Illegal Chemical from a Vintage 1960s Extinguisher

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  • Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
  • Carbon tetrachloride became very rare from being phased out internationally after 1989, but some relics of the past still contain this once-widely used chemical. Its toxicity didn't help its popularity after the 60s/70s, so its been practically 100% replaced by alternatives. In some countries carbon tet isn't that rare still! But in a country like Aus, where you basically can't import it, and we do not manufacture it here, over the last 3 decades its been completely phased out. Twitter: / explosions_fire
    Patreon: / explosionsandfire
    Subreddit: / explosionsandfire
    Join the Discord!! / discord
    Thanks to this video on a pyrene fire extinguisher demo for the help: • Antique fire extinguis...
    Music: 18 Mello Punchy by user18081971 (Aphex Twin)

КОМЕНТАРІ • 1,1 тис.

  • @Samonie67
    @Samonie67 5 років тому +4075

    Tom be like: ah yes, today i will extract enslaved liver failure

    • @alexredacted2123
      @alexredacted2123 5 років тому +313

      solvonts

    • @alke5668
      @alke5668 5 років тому +8

      Lmao

    • @alke5668
      @alke5668 5 років тому +15

      Ah yes, these comments are gold

    • @adamlifevictor5772
      @adamlifevictor5772 4 роки тому +9

      Solvent go brrrr

    • @jimmymulherin4505
      @jimmymulherin4505 3 роки тому +12

      Maybe the danger is more in using these chemicals occupationally. My dad had a Winchester of this. Me and my friends (stupidly and irresponsibly) would take a smaller bottle out and sniff it to high. Did it on and off for years.

  • @Volvith
    @Volvith 5 років тому +3427

    >Potent Hepatotoxin
    >Canister appears empty.
    *_>SNIFFS_*

    • @cezarcatalin1406
      @cezarcatalin1406 5 років тому +521

      Liver: Mr.Tom, I don't feel so good...

    • @bryanmartinez6600
      @bryanmartinez6600 5 років тому +30

      Me
      *SNORTS*

    • @terricampbell3179
      @terricampbell3179 5 років тому +21

      @@bryanmartinez6600 your name + the comment = laughs

    • @transkryption
      @transkryption 5 років тому +3

      @@cezarcatalin1406 yeah it'll do that

    • @Exascale
      @Exascale 5 років тому +81

      Its really not as insanely toxic as the reports will tell you. Its only bad if you have alcohol in your system at the same time. Its not like smelling it one time is gonna destroy your liver. Also, this stuff is super easy to produce in large amounts from methylene chloride and a chlorine generator. Dry chlorine gas is absorbed into DCM with a dispersion tube with a UV black light source over the path. The product is chlorinated in excess until no more chlorine is absorbed and the yellow color remains. Then the final mixture is neutralized with sodium bicarbonate and distilled over. You can make a generator rather inexpensively that will yield many kilos of this stuff with ease.

  • @yourayneeum6964
    @yourayneeum6964 5 років тому +1139

    Cracking open a chlorinated one

    • @ZA-mb5di
      @ZA-mb5di 5 років тому +80

      Cracking open my liver with the feds

    • @technoman9000
      @technoman9000 3 роки тому +2

      High five!

    • @benruniko
      @benruniko 3 роки тому +3

      This is a criminally underrated comment

    • @DisDatK9
      @DisDatK9 3 роки тому

      Blowin up the lads

    • @some_haqr
      @some_haqr 3 роки тому

      🤣🤣

  • @2soldierman2
    @2soldierman2 5 років тому +1404

    So I'm not the only nut that wanders through antique shops with a Geiger.

    • @breakdance4cash228
      @breakdance4cash228 5 років тому +476

      I been taking my Geiger with me to the strip club, just to be sure these hos ain't stripping any electrons you know what im saying mang

    • @fyredoesidiotgames8451
      @fyredoesidiotgames8451 5 років тому +5

      i ended up getting mine in a antique store.

