How Methylene Chloride bubble tubes work.
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- Опубликовано: 27 мар 2015
- You've probably seen these tubes without realising it. They are used in Christmas lights (not so much in the UK) and for the bubble effect in old Wurlitzer jukeboxes.
They consist of a glass tube with one end closed, some porous material like pumice or rock salt to hold pockets of the liquid and allow it to heat to the point it vapourises, and the liquid itself, which is normally methylene chloride, a common solvent that is not particularly flammable.
A vacuum is drawn on the tube to lower the pressure to the point that the liquid will readily boil at room temperature, and the glass tube is then sealed off by melting it.
When even the slightest amount of heat is applied in the area where the liquid is trapped in the crystals, it will boil and create a stream of bubbles that travel up the tube and recondense back into the liquid again.
WOW, I remember those Christmas lights. When we moved to town and had our first house with electricity, dad found some place that had some of these second hand, perhaps at a farm auction, we always attended those to find cheap things. So that first Christmas in town, I think it was 1963s I recall the death of President Kennedy that year, we had our first electric Christmas, as well as our first television that we could watch the whole Kennedy thing on. But those bubble lights, man how I loved them. Multi color, all the Christmas colors, red green and amber. So pretty, I could just sit on the floor and watch them for hours. I must have been 12 that year, but it was a magical time, and all the gadgetts we picked up at thos auctions, a 110 volt radio replaced the old battery pack that had entertained us for all those years on the farm, then a few years later the transistor radios! I loved those little pocket radios, in fact I discovered that if I cut off the 9 volt plug and wired it up to a 6 volt lantern battery, you could turn the AM Radio into a short wave reveiver, and I loved those short wave stations. Even today, when the mood srikes me, I will turn to a SW band and listen to those far away signals. I have been studying and plan to get my Ham ticket soon so I can play around on them and talk back to those hams that I hear on my old SW Tube setup.
Nice story Jerry. I have never seen lights like them over here in Scotland.
Those were the days when staying alive was some others problem. Live just seamed a bit less complicated back then. Though you might be a bit older than I am. Good luck with the Radio Ham license :-)
I'm a little younger than you and remember staring at our bubble lights for hours.
Mom and the kids (dad would be at work) would try to guess wich light would start bubbling first the first time we turned them on each year.
BTW did you get your ham ticket? I got mine a couple years ago. Just on VHF/UHF for now. If we make it though Covid 19 and they start having ham fests again I want to pick up a HF rig.
This sort of lamp was also used by the Lionel train company in their oil derrick/pump station accessories. The tube was filled with yellow colored fluid to simulate oil, and was capped off with simulated piping and valves for the "oil" to flow into as it bubbled up. To really sell the illusion, it also had a walking beam pump that went up and down using electromagnets.
I also remember the X-mas lights, used to be for a while they had stopped making them and so seeing them was a special thing.
Really like these lamps, like a lava lamp you can sit and watch 'em bubble for hours.
My dad has one of those Lionel things from when he was a kid, it's pretty neat
Such a *_great_* video. I can remember sitting by the Christmas tree when I was little watching these bubble away while listening to Christmas music on 33rpm records and falling asleep on the couch. :) Great memories.
You can still buy them on eBay. They sell the original vintage ones (sometimes the duffers from their collections!) and also complete new modern sets.
My family use to have bubble lights. I always wanted to break one and drink the liquid. Probably for the best I never did.
Used to strip paint. You were wisest not to drink. If ingested or absorbed through the skin, methylene chloride becomes carbon monoxide inside the body.
Wow! thanks Clive! I had wondered for years how those jukebox bubble tubes worked and why the bubbles just disappeared as they got to the top. Brilliant!
...60 years ago...I was intrigued by these at Christmas time....
And now 60 years later you can have them on your own tree this Christmas thanks to eBay.
My aunt an uncle covered their Christmas tree with bubble lights back in the 50s.
