Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Ireland

BogBiscuit - 7-4-2008 at 02:50

Are there any chemists here from Ireland? I just moved back from Canada to Dublin and its a bit depressing here because I can't find shit. In Montreal I had to walk about 5 minutes down the road and I could find everything. All I had to do was go to Home Depot, Reno Depot or another massive hardware store to find all sorts of chemicals and tools, I'd go to Wal-Mart or Canadian Tire or the Dollarama to find all sorts of cheap Rubbermaid boxes, plastic tools and various other useful items. As for the pharmacies in Montreal they have gigantic supermarket style pharmacies where you can procure a wide range of chemicals and solvents like peroxide, rubbing alcohol, distilled and even tools like glass eye droppers and things.

Now I'm back in Dublin and I'm lost. Its complete shit here compared to Canada. I go to a pharmacy here and its a shitty little one room building that doesn't even have rubbing alcohol. I can't find any hardware stores that sell solvents like Acetone, Muriatic acid etc. I don't even know what they call hardware stores here. Hardware shops? D.I.Ys?

Is there anyone from Dublin here? If so do you know where theres any big shops like Wal-mart where they sell all sorts of things like tubberware boxes, and pretty much whatever the hell you might need. Also are there any big hardware stores where I can find lots of different solvents and where are some decent pharmacies where I can get various chemicals? I tried the pharmacy in Temple bar and its a shithole. The only thing of use they had was hydrogen peroxide but it was a ripoff. 4 Euro for a bottle 1/4 the size of the ones they sell in Canada for $3.

I'm lost. I don't know where to go. I heard alot of people saying the U.K. you could find most things you can find in the U.S. but I'm having serious trouble finding things here.

Pulverulescent - 7-4-2008 at 03:32

Quote:
Originally posted by BogBiscuit
Are there any chemists here from Ireland?


BogBiscuit, I think Taoiseach (given the name, sniff!) just might be an Irish chemist: I'm just an Irish idiot with an HE obsession.
I'm in Mayo---in the shticks, where reagents are even harder to get than in Dublin.

Most members seem to have dificulties of one kind or another where reagent-acquisition is concerned.
Getting round these problems, though, is a bit of a buzz!

Happy hunting, and BTW, what's your area of interest?

P

BogBiscuit - 7-4-2008 at 03:52

Mayo Jesus I thought I had it bad. Yeah it is a good buzz finding sources of reagents and equipment that you'd been searching for for a while. My main area of interest is organic chemistry mainly leaning towards pharmacology.

I moved outta Dublin to Montreal, Canada when I was 15 and I started getting into all this stuff when I was about 18 because I made friends with a few basement chemists over there. It did take me some time to find out where to look for different chemicals and equipment but I'm telling you Montreal is a joke. It may be the easiest place on earth to procure materials for different hobbies like chemistry. I've been to Washington D.C. and different U.S. cities and Montreals even better than them for this kind of stuff.

The first thing I got into was botany. A couple of my friends were growing weed in their appartments and I helped out and I saw it was loads of fun and I learned a fair bit about plants in the process. I never got into growing plants myself but I got into growing mushrooms because it was much cheaper, much less work and didn't even require a fraction of the space plants need. I got pretty good at that then I decided to get into chemistry isolating different alkaloids and chemicals from plants and making tinctures and essential oils and shit and now I'm deadset on becoming a professional organic chemist.

I'm gonna go to college so I'll have access to chemistry supply houses but I want to get a headstart and practice chemistry at home so I'm gonna need to find out where to get all materials.

What kinda shops do you look for materials out in Mayo?

Pulverulescent - 7-4-2008 at 08:19

Quote:
Originally posted by BogBiscuit
What kinda shops do you look for materials out in Mayo?


Since I'm mostly into energetics the range of chems I need is fairly small.

Farm suppliers carry a fair range--I got NH4N03, KCl and urea in big bags.

I got a good-sized bag of KN03 by mail-order!
On it it said 96% nitrate and 4% Te.

I wondered WTF is something toxic like Tellurium doing in fertiliser.
Then I realised Te meant trace elements---whew!