    • @josephastier7421
      @josephastier7421 5 років тому +26

      The first guys that did that (especially in NM) hit gold. Later prospectors found the shelves picked clean. It's a good idea, half a century too late.

    • @tylerlowder2338
      @tylerlowder2338 5 років тому

      Why would you take a Geiger to a antique store?

    • @josephastier7421
      @josephastier7421 5 років тому +25

      @@tylerlowder2338 Not an antique store, a junk store. Sometimes radioactive sources would get sold by mistake, and you could buy nice ones secondhand that way.

  • @fizzyplazmuh9024
    @fizzyplazmuh9024 3 роки тому +669

    Lunacy! My father always had multiple jugs of carbon tet on the shelf in the garage. He was an electrical technician at a refinery and they used to use it liberally for cleaning boards and components. As kids we would just grab it up to clean anything and everything. We played with his gallon glass jug of mercury as well. Luckily we never dropped and shattered that thing.
    My doctor still always asks me if I have had Hepatitis. Apparently my childhood shows up on my liver stats very well.

    • @RiffRaffMama.
      @RiffRaffMama. Рік тому +9

      Why did he have a gallon of mercury??

    • @johnpublic6582
      @johnpublic6582 Рік тому +29

      @@RiffRaffMama. Every time a thermometer breaks you collect up the spill and save it.

    • @RiffRaffMama.
      @RiffRaffMama. Рік тому +18

      @@johnpublic6582 Hmmm... there's approximately 0.5mL of mercury in the average thermometer.
      1 gallon is equivalent to 3.785L.
      Given this, it would take approximately 7,570 thermometers to produce 1 gallon of mercury.
      At a cost of around $3.64 per thermometer, that's a total of around AUD$27,555.
      I mean, if you have the time, patience and mail box capacity, it's do-able, but it seems like an incredibly inefficient way of obtaining bulk mercury to me.
      That said, it's illegal in Australia to purchase bulk mercury, so unless you want to roll the dice on ordering it from somewhere like India, it's probably your only option.

    • @RiffRaffMama.
      @RiffRaffMama. Рік тому +5

      @@johnpublic6582 Also, just wondering, when you say "gallon glass JUG", do you mean jug as in an OPEN glass vessel, or did you mean something like "jar" instead?
      You've just reminded me too of something that happened when I was about 7. My mum dropped a glass mercury thermometer on the slate bathroom floor one day, shattering it. Not knowing anything about mercury, she was intrigued by the way it beaded and rolled around the crevices you get in natural slate. At the time she had really long fingernails, so she scooped the mercury up in one of her spoon-like fingernails and came and showed me. I've wondered many times over the years what that 10 minutes of holding mercury against her bare skin might have done.

    • @kbee225
      @kbee225 Рік тому

      ​@@RiffRaffMama. not much. Mercury is not that easily absorbed in its metallic form. Which is why Mercury salts and complexes are more toxic than pure mercury. You can watch Cody's lab's video of him swishing mercury in his mouth.

  • @AWFguitar
    @AWFguitar 5 років тому +288

    AussieRed

  • @Volvith
    @Volvith 5 років тому +544

    Walking through an antiques store with a geiger counter.
    ... The only thing seperating a nut from a genius is proper equipment. ;)

    • @captainjirk9564
      @captainjirk9564 5 років тому +20

      I had a history teacher who had a geiger counter that came out of Chernobyl. It wasn't radioactive, so they cleared it out when her husband came back from a team who was investigating the Zone.
      The cable was cut so it didn't work, and the original batteries were still inside. We thought to try soldering it back together but I'm pretty sure they intentionally cut the line so it wouldn't function again.

    • @ieuanhunt552
      @ieuanhunt552 3 роки тому +5

      Just like in the immortal words of Adam Savage.
      Remember kids the only difference between science and screwing around is writing it down.

  • @Gameboygenius
    @Gameboygenius 5 років тому +653

    Extraction: ✅
    Ire: ✅
    This channel delivers on its promise!