Very interesting watching one of these vintage videos. I am glad you and {Technology Connections} are both here to educate and entertain. Thank you.
Awesome and thank you! I have always been so fascinated with these since I saw these on a Christmas tree in a home we were visiting when I was very young. I found one the the nightlight ones at a Christmas shop in North Pole Alaska this year. Every time I see it bubbling, I wonder how is is done. Now I know!
Ah..... I learned something new! Have been thinking about the jukebox bubbles for quite a long time!
Man I used to stare at these as a child, so fun and beautiful to look at... I remember a few days before. maybe even on the eve of Christmas, the tube exploded and the liquid got in my eye and my parents had to rush me to the hospital... I repressed that memory until now.
I wonder if it was wired incorrectly or our house surged or something but it happened to be the one I was looking at.
That's odd. They normally run at a slight vacuum. I wonder if the lamp was overheating for some reason and pressurised.
They’re actually really rare in the states also. I’ve only ever seen them for sale online nowadays. Idk if this was different when this video was made though.
Hobby lobby sells them
WOW .. You are amazing ... just find you so refreshing a plethera of information ....can't wait to see more of your fun infovids .. keep on keepin on mate ! Cheers :P
I have always loved bubble lights.
And yeah I have used one as a night light and just watch it bubble for hours. :)
I have also taken a couple apart after the bulb has burned out and did varius tests with the tubes as well. :)
A refrigerator compressor will suffice as a vacuum pump if you have one lying around. Great video, I have never seen these before. :)
was fascinated as a kid how they worked as Christmas lights ,thanks.
Thank You for this informational clear and detailed awesome video ! It is fascinating to learn how the bubble tube works 👍🏽
Amazing how Tech Ingredients elaborates on this very topic in Dec 2021 and shows how to make your own.
I was fascinated by these as a kid. my mum had some that used to sit on the Christmas tree in a string with the bulbs under to light them up and make them bubble. hence looked like candles. she smashed a couple so they were never really used but I used to sneak and plug them in ;)
+Iain Jackson And now you're grown up you can buy them and switch them on whenever you like. Here's a handy search link, noting that eBay has vintage ones but also brand new sets:- www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&LH_BIN=1&_nkw=christmas+bubble+lights&_sop=10
I have some of the old methyl chloride Christmas lights. They are 15 Volt tungsten filament flat-top bulbs which are glued to the base of the bubble tubes. These would typically be in a series string of 8 or 9 for operation on 120 Volt mains. The light sets with 9 bulbs would run cooler and have a much longer lifespan than the sets with 8 bulbs. amazing that lots of this 60 year old stuff still works great today. Even the 100 year old carbon filament 15 Volt Christmas bulbs I have a few strings of still work great, but they operate VERY hot.
nucleation points
Nucular?
My Grandmother has had a set of these for years and I was always curious how they worked... neat
The dichloromethane boils at below body temperature in air, so it will boil in an open tube. The sealing means it will adjust to keep a constant bubble rate as the temperature increases because it adjusts the internal pressure. Boiling open will just make it short lived.
I try to find the mini ones :) seems those are much harder to find these days, but give me many fond memories of my 1980s childhood.
I like those, I do remember a jukebox with the bubbles going up each side, I was to young to think about it at the time. It was only when you mentioned it that it jogged a faint dying brain cell into life. Did it also have lights that changed colour as well? I can't remember, but I do remember the bubbles. It did spark my interest at the time, but being little I was so easy distracted. I think it was in Grantown - on - Spey in a cafe that is not there now.
Maybe the location is wrong, but f I am right, maybe someone can give me a bell,
I remember the tune someone played on it, it was Ken Dod, "Tears for souvenirs".
We got to play a tune and it was all old tunes that was in it, though it had been kept up to date until the 70s sometime! There was a fight between my brother and sister and me about what we wanted and it was getting so close to bus time that I was told to pick something.
