Brilliant Clive😀 I’ve got 5 of the original bubble tubes from a set my dad bought in the 50’s and every now and then I think about rewiring it and getting it running again. You’ve inspired me to get on with the job. Cheers. Tom
If you can get hold of one, you could use a three-way stopcock (luer valve, usually sold as an IV adjunct, to be used with IV giving sets) whilst drawing the vacuum, save you from having to disconnect, reconnect and pinch the tubing whilst you clear the syringe. Pull, turn, push, turn, pull, etc.
Hi Clive... Just a bit of info about why you need rock salt or other stuff in the bottom of bubble tubes. The points and edges of the rock salt crystals form nucleation sites for the bubbles to form. The surface of the glass is generally too smooth for this to happen and the liquid can be raised above its boiling point without it actually boiling and becomes superheated. You may have seen this effect if you've used a microwave to heat water to make a cuppa. If the vessel that you're heating the water in is very clean and smooth and the water is clean without any suspended particles, you can superheat the water to above 100C without it actually boiling. This is a pretty dangerous state of affairs because the slightest knock or addition of something to the water like coffee, teabag, sugar can cause the water to suddenly boil and violently eject itself from whatever you've been heating it in. This doesn't happen very often but if it does it can be very bad news for your hands, face and eyes. Fortunately, this is exactly what you want to happen in bubble tubes. Sorry if this has turned into an essay - I ramble on sometimes.
MrBanzoid I don't think it's just for nucleation. It's also to trap some solvent at the heat source to allow it to heat to the point of evaporation. Without the salt the heated solvent would just flow to the top of the tube by convection.
I have been into bubble lights since I played with what was left of a series set back in the 1970s. I now have many newer ones, most burned out. I am also a welder and have torches. Thus is definitely something I want to try.
Thanks Clive for pointing me to this video. Wonderful, now all we need to do is add coloured LEDs or even LEDs that change colour :-) Only thing is I dread trying to make lots of them to form a string with LEDs.
Sweet, fantastic finished product and straight forward build. I'm going to have to search the house for other liquids that have similar boiling points/vapour pressures.
I've wanted to build bubble tubes for years, and you've given me the solution I need! About 18 years ago, I apprenticed in a neon sign shop, and I thought I had everything, but I ended up with two problems: first, I never seemed to figure out "neck the tube first, then add the solvent." Second, I couldn't figure out how to draw a vacuum, since doing so with the shop's pump (neon shops use a two-stage pump, vapor diffusion, then mechanical) because the vapor might have spoiled the silicone oil in the diffusion pump. Now, thanks to you, assuming I have access to neon tubing and tube-bending torches, I think I can make these!
You could in theory create these without a pump. prior to sealing the tube you would heat the liquid to its boiling temperature and then close it off. as the liquid and gas cools, the gas would condense and form a vacuum on its own. Would be a neat experiment.
Fantastic work! Maybe there is a cottage industry for making replacement bubble lamps for classic Christmas lights? NOMA UK (Christmas lighting company) re-released bubble lights in the UK in the form of a candelabra a couple of years ago, I bought one & you can still find it if you Google; Noma 5 Red Bubble Effect Light Candelabra. Anyway these bulbs also have some form of rock salt at the base and will also slowly bubble by the heat of your hand. It makes a great decoration in the window as during the day the sun shining on them also gives you a full flow of bubbles. Each phial uses a 6V, 167mA E10 bulb at the base to light and heat the liquid to a full bubble stream. The instructions say they're filled with Dichloromethane diluted to 50ppm, each phial containing only 0.45mg of Dichloromethane. You should see the health & safety warnings all over the box, I think they want you to wear a full hazmat suit when changing bulbs!
Effay513 Precisely, and that was his source of inspiration as well! There is just something mesmerizing about an endless stream of bubbles in a sealed tube o' chemicals :)
Methylene chloride is Dichloromethane, and not Chloromethane, right? I love that stuff for glueing plastics, gooifies and welds many plastics, like PC, PS, ABS, PMMA, PET and in a pinch PVC (no chance, as always, on PE and PP though, and it's the wrong thing for PA, too). Only drawback: I always get a minute of headache and slight dizzyness even when having the window open and just putting like five drops out of a syringe on plastic. Btw. while I'm definitely not from the safety police and don't think much of the EU ban of paint strippers that contain it, be *very careful* when *burning* it. Like many other chlorohydrocarbons when burnt it can release phosgene, a poison gas used from the first world war onwards.