  • @hank_911
    @hank_911 5 років тому +372

    No liquid comes out: puts nose right up to the cylinder and sniffs

    • @Bladelols27
      @Bladelols27 5 років тому +31

      hes aussie, its our natural reaction.

    • @Vistico93
      @Vistico93 5 років тому +11

      He's the Wile E. Coyote of chemists

  • @TheBlackjack87nz
    @TheBlackjack87nz 5 років тому +413

    When I was working as a haematologist we would frequently use carbon tet for extracting haemogolbin from lysed red blood cells. We would get this nasty shit in bulk Winchester bottles (roughly 4.75L). Never realised how hard it was to come by as I would occasionally use it to remove stubborn stains from my clothes if I couldn't get them out with DCM.

    • @samwansitdabet6630
      @samwansitdabet6630 3 роки тому +194

      you used it to WHAT

    • @nervonabliss
      @nervonabliss 3 роки тому +126

      @@samwansitdabet6630 2 years later and he's now wondering where that mysterious mole came from

    • @handshoesandhorsegrenades1848
      @handshoesandhorsegrenades1848 2 роки тому +15

      Omg 😳

    • @ImnotCarlSagan
      @ImnotCarlSagan 2 роки тому +133

      Unrelated question, have you noticed an increase in the RGB value of your skin in the yellow direction

    • @druyoutoo
      @druyoutoo Рік тому

      ​@@nervonabliss 😅😂😂😂

  • @The2x4
    @The2x4 3 роки тому +180

    We found a jug labeled carbon-tetra-chloride in an old basement.
    My grandma, a nuclear chemist who worked on the first reactor to power a city, said they used to use it to wash their hands back in the day.

    • @hx5525
      @hx5525 Рік тому +1

      No cancer or liver problems?

    • @ratm0
      @ratm0 Рік тому +35

      ​@H X yeah, no liver at all unfortunately, but on the bright side, no cancer problems either

    • @NikhillRao27
      @NikhillRao27 Рік тому +1

      @@hx5525 I'd imagine a nuclear chemist from the 50s or whatever would have bigger problems than a little CCl4

    • @cgwalker7722
      @cgwalker7722 6 місяців тому

      @@ratm0lol this comment had me dying of laughter

    • @THNDERHDS
      @THNDERHDS Місяць тому

      Bro 😂

  • @kdrgaming3344
    @kdrgaming3344 5 років тому +688

    You should make some more liquid Ozone and show us how the Carbon Tet works as an Ozone depleting agent... if possible. Really I just want you to see you make liquid Ozone again haha.

    • @PorkpieJohnny
      @PorkpieJohnny 5 років тому +107

      Make an artificial ozone layer and deplete it with the carbon tet

    • @SuperAngelofglory
      @SuperAngelofglory 5 років тому +26

      funny enough, Wikipedia lists CCl4 as a solvent for O3

    • @rey_nemaattori
      @rey_nemaattori 5 років тому +34

      @@SuperAngelofglory Problem with the ozone layer is not that it dissolves O3, but that UV radiation breaks of chloride ions which then react with O3 to form O2 and ClO (eventually Cl2O2).

    • @elephystry
      @elephystry 5 років тому +7

      PoorMans Chemist ok then let’s get a uv lamp

    • @sadmermaid
      @sadmermaid 5 років тому +8

      @@elephystry or...go outside?

  • @davidbarts6144
    @davidbarts6144 5 років тому +172

    That sure sounds just like carbon tet. It is a dense liquid, with a very distinctive odor that is hard to describe, "musty-solventy" is the best I can do. I'm old enough that I can remember it being sold as a spot remover and also using it as a reagent in chem lab. I have no doubt that's exactly what it is, based on its observed boiling point and the stated contents of the extinguisher.
    For those hyperventilating about it being "illegal," such bans typically forbid NEW MANUFACTURE of such items. The old antique he found was legally manufactured in the pre-ban era. It's just like a clock with a radium dial, a legal but hazardous antique item.