Forgive me but I was small and couldn't read all that well, also the artist meant nothing to me so I picked Wolly Bully (no idea who sang that? Maybe someone will let me know, thank-you in advance) I think it was called and we got a bonus record thanks to the old lady that used to run the cafe. It was an Elton John song that she put on, the sound that came out of that jukebox was amazing! I can't remember the song, but Elton had a lot of bass on it and it sounded very good, even though I had never heard of Elton John. Anyway, that is an old memory, I am not sure if it was the right location, but I fell in love with that old jukebox.
Nice idea for Christmas lights, a resistor and an LED that changed colour would be very nice and have a good effect. :-)
I have never seen lights like it anywhere else?
The Wurlitzer jukeboxes used bubble tubes with a heater on the end. They also
had a rotating colour drum.
It might be because Im in new jersey, but im an American and ive never seen these things in my life. But they look so cool!
oh I LOVE those bubble lights
It can be awkward to get hold of Methylene Chloride in Europe, it is considered a carcinogen so has been banned, it used to be used in Nitro Mors paint stripper, but I think its now Benzyl Alcohol. Usually plastics companies use the stuff for welding Acrylic, with a small amount of Acetic Acid in the stuff.
Wow, I'm from the USA, never seen those before! :O
Cool!
every time the ones on our tree burnt out or the plastic shell broke my parents always gave me the tubes adn i still have a few and i love messing around with them every now and then.
These were high tech on my xmas tree as a kid lol.
You dont need vacuum pump to create this... just heat it up so it starts boiling a bit, while the tube is still open, and vapours will displace air from tube, then heat and seal it off while it still boils slightly.
By the way, this is an excellent demo how a simple heatpipe works...u just cant see inside :-)
IF U WANT a free vacuum pump (that you dont need to wory destroying it or fouling up vacuum pump oil) u can use old (working) fridge compressor, it makes quite a hard vacuum, have seen friend regassing He-Ne laser with it, and it worked,well still works...
Exactly how i did it 😀 I put at screwcap testtube with sand and acetone in hot water. Closed it off when it began overflowing from the vigorous boiling. Runs on the heat from my hand, or room temperature, when the empty top is covered with a thin layer of damp tissue paper. I wouldn't recommend sand though, since it is too fine to give stable boiling. These things are SO AWESOME 😀
Drawing a vacuum by mouth:scary. Reminded me immediately of a movie called "Radium Girls". Try Googling...
Never seen these before (except on the jukeboxes). Nice one, Clive!
Wonder why they're not well known in the UK?
we had a set of these when i was a lad. always reminded me of mad scientists labs...
While I never saw or heard about these before, I do miss the creative illuminated decorations that people decorated their Christmas trees with. That was when most light sets were 20 bulbs and available as various star shapes, petals, miniature lanterns and so on. It was unusual to trees decorated with plain bare bulbs from what I recall. Just before LEDs took off, most people turned to using bare bulb sets, cramming as many lights as possible on their trees. With LED, the number of colours also fell from 6 to 4.
This is why I strongly recommend making up your own christmas tree lights by hacking existing tungsten strings with every shade and shape of LED and cover you can find. I remember walking through junk markets and seeing scrappy old boxes with original decorative lamp sets from the era you describe. Now I wish I'd bought them.
Hello! Great work!
Please told me, how to fix the salt on the bottom of the tube?
that she did not swim.
And what can I use instead of Methylene Chloride?
they're even getting to be hard to find over here more of a vintage thing but I love them m8
+H8edsinclair Still made (In China) and sold from US online sellers via ebay.
+bigclivedotcom thanks m8 I'm might pick some up for old times. haha
Do you think I could make this portable? I'm working on a project and I want to make bubble panels portable
Ooooh! Groovy!
