I was generously gifted an older rotary evaporator today and subsequently saved it from the trash. The issue is, however, that I have no idea what I
may use it for at this point. Does anyone know of any common amateur chemistry uses for a rotovap? It is fully functional and came with a condenser
and collection flask, but no bump trap or evaporating flasks. I'll try to add some photos when I get a chance. weilawei - 7-3-2018 at 14:54
Use it to evaporate solvents! Boy did you ever strike it lucky! Rotavaps are priceeeey.Texium - 7-3-2018 at 14:56
You'll want to buy a bump trap for sure (Dr. Bob sells them for $20, I just bought one from him myself). Any round bottom flasks will work with it.
Did it come with the water bath? You'll also want to get a vacuum pump to go with it if you don't have one already. A cheap single stage rotary vane
one ($30-50) is fine.
As far as uses go, it makes distilling solvents off of products at least 10 times easier. Once you start using one, you'll never want to go back,
which is why I decided to buy one for home after a couple semesters in a research lab! Say goodbye to standing over an open beaker of boiling solution
for hours and having to take care not to burn your product when it boils down to dryness.PrussianBlue - 7-3-2018 at 15:04
Yes, a water bath was included. Just tested the mounted motor, spare motor, and the heating element and everything seems to work well. I haven't taken
any photos yet, but it looks much like the one in this link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Brinkmann-Buchi-W240-Rotava...PrussianBlue - 8-3-2018 at 18:56
Here are a few pictures of the rotovap and flash evaporator. Does anyone know much about these models?
PrussianBlue - 8-3-2018 at 18:58
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PrussianBlue - 8-3-2018 at 18:59
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Vosoryx - 8-3-2018 at 19:03
Beautiful.
My knees are weak and i'm envious of you... Have fun with that!Tsjerk - 9-3-2018 at 00:13
They are great for any organic synthesis! Solvent evaporation is what they are used for. Also quick and dirty distillations can be done with a
rotovap.
Just be patient when using it. Set the bath temperature not to high and don't set it higher when getting impatient.
[Edited on 9-3-2018 by Tsjerk]Texium - 9-3-2018 at 05:36
Ha, that's pretty much the exact one that I have- yours just has a fancier baseReboot - 9-3-2018 at 15:32
The foodies use them to condense things (like reducing fruit juice to syrup under vacuum, so the flavor won't be changed by the high temps or normal
boiling.) With a normal distillation system you can end up with a foamy mess very easily, but since a carefully set up rotovap doesn't need to
actually boil the liquid to evaporate it....PirateDocBrown - 10-3-2018 at 10:08
I have one of these. I got it surplus, and it's pretty dirty. Haven't plugged it in yet, no point, unless I can find a condenser to fit it.VSEPR_VOID - 12-3-2018 at 03:09
Where did you get it? From who's trash? I might want to duplicate your results
