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mystery glassware identification - anyone knows what this is ?


zemlya

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13 minutes ago, zemlya said:

any ideas, anyone ? just got this from a flea market cos it was cheap :P and now i'm trying to identify it ?

 

Looks like part of some form of double flask reflux condenser.

Here is one for essential oils preparation.

Essential-Oil-Steam-Distillation-Apparatus-Hot-Stove-W-Coil-Reflux-Condenser.thumb.jpg.9c7ed5b9b471af2eeef82349f26dcb1d.jpg

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Should you be buying stuff when you have no idea what residue it might contain ?
( even glass will absorb some chemicals )

Especially if you intend to use it as a 'bong'.

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3 hours ago, chenbeier said:

A Part of a modified Soxhelt extractor probably.

Could well be a Soxhlet extractor, yes indeed! I had not spotted, in the photo, that there is a glass tube extending beyond the upper ground glass joint. This could be the syphon tube for a thimble, to be attached via the joint. I had also thought there was no opening between the long tube and the top of the condenser, but looking again it seems there may be one. 

I'm not sure why there would be a spiral in the return tube from the syphon, though. Any idea?     

Edited by exchemist
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@MigL yes, you should. especially if you already own enough 'bongs' :P ' . but thanks for the didactic attitude, though :)

@exchemist this would be the first sox i see where the reflux happens when the level in the main chamber gets OVER A GROUND JOINT. i mean, you'd have to seal that joint with solvent resistant grease. why do it this way ?

image.thumb.jpeg.aef90f36099f45b1373cb81f1b0b170d.jpegimage.thumb.png.4d1085efd8d45da7350a67a1c3d42d1f.png

 

the lower U trap is for the vapour to ascend on it's intended path (the thick tube) and the air condenser is to fill that trap. might be the strangest sox i got yet :)

Edited by zemlya
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3 hours ago, zemlya said:

@MigL yes, you should. especially if you already own enough 'bongs' :P ' . but thanks for the didactic attitude, though :)

@exchemist this would be the first sox i see where the reflux happens when the level in the main chamber gets OVER A GROUND JOINT. i mean, you'd have to seal that joint with solvent resistant grease. why do it this way ?

image.thumb.jpeg.aef90f36099f45b1373cb81f1b0b170d.jpegimage.thumb.png.4d1085efd8d45da7350a67a1c3d42d1f.png

 

the lower U trap is for the vapour to ascend on it's intended path (the thick tube) and the air condenser is to fill that trap. might be the strangest sox i got yet :)

Oh, now I see with the second photo that there are two tubes protruding through the ground glass joint. And it is the shorter one that is connected to what I took to be the syphon tube. And indeed the U bend is too high for the syphoning action to work unless the liquid rises through the joint. It's very odd.  

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@MigL : i know, i know, lots of kids out there doin just that .... :( btw, i got an ARSENIC AMPOULE from the same flea market. on a newspaper, on the ground. just imagine....
@exchemist: yes, it's very strange. i've never seen a ground glass joint holding LIQUID in my life. i mean, i'm sure it COULD be done, but why ?!?!!?

i payed about 10 bucks just for the fun of 'reverse engineering' that piece with you guys...

it's obviously meant to reflux, so the first thing that comes to mind is a sox. but it's an extremely odd sox. also the joint size is a bit big for the extraction vessel, given the proximity of the conducts. it would have to be a very small vessel with a huge opening for its size. it's puzzling.

this is another piece of oddity that i got dirt cheap (some other time) , and it's obviously a sox. can't find a proper condenser for it though, given the 'joint' connector (plate):
 

photo_2021-06-07_11-11-13.jpg

photo_2021-06-07_11-11-12.jpg

photo_2021-06-07_11-11-13 (2).jpg

Edited by zemlya
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51 minutes ago, zemlya said:

@MigL : i know, i know, lots of kids out there doin just that .... :( btw, i got an ARSENIC AMPOULE from the same flea market. on a newspaper, on the ground. just imagine....
@exchemist: yes, it's very strange. i've never seen a ground glass joint holding LIQUID in my life. i mean, i'm sure it COULD be done, but why ?!?!!?