The term is nucleation
I wish I had these.... never seen these IRL
I am guessing that those crystals at the bottom are there to retain the heat. Otherwise, the liquid that warms up would take the heat away and spread it evenly.
wow, never seen anything like this in my county
I see someone asked if they were banned, and the answer is no. They had become more rare due to the cost and time of production as shown here. Miniature incandescent and now LED lights are so incredibly cheap to produce, that many people forgo the bubble lights altogether. As a kid, we had just a few of them and they were our favourites, and we would lay under the tree and watch them for what seemed like hours. We can still find them, sometimes locally or on line and they seem to be making a comeback, cost be darned. I see that Wal Mart has them at a reasonable price, and they ship to your door. Our Christmas tree just isn't complete without bubble lights. Try a strand, and see if your kids get under the tree!!
Always wondered just how these (and the jukebox tubes) worked!! Thanks Professor Clive, Our internet "Mr. Wizard"!! ;-) lol
I have a few that will not bubble. They are not broke and the lights work fine I shook them up and still no bubbles
Boyle's law and nucleation sites are what you want to google if you want to know the physics behind these things. very cool
I thought nucleatiin.
but I couldn't see it working in a closed system. but it's not a closed if electricity is going in. thanks!
No real system is truly closed when you really get into it. You usually just model things as closed to make the math (and your life) easier..
In this case though, you would consider the room a closed system. Energy is coming from the room into the bottom of the tube (via electricity) and then through the tube and back into the room (via vapor condensing). These bubble tubes are essentially very weak heat exchangers. The general rule of thumb is that when a vapor becomes a liquid, it sucked some heat from somewhere to do so.
Gunhaver
Conservation kf energy.
A reaction never comes from no where (on the macro) and never results in "nothing".
The salt is preventing retardation of boiling, called superheating or bumping too. Another example of this is: Heat a cup of water in the microwave. After the microwave is finished water is not boiling, insert a tea bag or instant coffee and the water is boiling immediatly. Same effect...but in a closed container much more dangerous than it is in a cup or a glass which is open. A closed container could crack or explode through this superheating. The name bumping is coming from chemistry, when heating a beaker with water on a Ceran plate heated with a bunsen burner the beaker is starting to bump on the plate when this effect occurs.
Mythbusters tested this:
ruclips.net/video/1_OXM4mr_i0/видео.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superheating
Very good information thank you......how were these discovered ???? And what date????
1944. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_light
OH, where did you get these from? I've been looking for these but only find antique ebay Christmas light ones. Or were these scavenged from exactly that?
You can usually buy new sets of bubble lights on eBay.
Nucleation sites for the bubbles to form
Heh. I remember those things from when I was a kid, never did understand back then how the heck they worked...
where did you get the big clear bubble tubes?
+Erik Iacopelli ^^ this. We need a link! I bought some christmas ones filled with glitter too, can't wait to get em :)
How good is the thermal dissipation? Someone should use these as a CPU heatsink. As an experiment of course.
+SeanHodgins All tower heat sinks effectively do already. The difference is that the tubes are made of copper instead of glass.
+Folopolis The difference would be that these boil and look really cool. But they could be terrible at dissipating heat, which would make them bad headsinks. That was the point of my question.
SeanHodgins The heat pipes that are on all tower heat sinks have a material in them under vacuum that boil as soon as a moderate amount of head is applied. The material, now in it's gaseous form travels away from the heat source, taking heat with it, until it makes contact with the pipe wall, or the pressure increases sufficiently, it liquefies and travels back toward the heat source. It is literally the exact same principle.
Folopolis I'm talking about CPU cooling, and I'm talking about the glass aspect of it. As in the conductive heat transfer of glass. I get that the liquid to gas is doing the cooling, I quite obviously understood that in my first comment. I'm talking about the thermal conductivity of the glass bottom itself, and whether it will provide a suitable sink for a computer CPU. I'm not questioning the method of phase transition cooling effect they have.
Can You write What is in There ? My english is Not so Good
Do you know what is added or used to get different fluid colors?
Probably oil based dyes. As used for colouring lamp oil and candles.