The local pharmacy is good for solvents, and they've ordered stuff (Lennox) for me in the past.
And one pharmacy carries formalin!

I got 98% H2S04 and 68% HN0 from a nearby dairy-lab; don't know if that route's still open, though.

Anyway, welcome home; you're back in the unreal world!
And good luck with that torture ses. . er, interview!

P

mechem - 18-4-2008 at 09:25

Try www.surpluschemicalstore.com they accept paypal

-=HeX=- - 18-4-2008 at 11:43

I am also from Ireland. Galway to be precise. I am forced to smuggle mine into this shit country. But fuck it. Bloody IRA ruined it on us. I am selling 200 grams of 50% NaCLO3 if anyone wants it for €4. Just PM me and we can arrange it. God I hate this country.

MagicJigPipe - 18-4-2008 at 12:40

I bet Ireland is almost as bad or worse than the US because of the IRA. I would actually have respect for them if they didn't harm uninvolved civilians.

[Edited on 4-18-2008 by MagicJigPipe]

Pulverulescent - 19-4-2008 at 03:43

Quote:
Originally posted by -=HeX=-
I am selling 200 grams of 50% NaCLO3 if anyone wants it for €4.


Welcome to ScienceMadness, -=HeX=-.

If you were selling 99%NaCl04 I'd be interested, but 50% chlorate isn't of much use.
I can buy NaCl03 with suppressants added, here in Mayo; it's only real use is as weedkiller.

My local pharmacist once got me NaCl04 from Lennox but the price was inhibitive.

I used to envy Americans the ease with which they could get reagents/apparatus but that seems to be changing as we speak!

There is much to hate about this country, but there are many things to love, too, IMO.

P

Pulverulescent - 19-4-2008 at 04:16

Quote:
Originally posted by MagicJigPipe
I bet Ireland is almost as bad or worse than the US because of the IRA.


You seem to have your own problems, over there---the WoD/WoT could yet make the US the most chemically-regulated country on the planet!

I just hope the IRA have finally gone away!

P

Pulverulescent - 19-4-2008 at 06:15

Quote:
Originally posted by MagicJigPipe
-if they didn't harm uninvolved civilians.


MJP, it's with sorrow I say this, but when it comes to harming uninvolved civilians, your country's unilateral actions around the globe leaves all other terrorist operations in the shade.

I'll be berated for saying it, but it had to be said!

P

Polverone - 19-4-2008 at 10:27

No more political discussion in this thread, please.

Pulverulescent - 19-4-2008 at 10:52

Apologies. . .

P

Meath

Liedenfrost - 20-4-2008 at 15:59

I do Medicinal Chem in Trinity College in Dublin and although I don't live in Dublin I rent a place there, As I've lived in Ireland my whole life I could help you out with finding OTC sources etc, U2U me with what exactly you are interested in and I'll try my best to help you out.
p.s. Welcome to Ireland!

-=HeX=- - 7-5-2008 at 14:22

I know spoonfeeding is bad form but can anyone help me get potassium permanganate in galway? I have searched high and low and have had no luck since I ran out of it. I wish to use it in a chlorine generator to make potassium chlorate from potassium carbonate extracted from wood ashes. Alternatively does anyone have a good chlorine generator?
I want to make some flash also, and may try to oxidize to perchlorates and make perchloric acid to make Hexamine perchlorate. I am an energetics chemist obviously. I can give sources for flash paper and magic supplies. Also, roguesci is down. Bad news, that.

MagicJigPipe - 7-5-2008 at 15:55

You want to buy a chlorine generator? I don't understand. They're easy to make. There are several threads on Cl2 generation on the forum. UTSE.

Also, synthesizing Cl2 with something as "regulated" (at least in the US) as permanganates is a travesty.

crazyboy - 7-5-2008 at 16:28

Quote:

Also, synthesizing Cl2 with something as "regulated" (at least in the US) as permanganates is a travesty.


Regulated? I bought a pound of potassium permanganate for $8 and if i wanted more it wouldn't be difficult at all.