+superdau Yes, they use both names interchangeably. I got a whiff of phosgene in the past, it was like breathing in a cactus, gave me a headache, and dropped me onto the floor and I sat there on my butt for 5 minutes wondering what the hell went wrong. DMC is a great solvent for extracting things too because of it's low boiling point combined with it's insolubility in water.. . I have managed to catch it on fire before from a bit of oops, and the fumes do make you dizzy. But the only time I accidentally created phosgene was leak testing an old commercial cooler running r-12. That was a bad day. All I got one was tiny bit of purple flamed disaster. Holy meatballs that stuff sucks.
mharris1270 Phosgene goes by the same name here in the USA, and no one in their right mind would try to get high off it. Kris up there described it well, like breathing a cactus. One whiff of that shit will lay you out. I had the same experience as kris, leak testing a system running r12.
That is a nice outcome! With that technique you could technically build a vacuum tube, although i know that the vacuum pulled with the syringe isn't good enough for continuous operation. But that would be a neat project, wouldn't it?
There is guy on RUclips that makes electron tubes and such. He goes by the name ' glasslinger ' or something like that. - be forewarned - Sometimes he likes to wear dresses and makeup while building things of glass.
And now... The drop test! No, just joking. I really like this. Are you planing on using it as a kind of lava lamp? Would a 3 watts LED get warm enough to start the boiling? Thanks for sharing your experiments!
Twist the glass tubing gently but somewhat rapidly when it gets to melting temp. Will give a nicer end than drawing it closed. Look up vacuum tube (valve) making videos.
Cool, I am glad you were able to finally get it to work out. Did you think about trying to file the ends down are were you worried it would fracture the glass?
Thanks, I've been looking for one of these DYI for bubble lights. How can I add green and blue to the Dichloromethane. I know simple food coloring will not work because the Dichloromethane is non miscible with water. I also know there must be a way to color the Dichloromethane because bubble lights using Dichloromethane are often colored, somehow. Thanks
I found darker colors you hardly see any bubbles. Only use a tint. If I were to make some I might try to take a little from some old blue tubes that are too dark anyway.
Thanks Clive I have ordered a Rectifier on ebay sorry for being a pain could you draw a diagram on hot to wire it the transformer has 3 wires comming out of the rear when I conected it up before you told me about the rectifier it was showing 25 amp so retifier will be the answer many thanks and your videos are very important to people like myself willing to learn Ray
I make these tubes but also the shooting star and almost done with the oil bubble replica tubes that are similar to the ones from the 40s. If your interested i can send you a few.
i watch all your vids but since im using kodi on an android tablet i cant comment with it or thum up your vids, witch sucks...but still keep making them cos i do check on a regular basis. ( i did this on a pc )
What happens if the whole thing gets too warm (eg. in Summer, accidently put in your pocket ...)? wouldnt there be the danger of bursting? and if thats not the case, maybe you could use Diethylether next time for an even lower boiling point :)
plus if it does all boil it boild into the vacuum and that means the pressure just equalizes or at rises just a little before it goes to hand temperature, just a TINY LITTLE BIT of thinking could help you.
No, it's under vacuum in the first place, it would have to get quite hot for the pressure to even go nonnegative. And glass is actually quite strong, so it would have to get many times hotter than that to create any danger of bursting. A bigger risk is just dropping the damn thing on the floor.
Very nice! Is there significant heat transfer between the hot and cold ends? I've been thinking of making my own heat pipes for ages now (sintered copper, possibly even water as the transport). Would it be possible to double neck it at the start, instead of pulling a vacuum just boil the DCM and seal the top neck, then allow to cool and seal the bottom? Fun project, thanks!
To put things into perspective, the primary victims of mercury poisoning were hatters who used tubs of very hot mercury to press felt into shapes. The mercury vapour caused them to go "as mad as a hatter". But cold mercury and traces of vapour are not a significant hazard.