Nucleation?
Go on Clive, make some with an LED and resistor! :-)
You can use a cluster of resistors around the base and an LED. I've done it in the past.
Flashback.
Popular in America? How did I miss it? Been here for so long and haven't seen one!
+Aperson Search ebay for Christmas bubble lights.
+bigclivedotcom They are around. They are a little niche these days, but you can find them if you look. I used to love these as a kid cause they boil in the hand. My grandmother decorated her tree with them every year.
I had these on my Christmas tree as a child in the 90s but I've never seen them since or they'd have been on my tree as an adult! Haha. I loved them.
+Kayla Mayfield Hi Kayla... eBay is your friend for the weird and the wonderful, including those bubble lights from vintage ones to the recommended newer versions.
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR6.TRC2.A0.H0.Xchristmas+bubble+light.TRS0&_nkw=christmas+bubble+light&_sacat=0
+bigclivedotcom Thanks. Maybe for next years tree. :)
Actually, you would probably not need a vacuum pump.
You can find experiments where they boil water in a bottle to displace the air.
If you fill the tube, make it boil, pinch it off, cool it down; then you have the vacuum and it should be ready to use.
Please tell me if I am wrong, but I am rather certain about that fact.
omgffsification Bens version took a really high temperature to boil and also really needed the crystal structure at the bottom to help stop the warmer solvent just circulating up to the top without boiling. My preference would be the type that can boil with just finger heat.
bigclivedotcom
Maybe you could rig up an aquarium air pump in reverse for producing the vacuum.
I think Ive seen a video on here where one is hacked and used as a pickup tool for smd components?
They are certainly cheap.
omgffsification The aquarium pumps tend to have soft rubber diaphragms so they aren't very good at producing a vacuum. The peristaltic pumps seem to do a modest job though, to the point of collapsing their silicone tube in. But still nowhere near a repurposed refrigerator pump or AC testing pump.
bigclivedotcom But if you pinch of a vapor-filled tube, when it cools it will condensate until it's at equilibrium and you would have the desired pressure inside the tube.
But you would need to heat it enough for the vapor to escape the tube first. Should be doable with water too (like they use in heatpipes)
these christmas lights came out post war the strings originally in series strings of 15 (8V) and had a small 1cm rod in place of the crystals in the 1970's they came out with 117V on a C7 base opposed to the C5 on the originals
+Richard Golden-DeWitt I have some of the original tubes with the glass slug in them. You can still buy new sets of bubble lamps on eBay.
+bigclivedotcom in the 70's they came out with a mini version they were 2cm X 10mm like the original they ran in series I got maybe 3 seasons out of them
I can't for the life of me find these anywhere online, can you provide a link please?
Or is there any chance you'd be willing to sell me one?
www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xbubble+lights.TRS0&_nkw=bubble+lights&_sacat=0
So would these self excite in a hot tropical country? as they seam to work off body heat.
Sadly not, they'd need a temperature differential to operate
Yeah, they really need a temperature differential. But if you get one of the rocking-bird ornaments that uses the same system then you can put it's base in a position that sunlight hits and the rest shielded. Then on good days it will bubble slowly.
You used to be able to get Methylene Chloride at the hardware store in the US. A few years back the safety nazis pitched a fit and now no one sells it. Not sure if it is actually banned. In the last 20 years something like 5 people ignored the labeling and either used it to strip a bathtub (in spite of the large type that said DON"T USE IN BATHTUB) or in an enclosed space (once again in spite of the warning (DO NOT USE IN ENCLOSED SPACE. HAVE PROPER VENTILATION).
It has been replaced with something that is extremely flammable. I am waiting for reports of idiots who ignore labels blowing themselves up.
When do people understand that idiot proofing never works. The only way to even try to change the situation is education, not bans.
Does any one know where you can get DCM in the UK?
I use it for paint stripping and for joining plastics together.
I used to get it off eBay but now can't find it anywhere?
