MagicJigPipe - 3-12-2007 at 08:36
I broke my reflux condenser a couple of weeks ago (Dimroth 300mm). I was wondering if a West condenser with a 300mm (12") jacket would be suffecient
for refluxing say.... MeOH, DCM or chloroform, just to give some examples.
Anyone know from experience?
not_important - 3-12-2007 at 09:57
The coil condensers are much more effective than the straight tube varieties. It's going to depend on how much and how well you can control the heat
input, especially for low boiling solvents like those.
MagicJigPipe - 3-12-2007 at 13:54
I have a pretty decent VMR hotplate that says it keeps temps +/- 2*C under 200*C. From what I can remember from the specs. I never tried refluxing
with my West before so I was just wondering if anyone ever tried it with low boiling point before. I can get a new one in a couple of weeks but if I
can do it with the West then that would be great.
And since it's winter time, the water from the tap is like ~8*C. I was surprised that it was that cold too, since I live in the southern US and the
tap water in the summer time is close to room temperature.
evil_lurker - 3-12-2007 at 14:33
Not really surprising... all over the south there are water towers... in the winter the water gets chilled as it is stored.
MagicJigPipe - 3-12-2007 at 19:34
I live in a suburb of Little Rock. I'm not sure how Little Rock gets it's water (I know of only 1 water tower but it's huge... ~300 ft tall and
almost as wide... water filling the entire thing with no lower support structure). There is one small water tower here which, I think, is filled via
a nearby lake. Oh yeah, I know there is a "resevoir" lake in the Heights area of west Little Rock.
That does make sense though, evil.
I suppose I will just try a methanol reflux for trial and error purposes. I'm sure if it can handle that, it can handle many other solvents.