Hi Clive could you answer a question I have a 12V car battery charger and the on board is dead can I bypass the board so that I can still use minus the board I checked the Diodes and they were fine but the board has failed many Thanks Ray
Ray Campbell It depends on whether there was current limiting to protect the transformer on the board. Traditional chargers were just a transformer and rectifier, but used transformers designed to limit the current without overheating.
Thanks for the info I will need to get a rectifer could you advise on one and where to buy in Glasgow or ebay I do like your videos find them good to watch and learn from them thanks again Ray
Ray Campbell I'd recommend a beefy metal cased 35A bridge rectifier for thermal reasons and ease of connection with crimp connectors. Keep in mind that an unregulated rectified DC supply can cause lead acid batteries to vent electrolyte as gas if they are over-charged. If the transformer is not self regulating then it may also overheat if the current is too high on its secondary.
Ray Campbell You can buy a 35A rectifier and the crimps for it from Maplin. Any voltage rating above 25V will be fine. Most 35A block rectifiers are rated in hundreds of volts. Was the original charger switchable between 6V and 12V?
Late to this party: Did you ever mount it over a low wattage incandescent bulb to warm it? Little methyline choloride USB bubble lamp to sit atop a pc or somesuch
linuxdaemon1372 Yes. I did a lot of lava lamp experiments a long time ago. It's very complicated and messy, and actually a lot safer and cheaper just to buy one.
I'm a collector of lava lamps, and I'd love to see what you came up with regarding glitter! The main website for lava lamp fans started in 1997, and within a year, people were posting their homemade attempts at lava lamps, and while "complicated and messy" sounds right to me, itr wasn't long before the official (American) formula - sans their precise proportions - was nailed down. But it wasn't until two years ago that fans had figured out a good liquid and glitter for both common types of glitter lamps-- and the guy who figured out both is now selling refills to other collectors.
Can you draw so much of a vacuum that it will constantly boil by itself? Then would it be possible to have like a water wheel (like the old ones with fins or buckets you see in rivers) to capture the rising bubbles and rotate a shaft through the glass tube (if if its even feasible to have a sealed bearing shaft through the glass. Just thinking of alternate power sources)
bluetack? plastic sleeves? my god man just get some chemistry equipment! bungs! silcone tubes! or heck get ground glass on glass stuff, and vaseline :D
Brilliant Clive😀 I’ve got 5 of the original bubble tubes from a set my dad bought in the 50’s and every now and then I think about rewiring it and getting it running again. You’ve inspired me to get on with the job. Cheers. Tom
Well done. There are few things so satisfying as working out a way of building something and having it work out.
I absolutely love this channel. As someone who loves to make lots of things I really appreciate it!
If you can get hold of one, you could use a three-way stopcock (luer valve, usually sold as an IV adjunct, to be used with IV giving sets) whilst drawing the vacuum, save you from having to disconnect, reconnect and pinch the tubing whilst you clear the syringe.
Pull, turn, push, turn, pull, etc.
Szlater you can also get very reasonably priced, one way valves that fit silicone tubing, from fish keeping shops.
Yay! Glad you finally managed to get it to work. It's a very nice effect.
Clive im so happy for you its worked out the way you intended
Hi Clive...
Just a bit of info about why you need rock salt or other stuff in the bottom of bubble tubes. The points and edges of the rock salt crystals form nucleation sites for the bubbles to form. The surface of the glass is generally too smooth for this to happen and the liquid can be raised above its boiling point without it actually boiling and becomes superheated. You may have seen this effect if you've used a microwave to heat water to make a cuppa. If the vessel that you're heating the water in is very clean and smooth and the water is clean without any suspended particles, you can superheat the water to above 100C without it actually boiling. This is a pretty dangerous state of affairs because the slightest knock or addition of something to the water like coffee, teabag, sugar can cause the water to suddenly boil and violently eject itself from whatever you've been heating it in. This doesn't happen very often but if it does it can be very bad news for your hands, face and eyes.
Fortunately, this is exactly what you want to happen in bubble tubes.
Sorry if this has turned into an essay - I ramble on sometimes.
MrBanzoid I don't think it's just for nucleation. It's also to trap some solvent at the heat source to allow it to heat to the point of evaporation. Without the salt the heated solvent would just flow to the top of the tube by convection.