    • @christopherleubner6633
      @christopherleubner6633 2 роки тому +3

      The smell is the same smell that ink pens had. Rather weak chemical odor. Lacks the sweet smell that chloroform has 🤓

    • @InTrancedState
      @InTrancedState Рік тому

      God no wonder the baby boomers are such a shit lot. Everything in there world was actively trying to kill them

  • @timrb
    @timrb 5 років тому +93

    This channel should be called "This is what happens when you try this at home"

  • @CorrosiveFox
    @CorrosiveFox 5 років тому +576

    I'm surprised your girlfriend was okay with you taking that fire extinguisher out on a date.

    • @eeooooee2234
      @eeooooee2234 5 років тому +101

      CorrosiveFox they get on so well, they have real....chemistry.
      Sorry

    • @mauz791
      @mauz791 5 років тому +2

      @@eeooooee2234 No

    • @eeooooee2234
      @eeooooee2234 5 років тому +11

      Mauz I said sorry

    • @somedatussr4323
      @somedatussr4323 4 роки тому +1

      That flame is open.

    • @UwOtt
      @UwOtt 4 роки тому +3

      He fucked around with it on the first date

  • @markosullivan6444
    @markosullivan6444 5 років тому +100

    This video really takes me back. I worked as a chemist on a carbon tetrachloride plant in Runcorn (UK) in 1988 (just before it got phased out). As you say carbon tetrachloride is toxic, but some of the by-products of its manufacture were FAR worse (hexachlorobutadiene with an exposure limit of 0.02 parts per million for example). The plant made a bit more than your 75 grams, over 20,000 tonnes per annum, I believe!

    • @jagmarc
      @jagmarc 2 роки тому +6

      I had an entire box of 400g cans which came from Runcorn. A friend of a friend where he worked the company had to 'lose' the chemicals when the ban was about to be enforced

  • @alexwaln1053
    @alexwaln1053 5 років тому +69

    So apparently when CCl4 is heated, it decomposes/burns to form phosgene. Yes, make a tool that forms phosgene when used. Helth

  • @Hotdog80085
    @Hotdog80085 5 років тому +141

    "turn it to the left"
    *Attempts to turn it left*
    *Doesnt work*
    *Immediately turns it to the right with ease*

    • @mortigus2878
      @mortigus2878 5 років тому +5

      i saw that too lol

    • @aucontraire4717
      @aucontraire4717 5 років тому +35

      Its bc hes in australia, its all upside down

    • @joeteejoetee
      @joeteejoetee 3 роки тому +1

      People shoot videos with the selfie camera and it swaps Left to Right ALL DAY LONG on social media!!!😀😀😀

  • @elnombre91
    @elnombre91 5 років тому +391

    Carbon tet is a nightmare to get hold of, but people still publish papers using it as a solvent. Bastards.
    Main reactions I can think of that use it would be 1) The Appel reaction or 2) RuO4 oxidation.

    • @ExtractionsAndIre
      @ExtractionsAndIre  5 років тому +248

      I have seen that occassionally, it really is a deliberate dick move

    • @ThatChemistOld
      @ThatChemistOld 5 років тому +56

      @@ExtractionsAndIre Just check out the fairly recent ones that still use Freon-11 instead of DCM; some even as recent as 2011!

    • @sweetbunny9213
      @sweetbunny9213 5 років тому +51

      In Germany its a lot easier to get, at least for institutes doing organic chemistry. I was for example doing chlorination reactions of dicarboxylic acids of calixarenes at (more or less) high tempratures

    • @OmikronPsy
      @OmikronPsy 5 років тому +78

      @@ExtractionsAndIre We have it in the lab as well, as SweetBunny92 said, in Germany it seems easier to get hold of. Although of course it is still a precious material. It is not only used in organic chemistry, but also in cancer research to very reliably induce liver cancer in mice.

    • @elnombre91
      @elnombre91 5 років тому +23

      @@ExtractionsAndIre Even people like Phil Baran aren't immune to it. We can get small (100 ml) bottles of it from Sigma, but it's expensive and you need to fill in a lot of paperwork to justify the purchase.