i payed about 10 bucks just for the fun of 'reverse engineering' that piece with you guys...

it's obviously meant to reflux, so the first thing that comes to mind is a sox. but it's an extremely odd sox. also the joint size is a bit big for the extraction vessel, given the proximity of the conducts. it would have to be a very small vessel with a huge opening for its size. it's puzzling.

this is another piece of oddity that i got dirt cheap (some other time) , and it's obviously a sox. can't find a proper condenser for it though, given the 'joint' connector (plate):
 

photo_2021-06-07_11-11-13.jpg

photo_2021-06-07_11-11-12.jpg

photo_2021-06-07_11-11-13 (2).jpg

Sticking with the original mystery glassware, can you confirm whether the condenser is open to the air, at the "top" end, where the long tube loops over and down into it?  

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the ground joint has an opening to the air, about 2 mm thick, just above the 2 tubes:

image.thumb.jpeg.2071942c2269d41dc8f19a69b4a41f16.jpeg

 

it comes from the joint itself, not connected to the 2 tubes.

that's probably the pressure relief ?

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2 hours ago, zemlya said:

the ground joint has an opening to the air, about 2 mm thick, just above the 2 tubes:

image.thumb.jpeg.2071942c2269d41dc8f19a69b4a41f16.jpeg

 

it comes from the joint itself, not connected to the 2 tubes.

that's probably the pressure relief ?

That looks like an oblique and rough edge. Are you sure something has not been broken off from there? It looks far too narrow to be any kind of effective pressure relief, to me.

But my question was about the top end of the condenser. Does that vent to atmosphere as well, or is the long tube sealed to it at the top? 

I'm beginning to wonder now if this is a Soxhlet apparatus at all or whether you have picked up a chunk of someone's vacuum line, designed perhaps for quite another purpose.

 

Edited by exchemist
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top end is completely closed.

i thought about it being an incomplete piece.

the opening in the joint is the only opening in the whole piece. it's not rough, it seems intended, not like a broken piece that has been cut.

the only part that justifies an assumption of it being broken and then cut is the reflux line in the joint. 

image.thumb.jpeg.6697b3adbfa704772b6a313be28292c6.jpeg

but that part wouldn't serve any purpose by just being longer, as the solvent would still have to go through the whole of the joint to get to reflux level.

puzzling ....

oh, and i'm almost certain it's not a custom made piece, or some glass-maker experiment / practice / study piece. it's something that was professionally manufactured for a specific purpose. hence the hope that some of you guys would recognize the monster :)

 

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41 minutes ago, zemlya said:

top end is completely closed.

i thought about it being an incomplete piece.

the opening in the joint is the only opening in the whole piece. it's not rough, it seems intended, not like a broken piece that has been cut.

the only part that justifies an assumption of it being broken and then cut is the reflux line in the joint. 

image.thumb.jpeg.6697b3adbfa704772b6a313be28292c6.jpeg

but that part wouldn't serve any purpose by just being longer, as the solvent would still have to go through the whole of the joint to get to reflux level.

puzzling ....

oh, and i'm almost certain it's not a custom made piece, or some glass-maker experiment / practice / study piece. it's something that was professionally manufactured for a specific purpose. hence the hope that some of you guys would recognize the monster :)

 

Curiouser and curiouser......

It seems very strange indeed to seal it at the top and only have a 2mm diameter vent low down. That looks distinctly unsafe, if you ever got any bumping in the solvent being distilled.

But, from your latest picture, the shorter tube looks to me as if it has been cut. Notice the other one has a nicely rounded end, which the shorter one does not have . The two ends have quite different appearance. Mind you, even if it was originally longer that would do nothing to overcome your objection that the liquid would have to rise up through the joint in order to start the syphon action! 

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yes, it looks definitely cut, but to me the most probable assumption is that it was a manufacturer oversight. the cut looks the way glass tubes for glass work usually come.

anyway, i don't see what possible continuation that tube might have, given the grounded joint above, where only a very small flask would fit.

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