Sorry BC. I should have thought of that as well!
Is the rock salt ice melt or the large chunks of sea salt from a kitchen salt grinder?
I have been into bubble lights since I played with what was left of a series set back in the 1970s.
I now have many newer ones, most burned out. I am also a welder and have torches. Thus is definitely something I want to try.
Thanks Clive for pointing me to this video.
Wonderful, now all we need to do is add coloured LEDs or even LEDs that change colour :-)
Only thing is I dread trying to make lots of them to form a string with LEDs.
Sweet, fantastic finished product and straight forward build. I'm going to have to search the house for other liquids that have similar boiling points/vapour pressures.
+Nick Moore Make sure to check upside down air dusters they might contain ethylene fluoride (difluoroethane) which is similar.
Or starting fluid which contains diethyl ether.
Nice Work!
Hey man this is a great video. You should make a full tutorial of step by step of how you did this.
I've wanted to build bubble tubes for years, and you've given me the solution I need! About 18 years ago, I apprenticed in a neon sign shop, and I thought I had everything, but I ended up with two problems: first, I never seemed to figure out "neck the tube first, then add the solvent." Second, I couldn't figure out how to draw a vacuum, since doing so with the shop's pump (neon shops use a two-stage pump, vapor diffusion, then mechanical) because the vapor might have spoiled the silicone oil in the diffusion pump. Now, thanks to you, assuming I have access to neon tubing and tube-bending torches, I think I can make these!
You could in theory create these without a pump. prior to sealing the tube you would heat the liquid to its boiling temperature and then close it off. as the liquid and gas cools, the gas would condense and form a vacuum on its own. Would be a neat experiment.
I try to picture what they may have used in original manufacture.
That sounds more like it.
Glad to see the experiment has been a success, and it's a looks a lot bigger than the Christmas tree versions. Well done!
Fantastic work! Maybe there is a cottage industry for making replacement bubble lamps for classic Christmas lights?
NOMA UK (Christmas lighting company) re-released bubble lights in the UK in the form of a candelabra a couple of years ago, I bought one & you can still find it if you Google; Noma 5 Red Bubble Effect Light Candelabra.
Anyway these bulbs also have some form of rock salt at the base and will also slowly bubble by the heat of your hand. It makes a great decoration in the window as during the day the sun shining on them also gives you a full flow of bubbles.
Each phial uses a 6V, 167mA E10 bulb at the base to light and heat the liquid to a full bubble stream. The instructions say they're filled with Dichloromethane diluted to 50ppm, each phial containing only 0.45mg of Dichloromethane.
You should see the health & safety warnings all over the box, I think they want you to wear a full hazmat suit when changing bulbs!
When I was a kid in the early 80's I remember Christmas lights that bubbled. Is this the same concept?
Effay513 Precisely, and that was his source of inspiration as well! There is just something mesmerizing about an endless stream of bubbles in a sealed tube o' chemicals :)
codemsan Thank you Sir for the reply!! Cheers! Yes It is mesmerizing!
Methylene chloride is Dichloromethane, and not Chloromethane, right? I love that stuff for glueing plastics, gooifies and welds many plastics, like PC, PS, ABS, PMMA, PET and in a pinch PVC (no chance, as always, on PE and PP though, and it's the wrong thing for PA, too).
Only drawback: I always get a minute of headache and slight dizzyness even when having the window open and just putting like five drops out of a syringe on plastic.
Btw. while I'm definitely not from the safety police and don't think much of the EU ban of paint strippers that contain it, be *very careful* when *burning* it. Like many other chlorohydrocarbons when burnt it can release phosgene, a poison gas used from the first world war onwards.
+superdau Yes, they use both names interchangeably. I got a whiff of phosgene in the past, it was like breathing in a cactus, gave me a headache, and dropped me onto the floor and I sat there on my butt for 5 minutes wondering what the hell went wrong. DMC is a great solvent for extracting things too because of it's low boiling point combined with it's insolubility in water.. . I have managed to catch it on fire before from a bit of oops, and the fumes do make you dizzy. But the only time I accidentally created phosgene was leak testing an old commercial cooler running r-12. That was a bad day. All I got one was tiny bit of purple flamed disaster. Holy meatballs that stuff sucks.
mharris1270 Phosgene goes by the same name here in the USA, and no one in their right mind would try to get high off it. Kris up there described it well, like breathing a cactus. One whiff of that shit will lay you out. I had the same experience as kris, leak testing a system running r12.