  • @whatevernamegoeshere3644
    @whatevernamegoeshere3644 5 років тому +48

    considering you spent 2 years looking for one, you had a really good self control against grabbing the drill

  • @jagmarc
    @jagmarc 2 роки тому +25

    In the 60s as a kid I was around litres of carbon tet, mostly from fire extinguishers great for cleaning motorcycle brakes. So often I got in on my skin which strips off all the oils and gives you a two-day-long headache. In the 70s you could buy carbon tet in 400g aerosol cans. Jeez, one of us used an entire can to clean his trainer shoes.

    • @Sam-ob4of
      @Sam-ob4of 3 місяці тому

      Yep, can confirm it's an awesome degreaser for moped brakes/centrifugal clutches. Bromochloromethane works as well (from east german fire extinguishers).

    • @jagmarc
      @jagmarc 3 місяці тому

      @@Sam-ob4of Today can buy aerosol cans of Brake Cleaner that's very similar, and it's great for starting diesel engines

    • @Sam-ob4of
      @Sam-ob4of 3 місяці тому

      @@jagmarc but that's diethyl ether and heptane; not carbon tet

    • @jagmarc
      @jagmarc 3 місяці тому

      @@Sam-ob4of Didn't say it was :) and as far as I know you can't start a diesel with carbon tet either!

  • @Max-cv7rx
    @Max-cv7rx 5 років тому +11

    The only problem I have with this channel is that you don’t have enough subscribers. Your content is incredibly entertaining for an aspiring chemist (I’m still in school) and still basic enough for me to understand which is great. I hope you blow up man! Just don’t let it be because of any of your Explosions&Fire2 experiments!

  • @LavenderSystem69
    @LavenderSystem69 5 років тому +34

    That tutorial video you edited in, though...
    >"Turn the handle to the left"
    >*Proceeds to turn handle to the right*

    • @chadblechinger5746
      @chadblechinger5746 5 років тому +12

      I figured that left meant something different down there idk maybe the coriolis effect?

    • @-NGC-6302-
      @-NGC-6302- 4 роки тому +1

      Coraustralis effect

  • @jasonnugent963
    @jasonnugent963 2 роки тому +4

    Discovered your channel lately. Entertaining. The further I go back into older videos, the more I’m stunned you are still alive.

  • @KeeganAWhite
    @KeeganAWhite Рік тому +9

    This video really triggered my "let me open that jar for you" instinct.

  • @tappel0
    @tappel0 5 років тому +50

    I think there might be small bottles of carbon tet floating around in old electronics geezers' cabinets from 80s or so when it was commonly used by electronics hobbyists for cleaning printed circuitboards.

  • @deanb500
    @deanb500 5 років тому +42

    Counting the times that you pointed the business end into your face while you weren't sure how it worked :')

  • @Someone-cr8cj
    @Someone-cr8cj 5 років тому +325

    my conclusion is that if you were supposed to use this fire extinguisher when your house is on fire you're out of luck.

    • @UnicaLuce
      @UnicaLuce 4 роки тому +22

      And if it did work, which i doubt, you'd still die cause it's poisonus and cancerous at the same time! liver failure and dna damage! all in one deadly package.

    • @hvfd5956
      @hvfd5956 3 роки тому +20

      Which is why they are not still hanging on the wall in the stairwell of your favorite department store. Many fire fighters died after using one. For the rest of you who haven't studied the old days of early fire departments, Carbon Tetra-chloride when dispensed onto a heated surface in the presence of Oxygen generates Phosgene gas which is poisonous and can when mixed with peroxides...explode. So if the gas doesn't kill you, the explosion will! In my sixties now, but I vividly remember one hanging on the wall in the exit stairway of the J. C. Penny's store my mother shopped at. Both mom and the extinguisher are gone, but the store was still there last time I looked.

    • @fooferutter3001
      @fooferutter3001 2 роки тому +6

      "and can when mixed with peroxides...explode. "
      Shocker.