Regulated

MadHatter - 7-5-2008 at 16:54

Large quantities will get you watched by the DEA - no question about it if
you buy more than 500 kilograms in a single purchase. But it was still in my local Sears
store for iron water filters as of yesterday - 12 OZ or 6 LB containers. I used to buy
the 12 OZ size until I found a better source online. But I'll agree with anybody here
that there are better and cheaper ways to generate chlorine gas.

MagicJigPipe - 7-5-2008 at 17:11

Every website I have tried to buy KMnO4 from lately limits it to one pound a year. That's one pound total of most oxidizers, so .5lbs of permanganate and .5lbs of perchlorate MAX, for example. Apparently, it was some sort of judicial decision. (anti-terrorism bullshit I assume). It appears to be headed down the same path as ammonium nitrate. Still available, but a pain in the ass the acquire in any significant quantity (in many if not most states).

KMnO4 available from hardware stores will be gone before you know it, IMO. In my area there is only one place that still sells it (20 miles away) and according to the manager on duty they are phasing it out.

Crazyboy, are you in the US? If so, what state and what kind of place do you get it from?

joeflsts - 7-5-2008 at 19:55

Quote:
Originally posted by MagicJigPipe
Every website I have tried to buy KMnO4 from lately limits it to one pound a year. That's one pound total of most oxidizers, so .5lbs of permanganate and .5lbs of perchlorate MAX, for example. Apparently, it was some sort of judicial decision. (anti-terrorism bullshit I assume). It appears to be headed down the same path as ammonium nitrate. Still available, but a pain in the ass the acquire in any significant quantity (in many if not most states).

KMnO4 available from hardware stores will be gone before you know it, IMO. In my area there is only one place that still sells it (20 miles away) and according to the manager on duty they are phasing it out.

Crazyboy, are you in the US? If so, what state and what kind of place do you get it from?


Look harder. The sites that cater to fireworks will have restrictions. There are better sources.

Joe

-=HeX=- - 8-5-2008 at 05:37

KMnO4 and hydrochloric acid to make Cl to react with K2CO3 to make KClO3 and KCl then the chlorate is used to oxidize to KClO4 and the chloride is used to make sodium chlorate in to its potassium salt which is oxidized to the perchlorate. Perchlorate is then made into perchloric acid which is far more valuable than permanganate. Now you cannot say that perchloric acid is a waste!

I am not a newb to chemistry and am a member on rogue science. Which is down at the moment. Also in ireland we do not have a precursor watch list and permanganate does not need the garda permit required to purchase nitrates off chem suppliers. Buy nitric and be sent to ze kamp!

Klute - 8-5-2008 at 06:03

Can't you find things such as TCCA (Trichloroisocyanuric acid) over there? It's sold in pool shops as large tablets or powder. Pretty cheap and very practical for making chlorine gas. Otherwise, in supermarkets or hardware stores, they sell "bleach tablets" which are composed of DCCA, the mono-sodium salt of TCCA which can be used aswell. I would keep the permanganate for other things! But i love organic chemistry :)

-=HeX=- - 8-5-2008 at 08:15

We do not have pool stores in ireland due to the deficit of privately owned pools. It is simply too cold to own a pool and people just buy a house in spain or bulgaria and have a pool there instead. What part of france are you from? If it is lorient in brittany send me a private message.

I have found sulphur and copper sulphate and glycol as well as zinc sulphate, magnesium sulphate, and formaldehyde in a local chemist and have been able to get a lot of other chems via school or social engineering. I happen to have some bleach tablets, I shall try them out.

chemrox - 8-5-2008 at 17:18

My family came from Galway. Does that count?

crazyboy - 8-5-2008 at 18:00

Quote:


Crazyboy, are you in the US? If so, what state and what kind of place do you get it from?


Yeah, California land of the paranoid and home of the restricted. My real passion is pyrotechnics but it's become a problem where I live so I had to quit and turned to energetic chemistry..but it's just not the same there isn't much creativity in chemistry because the standard is 100% chemical purity and products can be judged unlike pyrotechnics. *sigh*


anyway long story short when I was new to pyrotechnics I bought a pound of potassium permanganate from Firefox (before the ridiculous rules) Skylighter probably has it too, but im not sure.