Im a new member living in Australia.About 2weeks ago i ordered some diethyl ether 2.5litres from ezylab,anyway it still hasnt arrived.I was going to
use it for fuel mix for rc diesel engine but my toy was stolen and now i dont need it.The problem is that it hasnt arrived yet.I rang ezylab on 2nd of
this month and he said its gotta come from Adelaide and would be a week or so.
What Id like to know is if anyone else has dealt with ezylab and if ordering ether is going to cause me any legal issues?
If and when it gets here i have no need for it atm,where would i get rid of it,i dont have proper storage cab or similar to store it in.
Thanx. Murgs..thesmug - 13-4-2014 at 16:31
Legal issues from diethyl ether are not really a concern, as there are more legitimate uses for it than illegal uses. It's probably taking a long time
since it is extremely volatile, and therefore hard to ship. It can (and must) be stored in a regular refrigerator, but if you truly don't
need it there is another thread about disposal of diethyl ether somewhere on the forum. I will find the link to that thread in a moment.
[EDIT] Here it is: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=13333#...
[Edited on 4/14/14 by thesmug]Dr.Bob - 13-4-2014 at 17:30
Ether does not have to be stored in a refridgerator, but that may be useful to keep it from evaporating. But we store it in a flammable cabinet in
metal cans or glass bottles normally.
If you have any fear, store it outdoors in a shed or inside another container, like you would for gasoline for a lawn mower or other flammable liquid.
If you don't want it, someone on here might be willing to buy it from you, or you could mix it in into a large tank full of gasoline, a little at a
time, and just burn it up. My old boss used to dispose of older solvents often by just pouring a small amount at a time it his gas tank, works best
for higher octane compounds like benzene, toluene, xylene, MTBE, isooctane, and most alcohols, not so good for n-hexanes or n-octane, which have
octane ratings around zero. AvBaeyer - 13-4-2014 at 17:59
Dr. Bob,
"Recycling" solvents via the gas tank brings back memories of the very old days. Think about trying to do that now! Thanks for the memories.
AvBthesmug - 13-4-2014 at 20:06
Ether can also be used as starting fluid!murgs - 13-4-2014 at 21:12
Thanks for replies,my main concern was that i had ordered somrthing that i wasnt legally allowed to posess.Laws reguarding chemicals in Australia are
very confusing.Why do people extract it from starting fluid if its so easy to order online.I wrote"buy diethyl ether Australia" and the first listing
was ezylab and i ordered it.That was over 2weeks ago,still waiting?
Has anyone ordered ether online in Australia had this experience of waiting so long for deliveries.
thanxmacckone - 14-4-2014 at 05:23
In most countries certain things are 'controlled' but not 'forbidden'.
Ordering certain items will get you on a watch list but not raided.
Ethyl Ether is a hazardous material to ship.
It generally has to go by truck and requires special packaging.
Unless you have other reasons to be concerned about things
you have been doing, I would not sweat over it.
Your use of ether for RC models seems legitimate.
If the police do show up for some reason there is only one
thing you should tell them. 'I want a lawyer before I talk with you'.
A lawyer can make sure you get treated fairly.
But I seriously doubt it will come to that.Zyklon-A - 14-4-2014 at 08:18
Some things just take a long time, I've been waiting for more than a month for some propylene carbonate. I live in the US, so this applies to
everyone... HeYBrO - 14-4-2014 at 16:57
my main concern was that i had ordered somrthing that i wasnt legally allowed to posess.Laws reguarding chemicals in Australia are very confusing.Why
do people extract it from starting fluid if its so easy to order online.
If you can get it in starter fluid, i doubt it would be illegal to buy pure. You could buy it online for $250 from EZYlab (a horrid price I'm sorry to
say) or you buy a distillation kit for $100, $130 for a hot plate stirrer from ebay with patience and $20 for a couple of cans of starter fluid. Then
you use your distillation kit for other experiments. Thats why i think people don't buy it online at that price. But if you have the money then that
is no problem Oscilllator - 14-4-2014 at 20:49
Well if you don't need the diethyl ether and your around sydney then I would be happy to take it off you. I don't have any money, so that offer is
just if you were considering throwing it away.aga - 15-4-2014 at 14:08
Legal and Illegal. Hmm.
Laws are there to mostly protect the Wealthy, but also to protect the Innocent, and also to prevent people eating each other for fun.
If you don't do anything Nasty, then it's probably OK, and therefore Legal, as in nobody cares.
Law is so complicated that it is has no definite meaning : generally it can be Applied to a Case and made to mean whatever is required, within reason.
If you get Caught, then they will Tell you which part was Illegal, and why you have to go to prison.
So, if you don't do anything Nasty (as in hurt anyone else), it's OK.murgs - 15-4-2014 at 21:41
Anyway i got sick of waiting so rang ezylab and he said he has it at Sydney shopfront but has yet to organise transport for it.He said he‘d ring me
back in half an hour,that was 2hours ago.
Its got me fucked how this buisness can survive charging what they do for products and being so slow getting product to customer.The ether comes
from chem supply in adelaide and they charge approx $100 for 2.5litre and ezylab charged me $304 delivered.
I agree with Dr Bob,someone needs to start a buisness sellin lab supplies and not rip people off,in Australia.
I know ether is dangerous goods but Ive had 32%hydrocloric acid,bought on ebay and delivered by Aus post.Would ether be classed as more dangerous? hyfalcon - 16-4-2014 at 03:46
I would guess yes. HCl isn't flammable. It's vapor pressure isn't nearly as high as ether either.
[Edited on 16-4-2014 by hyfalcon]macckone - 16-4-2014 at 05:16
hazmat shipping is a pain regardless of country.
HCl is low level hazmat.
Ether is potentially explosive hazmat (peroxide formation and
low vapor pressure).Fantasma4500 - 16-4-2014 at 09:38
perhaps dig a hole in the ground, put in some plastic or similar to keep water in, dump the thing in, pour water over it and put a rock onto the whole
thing to keep it down and then cover that up
i recall something about the people in my country digging holes for beer and then dumping the beer down about 50 to 100cm to keep it around 6*C