Tia👍
You may be able to get it from local fibreglass supply companies.
@@bigclivedotcom I believe it's restricted in the EU and UK.
However, I'm certain that registered company's, can obtain it as it a crucial substance in many manufacturing processes.
I'm just a ' Tinkerer' I rebuild, customise Motor bikes .
I live in Bournemouth, I'm sure a well traveled, knowledgeable, Guy like yourself may know someone who could quietly sell me a litre or so?
You keep saying that these are common in America, but I've never seen or even heard of them. I wonder if they got banned.
Search eBay for bubble lights.
bigclivedotcom Oh, don't get me wrong, I have no doubt they're available, haha.
bigclivedotcom What I was thinking was more along the lines of "available at Walmart," know what I mean?
Not usually Walmart, but smaller stores with a more specialty Christmas decoration offering should have them. They go very fast so they are easy to miss. They still make them, usually in the C7 size.
sapperssgkelley Very interesting. I may try to find one just for the novelty of it. I did realize that I had seen one of these devices before where it was built into something, and was larger than these. Can't remember what it was built into for the life of me. Probably something like a jukebox, as Clive mentioned.
Jukebox bubble tubes.
In the USSR there were similar, “гирлянда сюрприз“! You can see in RUclips
Am I the only one who looked at the thumb nail and instantly thought "Is that meth?"
In chemistry this is known as dichloromethane.
would be cool if u put them in a pc (stiking out of the top) and when u start plaing a game that u would slowly see them bubbeling
how about several of these, which all start bubbling at different temps, so you always know the ambient temp in your computer.
that sounds awesome
Methylene chloride... don't breathe this!
Becomes carbon monoxide in the body.
Anyone know where could I buy one of those red ones in the UK?
They're very rare in the UK, but you may be able to buy a set from America.
Hey where did you order these??
lmgtfy.com/?q=Methylene+Chloride+bubble+tubes
Did you say...
METH?
Methylene Chloride has some short term effects when inhaled on the nervous system effecting auditory, visual and motor functions which will reverse once exposure ends.
long term exposure data is inconclusive but there is some suggestion that it may cause cancer.
Still probably best not to suck those fumes...
Also half way wondering if these could be used for some kind very simple DIY phase change cooling a bit like a heat pipe... though i think those work a bit differently.
Probably not an ideal substance for the purpose since it needs so little heat..
+ZerqTM - _Every_ inconclusive study ends with the words "it may cause cancer". It's the law.
cancer is like the lottery... but where the price is canser....
the trick is not to by more lottery tickets then you absolutely have too...
the problem is it included in just about everything so yeah... may cause canser is true for almost everything..
I have a set from 1964
Does anyone remember the liquid boiling pens? they used to have them in souvenir shops and places like hawkins bazaar. I wonder if this was the same as bubble tubes
+DANG They were, but usually with a little globe at the bottom to trap vapour and accelerate the effect.
+bigclivedotcom thought they would be, thanks for the info! Used to baffle me as a child, and adult till I watched this video:) found your channel recently and I am hooked!
+DANG nice name
What? The Christmas "Bubble Lights" are collectible? Well, I have a vintage set (7 lamps) in the original box. They're not in mint condition, the plastic lamp housing on some of them is distorted from heat, but I just tested them, they all work.
DimensionDude all vintage Xmas lighting is coveted by collectors. There are some versions of the bubble lamps that are so rare that they fetch high prices in any condition.
DimensionDude And the value is: www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Bubble-Lites-Lights-in-Original-Noma-Box-See-Listing-/261999353433?hash=item3d0060de59
Didn't they use methylene chloride as a refrigerant years ago?
Yes, R-30 in the ASHRAE numbering. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_refrigerants
where did you get the larger clear tubes?
+jaylang11 I think they came from an eBay seller a long time ago.
+bigclivedotcom Hello! Great work!