That is a nice outcome! With that technique you could technically build a vacuum tube, although i know that the vacuum pulled with the syringe isn't good enough for continuous operation. But that would be a neat project, wouldn't it?
There is guy on RUclips that makes electron tubes and such.
He goes by the name ' glasslinger ' or something like that.
- be forewarned -
Sometimes he likes to wear dresses and makeup while building things of glass.
Bubbles!!! :P
And now... The drop test! No, just joking. I really like this. Are you planing on using it as a kind of lava lamp? Would a 3 watts LED get warm enough to start the boiling? Thanks for sharing your experiments!
any tricks to get the tube to melt without the dichloromethane decomposing and blackening the tube? Happens every time I try it...
Twist the glass tubing gently but somewhat rapidly when it gets to melting temp. Will give a nicer end than drawing it closed. Look up vacuum tube (valve) making videos.
Pure water boils in a vacuum to, and ethanol is even easier and both are plastic compatible.
also what voltage should I buy of the 35amp retifier
Ray
The police seized my methylene chloride....
Cool, I am glad you were able to finally get it to work out. Did you think about trying to file the ends down are were you worried it would fracture the glass?
TrollFaceTheMan I
Noice!
Thanks, I've been looking for one of these DYI for bubble lights. How can I add green and blue to the Dichloromethane. I know simple food coloring will not work because the Dichloromethane is non miscible with water. I also know there must be a way to color the Dichloromethane because bubble lights using Dichloromethane are often colored, somehow. Thanks
Refrigerant dye from an auto parts store.
Yes, anything else?
I found darker colors you hardly see any bubbles. Only use a tint.
If I were to make some I might try to take a little from some old blue tubes that are too dark anyway.
Can you make a blubber with a recycled spiral CFL bulb? I found you can use pumped water & play sand to clean the tube.
That is certainly an idea.
A spiral bubble light.
Thanks Clive I have ordered a Rectifier on ebay sorry for being a pain could you draw a diagram on hot to wire it the transformer has 3 wires comming out of the rear when I conected it up before you told me about the rectifier it was showing 25 amp so retifier will be the answer many thanks and your videos are very important to people like myself willing to learn Ray
Great Work👍, which Kind of dye can i use to get coloured Bubble Tubes?
I think food colouring may work.
@@bigclivedotcom Thank you, i'll try it👍
So, what use is it?
Any ideas on how to add colors to the liquid?
You can get oil based colours that should work. They're sold for candle making.
I make these tubes but also the shooting star and almost done with the oil bubble replica tubes that are similar to the ones from the 40s. If your interested i can send you a few.
That would be interesting. My email address is bigclive1@gmail.com
Do you make oil tubes that will fit vintage Royal Crown bubble lights? I have been looking for them.
@@vicb5098 i have been working on them but i am having trouble getting them to start at the moment
@@johncampbell4434 Hey there! Please advise of your progress....my email is boveestokey@sbcglobal.net. Many thanks!
@@vicb5098 will do i should be getting more tests in here soon this spring.
i watch all your vids but since im using kodi on an android tablet i cant comment with it or thum up your vids, witch sucks...but still keep making them cos i do check on a regular basis. ( i did this on a pc )
Where does one get methyleenchloride?
Some fibreglass material suppliers stock it.
Would you be interested in making one for me that would be 7 1/5" in length.
8 years on, does it still work
No. Not at hand temperature. I think my seal was bad so it's lost its vacuum.
What happens if the whole thing gets too warm (eg. in Summer, accidently put in your pocket ...)? wouldnt there be the danger of bursting?
and if thats not the case, maybe you could use Diethylether next time for an even lower boiling point :)
plus if it does all boil it boild into the vacuum and that means the pressure just equalizes or at rises just a little before it goes to hand temperature, just a TINY LITTLE BIT of thinking could help you.
U mad bro?