    • @pascale8964
      @pascale8964 2 роки тому

      @@fooferutter3001 Yeah, was gonna say. "Explodes when mixed with peroxides" doesn't really narrow it down much does it XD

    • @Aochso
      @Aochso 2 роки тому

      @@hvfd5956 why the f**k did they even thought of using it, when it literally explodes when used in a fire

  • @TwinTn
    @TwinTn 5 років тому +475

    well at least Australia does not have much of an ozone layer to deplete.

    • @Robnoxious77
      @Robnoxious77 5 років тому +20

      pretty sure that hole closed up on it’s own, which changed the “global warming” debate into the “climate change” debate.

    • @TwinTn
      @TwinTn 5 років тому +97

      @@Robnoxious77 no

    • @godfreypoon5148
      @godfreypoon5148 5 років тому +11

      @@TwinTn Pull your nose out of the air and grace him with a proper response.

    • @picsi-software
      @picsi-software 5 років тому +23

      @@godfreypoon5148 but then we\d get banned. :)... @robnoxious77 nope the hole is still there, give it a couple of hundred years without damage and it might reform..

    • @TwinTn
      @TwinTn 5 років тому +12

      @Silently Sceptical no staph

  • @AguaFluorida
    @AguaFluorida 5 років тому +51

    2:58 "If this was a fire, I'd be dead right now."
    That might beat dying from CCl4 poisoning :D
    Happy equinox!

  • @mplaw77
    @mplaw77 5 років тому +16

    I worked in an industrial lab for a chlorine producer in the 1980's. We made millions and millions of pounds of CCl4 most of our product went to an adjacent company that took both our CHCl3 and CCl4 feed to make R-11, R-12, and R-22 for the air conditioner business. My lab did plant process and quality control testing for both companies. It was interesting work but toxic work yet we did not worry a lot about the toxic nature of our products. We also made methylene chloride CH2CL2 and chloromethane CH3Cl, plus HCL product. With Phenol we made made huge volumes of pentachlorophenol another banned product no doubt. All toxic yet interesting chemistry and good paying jobs. Not much exists of those organics plants today, the chlorine production still exists today and mostly goes into inorganic chlorides like NaOH and KOH and others. Some free chlorine was and is sold for water treatment for use in municipal water plants. The new owners still make use of our 600 tons per day of chlorine production at one plant and 800 tons per day at another production location. We knew in the 1980's that regulations and bans were coming and I had heard even in those days of the Montreal protocol ban. We tended to be skeptical of both ozone depletion and "acid rain" from sulfur emissions from coal fired power plants. The "acid rain" scare turned out to be false, soil acid pH changes was mostly due to land management issues. But ozone depletion proved true and seems to have recovered some. Last I heard China and India still make all the banned refrigerants they want for internal use. The main ACUTE danger from CCL4 is from the formation of phosgene gas by heating to high temperature in air. The smell around the plant was the smell of chlorine gas mixed with a hint of phosgene. New cars in the parking lot tended to have their nice paint jobs go thru accelerated aging becoming dull and rusty years sooner than expected. My lungs are impaired and have been since the 1980's so be careful and get an activated charcoal respirator for a few dollars.

  • @savagegaming5476
    @savagegaming5476 5 років тому +7

    I just wanted to say, I think you're videos are hilarious, and watching your videos keeps me from experimenting myself, and putting myself in a risky situation, and I wanted to say thanks for the all the chemistry, even though I dont understand everything your doing.

  • @SupaDanteX
    @SupaDanteX 5 років тому +8

    3 minutes of opening a container.
    This is the quality content I subscribed for :D

  • @szymsonthatmemeguy3181
    @szymsonthatmemeguy3181 3 роки тому +21

    I had no idea the restrictions on it were so strict. I'm a high school student and last year we were working in a lab with some halogens and their salts, and we used carbon-tet as a solvent. Guess they had a lot of faith in us

    • @michealpersicko9531
      @michealpersicko9531 Рік тому +2

      its Australia are you surprised? It might even be illegal to fart in someplaces in Australia without the proper license.