Please told me, how to fix the salt on the bottom of the tube?
that she did not swim.
And what can I use instead of Methylene Chloride?
+Василий Рогачиков I used loose rock salt. To date Methylene Chloride has provided the only good result in my own experiments.
+bigclivedotcom thanks!
you were able to fix the salt on the bottom?
+Василий Рогачиков Just gravity and loose salt.
You should do a video on making it powered by a USB with a LED, imitating the old style Christmas lights, but powered by USB (if it is possible).
I've done it but I forgot the resistor and as soon as I plugged it in the LED went POOF!😂😂😂😂😂😂😄😄😄😄😄🙂🙂🙂🙂😆😆😆😆
Am I able to buy these online? :D
whitewolf2020 Yes. You can buy them on ebay if you search for christmas bubble lights.
Figures, I searched for "Methylene Chloride bubble tubes" XD. Thank you very much, looking forward to PC modding with these (though your dubious butane tubes look interesting..) :D
whitewolf2020 The PC modding sounds like a great idea! Maybe make a steampunk kind of thing?
Just a thought while drunk on a large scale with some sort of restriction in the tube with a rotor and in it and magnetic couplig could this generate power eg. on a large scale :-)
+keith watkins it could but you'd need heat to get the bubbles to form, and unless you had an army of people holding onto the tubes 24 hours a day that would need more power than what you'd generate from the rotor.
SCIENCE!
Jiggered if I can find any on e-Bay, apart from a handful of 'Vintage' ones at silly money.
I have just bought a bubble-shaped LED lamp though. You're a bad influence!
Yes! I've just bought a Pilot V Sign Pen because I really liked the clarity of your sketches!
Bigclivedotcom, can you make me one and sell it to me? I want to build a homemade juke box and need a foot long bubbler. Could you let me know, thanks...
You can buy jukebox bubbler tubes.
@@bigclivedotcom Really? But aren't the standard sizes in excess of one foot? Thanks for the reply. I shall have a look. If I am unsuccessful maybe you can help?
Is this how the lava lamp was made
+AnonymousHASH213 Traditional lava lams used a chlorinated solvent to weigh down wax and make it just slightly heavier than water.
It has a very low boiling point
its odd how fast they boil for you i remember nearly losing my shit as a kid everytime i would turn those on because they would take almost 5 minutes to start boiling with a incandescent bulb under them
cant find a cheap one for Australia :(
+Gummy Bear Some of the American sellers will ship them to other countries if you ask them. But it works out quite expensive.
$60 yar too much to play with i think ill cross my fingers and go to garage sales
+Gummy Bear Considering they contain Methylene Chloride which is a main component in paint stripper, these were most likely banned from distribution in Australia. All it would take is a couple in a string to break and it wouldn't be pretty.
these are actually banned from being made and sold as decorations in america due to the fire hazards they posed on trees. having a heater operating on a tree was found to be a bad thing when something went wrong.
also the toxicity once they broke added to the problems
Just bought a string of them advertised as Christmas decorations. They aren’t banned, just hard to find.
@@kassiehope4007 the ones you found are either snuck in or different from the originals.
Bunk. The "heater" is just an incandescent bulb like any other tree light in the old days. The solvent is not flammable.
nucleation
Make a valve please. Go for a triode.
4:40 Well if human can make enough vacuum to make it work them making vacuum pomp at home to this application wouldn't be that har, essentially u need piston with 2 valves.
Woah ive never seen these! They are so cool (im also in the uk), i should get some. Just the fact you can pick it up and it boils. (Lol im 14 now and when i was 12 i bought a maze with mercury in, no licence and i have some mercury, and from 12 years old lol. Idk if i should sell it or what. AND it is not gallium wither.)
you shouldn't need to pull a vacuum. heat the methylene chloride to close to boiling point so the vessel fills with vapour, when the temp drops, the vapour pressure drops, bingo, vacuum. works really really for crushing stuff with water too XD
are you British are american