No, it's under vacuum in the first place, it would have to get quite hot for the pressure to even go nonnegative. And glass is actually quite strong, so it would have to get many times hotter than that to create any danger of bursting. A bigger risk is just dropping the damn thing on the floor.
HELP! I tried to make the bottom of the tube, but when it cools, the glass just cracks in many places. Help me please!!!!
You have to keep heating the glass gently as it cools down to avoid it fracturing from the stress of cooling quickly.
I just hit the 1000th like on this video
Very nice! Is there significant heat transfer between the hot and cold ends? I've been thinking of making my own heat pipes for ages now (sintered copper, possibly even water as the transport). Would it be possible to double neck it at the start, instead of pulling a vacuum just boil the DCM and seal the top neck, then allow to cool and seal the bottom? Fun project, thanks!
Isn't there the concern with mercury vapor from cracking open fluorescent tubes like that?
They contain an absolute tiny amount of vapour. It's all just scaremongering. Old neon-style tubes with argon and mercury contain a lot more.
Oh cool. I once smashed a bunch of tubes in my backyard when I was a kid. I thought I might be messed up from it nowadays. I guess not.
To put things into perspective, the primary victims of mercury poisoning were hatters who used tubs of very hot mercury to press felt into shapes. The mercury vapour caused them to go "as mad as a hatter". But cold mercury and traces of vapour are not a significant hazard.
Hi Clive could you answer a question I have a 12V car battery charger and the on board is dead can I bypass the board so that I can still use minus the board I checked the Diodes and they were fine but the board has failed many Thanks Ray
Ray Campbell It depends on whether there was current limiting to protect the transformer on the board. Traditional chargers were just a transformer and rectifier, but used transformers designed to limit the current without overheating.
Thanks for the info I will need to get a rectifer could you advise on one and where to buy in Glasgow or ebay I do like your videos find them good to watch and learn from them thanks again Ray
Ray Campbell I'd recommend a beefy metal cased 35A bridge rectifier for thermal reasons and ease of connection with crimp connectors. Keep in mind that an unregulated rectified DC supply can cause lead acid batteries to vent electrolyte as gas if they are over-charged. If the transformer is not self regulating then it may also overheat if the current is too high on its secondary.
Ray Campbell You can buy a 35A rectifier and the crimps for it from Maplin. Any voltage rating above 25V will be fine. Most 35A block rectifiers are rated in hundreds of volts. Was the original charger switchable between 6V and 12V?
6V / 12v Trickel charge
Late to this party: Did you ever mount it over a low wattage incandescent bulb to warm it? Little methyline choloride USB bubble lamp to sit atop a pc or somesuch
Yes. It worked fine with a low power lamp.
Now where is the Nilered video synthesizing the chemical.
Have you ever experimented with making a lava lamp? I saw the glitter lamp video.
linuxdaemon1372 Yes. I did a lot of lava lamp experiments a long time ago. It's very complicated and messy, and actually a lot safer and cheaper just to buy one.
bigclivedotcom Makes sense, tahnks for the reply, love your channel!
I'm a collector of lava lamps, and I'd love to see what you came up with regarding glitter! The main website for lava lamp fans started in 1997, and within a year, people were posting their homemade attempts at lava lamps, and while "complicated and messy" sounds right to me, itr wasn't long before the official (American) formula - sans their precise proportions - was nailed down. But it wasn't until two years ago that fans had figured out a good liquid and glitter for both common types of glitter lamps-- and the guy who figured out both is now selling refills to other collectors.
Can you draw so much of a vacuum that it will constantly boil by itself?
Then would it be possible to have like a water wheel (like the old ones with fins or buckets you see in rivers) to capture the rising bubbles and rotate a shaft through the glass tube (if if its even feasible to have a sealed bearing shaft through the glass. Just thinking of alternate power sources)
I saw a video where he used crushed glass for nucleation
Was that Applied Science?
@@bigclivedotcom I'm sorry, I don't remember!
choob, and youchoob... love the accent
bluetack? plastic sleeves? my god man just get some chemistry equipment! bungs! silcone tubes! or heck get ground glass on glass stuff, and vaseline :D
A bubble “chube”.
isn't this the stuff they use in breaking bad to cook meth? lol :)
...no