jdurg Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 I am so happy. I have added two radioactive elements to my collection; Americium and Neptunium. I picked up a couple of smoke detectors and see that the ionization chamber of one has 0.1 mCi of Americium in it, and the other one has the same amount of Neptunium in it. I guess I got lucky with the two brands I picked up in order to get the two separate elements. I'm not going to open the chamber, but I just have the two small cylinders with the labels attached to the casings inside my element collection. Kind of neat knowing that I got two transuranium elements from freaking Wal-Mart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 hah yeah. go through a few hundred and you'll have quite an alpha source:\ thing is that your radioactive samples are alloys with only a few percent being your neptunium/americium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 still better than using iron as samples considering the availability of the substances, well if i had a wal-mart here in NZ id be there, but i guess K-Mart or the fire brigade will do..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 Got to find me a source of cheap/broken smoke detectors and then dissamble them. I prefer more radioactive elements though, but americium and neptunium are certainly something you're not going to find anywhere else except smoke detectors or nuclear waste. Got to admit I'm starting to get rather jealous at jdurg's collection. ) Well, when I get my Visa in about 1 year 3 months, I'm going to show everyone... Yes... Yeeees! Mwahahaha! *scuttles off laughing hysterically* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted January 25, 2005 Author Share Posted January 25, 2005 Heh. heh. Just remember, I've been building this up for a long time now. (Probably four years I'd say with the bulk of it happening over the past two years). I also had an expendable income based upon my poker winnings which have helped build up the collection. Someday you'll achieve your goal and someone else will look up to you and say 'Wow. I wish I had something like that'. There are still a few VERY high purity, VERY large samples that I would love to get but I'm not Bill Gates so I can't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 "There are still a few VERY high purity, VERY large samples that I would love to get" Rofl, talking about expensive high quality samples, there was a NASA-rocket part made of tantalum on Smart Elements that was somewhere around 1000$. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted January 25, 2005 Author Share Posted January 25, 2005 Well, Smart-Elements is a ripoff, I'm sorry to say. They purchase goods from people like Max Whitby and various other element dealers and then mark them up considerably. I see that they are selling 1 Oz. Pd ingots for nearly $500! That's over two times the actual cost of the ingots. While I was happy to get my cesium sample from them, a lot of their items are just outrageously priced and can be had for much, much, much cheaper elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 their cesium is actually reasonable, but yeah, otherwise they are way too expensive. i can't believe their price for phosphorus when you can just use match books, even if it takes awhile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 "Well, Smart-Elements is a ripoff, I'm sorry to say." Two words: Compare prices. There's Smart Elements, there's RGB, there's Emovendo, Metallium Inc., random eBay sellers, several chemical providers... I always check rather many sources before buying anything, to get the best price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 "Two words: Compare prices. There's Smart Elements, there's RGB, there's Emovendo, Metallium Inc., random eBay sellers, several chemical providers... I always check rather many sources before buying anything, to get the best price. Has anybody tried buying a sample from Alfa Aesar? I have the catalog right here and its HUGE. Im just wondering if they sell to individuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted January 26, 2005 Author Share Posted January 26, 2005 I've tried in the past to order chemicals from main companies, and it was all a matter of futility. They generally ask you to purchase via a purchase order which would have to come from a main company and personal credit cards generally aren't accepted. Also, I know a lot of the suppliers require you to purchase quite a bit of stuff from them at one time. I guess that if you purchase stuff in bulk and sell of your extra, you may be able to work something out, but generally speaking chemical suppliers just won't sell to individuals for legal reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 Bah. Politicians and terrorists are ruining the future of humble element collectors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted January 26, 2005 Share Posted January 26, 2005 i read something interesting recently. the government is putting itself in a catch-22 position. if we lose the ability to obtain various precursors their black market value will soar and home chemists will start making them for great profit. that only helps the drug trade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted January 26, 2005 Author Share Posted January 26, 2005 The drug market isn't the main reason why these chemicals are regulated. The main reason why obtaining chemicals is a chore is due to explosives and terroristic purposes. It's far easier to make things that explode or are toxic or terrorize people than it is to make drugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 does the term "birch reduction" mean much to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 mods......little help here? he sent me a pm with the same message Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deified Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 He'll be banned soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lance Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 Does anybody have some platinum foil by any chance? I really want some to go with my palladium and gold foil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budullewraagh Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 P0WNZ0R3D! so yeah, birch reductions. simplicity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 w00t, i got a smoke detector today and it had 0.9 microcurie of Np. yesss the element collection grows to 37! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilded Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 Double-bah. I really need to buy some elements to relieve the pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubois928 Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 Sorry for bringing up an OLD thread, but I thought that only Americium was used in smoke detectors. Do they make smoke detectors that use Neptunium instead? Where can I get one of these? Or is it simply referring to the fact that americium decays into it? Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insane_alien Posted November 22, 2007 Share Posted November 22, 2007 it'll depend on what the manufacturer can get for the cheapest at the time. but americium is definitely the most common. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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