Sciencemadness Discussion Board

what sort of joints do I need

mikeyhib - 4-11-2010 at 21:25

what sort of joints do I need to connect a reversible coil condenser( 19/26 & 24/29 ) , to a 2000 ml boiling flask with an opening of 48mm I/D.For reflux distillation initially and then to change to normal distillation using the same condenser (collecting flask size not important)

1281371269 - 5-11-2010 at 04:24

What socket does the boiling flask have?
What are you distilling?
Do you have other jointed glassware available?

mikeyhib - 6-11-2010 at 20:02

The 2000 ml boiling flask on closer inspection seems to have a 45 mm straight socket ( I thought I was buying a tapered one
at the time!) and yes i'm a beginner!

I'm distilling alchohol, and I have no other glass joints.

I believe also that I may need to make provision in my system for the addition of of glass thermometers to monitor the process.

1281371269 - 7-11-2010 at 08:42

I think the straight socket boiling flask may have to be sent back unless you can buy a special adaptor.

Jointed glassware is actually fairly straightforward. For a full setup you need a boiling flask, stillhead, condenser, thermometer adaptor, receiver adaptor, collecting flask and possibly some expansion / reduction adaptors to boot
It's also good to know that B19 is equivalent to 19/26, B24 to 24/29 and so on.

One site that offers fairly good pricing in the UK is http://www.timstar.co.uk , so long as you go for their own brand stuff instead of the quickfit stuff.

You can also get multinecked flasks. This would allow you to connect a thermometer directly to the flask, meaning you would only need one of these
http://www.timstar.co.uk/Chemistry-/Quickfit-Jointed-Glasswa...
not one of these
http://www.timstar.co.uk/Chemistry-/Quickfit-Jointed-Glasswa...

You can also, for alcohol, save the costs of buying a thermometer adaptor and simply drill a hole in a rubber bung. But BEWARE! It's harder than it seems and I've broken at least two thermometers trying to force them out of a bung in which they have been stuck.

Best of luck! Please U2U me if you need any more help.

entropy51 - 7-11-2010 at 09:52

Quote: Originally posted by Mossydie  
You can also, for alcohol, save the costs of buying a thermometer adaptor and simply drill a hole in a rubber bung. But BEWARE! It's harder than it seems and I've broken at least two thermometers trying to force them out of a bung in which they have been stuck.
Use a good cork stopper and you won't have this problem. Corks work fine for non-corrosive liquids and do not swell when exposed to organic solvents. There is an art to selecting, preparing and boring corks. One of the old lab manuals usually gives details on the use of corks.