belittling and "told you so" will stop immediately... You were the one who started down this path, against good advice, so now you just need to ride out the storm - which will pass in short order...

Hope you're healing up... I've experienced 1st and 2nd+ degree burns so I know the pain and scarring they can produce...
HookLine
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Re: Glass Carboy or glass wine jug as pot still?

Post by HookLine »

lifeodaparty

Not all experiments are worth repeating.


I also suggest you apply a fair chunk of caution to whatever seal materials you might think are safe to use. I have no doubt there are some synthetics that are safe, I use PTFE seals in my own still. Problem is finding the proper compatibility studies for most of those synthetic materials that show them to be safe for sustained contact with high strength, high temperature alcohols. I will be surprised if most materials, including 'food grade' materials, are routinely tested for that very atypical use.


Hope your injuries heal quickly. 8)
Be safe.
Be discreet.
And have fun.
Samohon
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Re: Glass Carboy or glass wine jug as pot still?

Post by Samohon »

Glad your OK man... I have learned a valuable lesson here... Not on glass or the can I, can't I brigade. But if a dozen or more members of this forum want to give you some sound advice on the do's and don'ts of safety related issues pertaining to this hobby then it would be very foolish not to heed them... 8)
♦♦ Samohon ♦♦

Beginners should visit The New Distillers Reading Lounge and the Safety and Related Issues among others...
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heynonny
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Re: Glass Carboy or glass wine jug as pot still?

Post by heynonny »

lifeodaparty said:
I still maintain the right to listen to or not listen to said advice.
Maybe we will find out your real name over at the Darwin Award page

http://www.darwinawards.com/

-hey-
  
 
 
       Oh,look!! Its a hole in the space-time contuum!!
HookLine
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Re: Glass Carboy or glass wine jug as pot still?

Post by HookLine »

I think this thread has run its course. Nothing much left to be said about it.

Locked.
Be safe.
Be discreet.
And have fun.
Locked