  • @StreuB1
    @StreuB1 5 років тому +23

    I firmly believe that if things are meant to happen, they will happen. Congrats on the find, congrats on not giving up and congrats on it actually being legit!!! Make sure you keep this stuff safe and in a box with padding so it doesn't get broken by accident. I will say, the excitement in your voice and how supportive Georgia is makes this channel and what you do so addicting. Great stuff!!!!

  • @GodlikeIridium
    @GodlikeIridium 5 років тому +6

    CCl4 is my favorite solvent for synthesis because you can take a sample of the reaction and directly do a proton NMR without evaporation and redissolving in a deuterated solvent.

  • @locouk
    @locouk 5 років тому +7

    We used to use the stuff for cleaning upholstery if I remember correctly, those fire extinguishers used to be common place in the auto jumble section of steam rally’s back in the 1980’s.

  • @johnholland67
    @johnholland67 5 років тому +18

    "It's still a date" while not caring about the date anymore made me a subscriber you sir are serious about your obsessions

  • @Tarred_and_feathered
    @Tarred_and_feathered 5 років тому +16

    I’d like to see it react with Ozone. I’m not sure if you can do that on a scale that would be very interesting but a lesson on how these kind of solvents hurt the ozone layer with a real example would sure be swell.

  • @danwinter20
    @danwinter20 Рік тому +1

    I was just at a flea market in Connecticut and saw two carbon tet extinguishers (with labels on) that were completely full of liquid

  • @PvPbomber009
    @PvPbomber009 5 років тому +13

    Your videos are both interesting and freaking hilarious, love it.

  • @pbdye1607
    @pbdye1607 5 років тому +65

    "In my other videos, I lament about the lack of a strong ozone layer above Australia. Well, today we're gonna make that hole just a lil' bit bigger...because reasons."

  • @terawattyear
    @terawattyear 5 років тому +4

    It’s always so satisfying to acquire or make something you’re not supposed to have. This was a good find. Harder to find good stuff reasonably priced at thrift shops now with eBay around.

    • @cmoore8658
      @cmoore8658 3 роки тому

      Agreed!!- There was an antique fire extinguisher for over a hundred when a roughly equal one was sitting there for ~65!- The only real difference was a hose, as far as I could see-

  • @tractorguy97
    @tractorguy97 Рік тому +6

    It's just 12 minutes of Tom somehow refraining from saying "fuck, i love the 60's" 😂😂

  • @colinmartin9797
    @colinmartin9797 5 років тому +6

    This was weirdly well timed, I literally just had to read the MSDS for CCL4 like five minutes ago for my first OChem lab

    • @colinmartin9797
      @colinmartin9797 5 років тому +2

      I'd be curious to see a match passed over the vapors to see if the vapors can starve the flame

  • @NietMartijnvt
    @NietMartijnvt 5 років тому +16

    This stuff is so entertaining. As a chemistry student i love watching your stuff. Cheers from the Netherlands dude!

    • @willynebula6193
      @willynebula6193 5 років тому +2

      See this is what made yt great some1 from the Netherlands watching some1 in south Australia because of an interest in chemistry. Cool when you think about it.

    • @guitrz000
      @guitrz000 5 років тому

      Hello from Brazil.

  • @lithum1938
    @lithum1938 4 роки тому +5

    I believe you requested comments regarding uses for this handy solvent, but I found few in the 847 comments I read.
    Some electronic equipment is "potted" in epoxy resin for weather protection, vibration proofing etc., and sometimes
    simple or crude circuits are hidden in epoxy to hide junk 'ripoffs'. Some of us just need to know what's inside and/or
    need/want to repair equipment to save on the expensive replacement of mysterious modules. How I've done this :-
    Place your epoxy-potted module etc. together with solvent in a suitable closed vessel and wait.
    Maybe get yourself a Vili's goulash pie and a Cooper's Pale Ale or three to help pass the hours to days
    while the poxy potting epoxy expands and becomes a soft jelly which is easily removed (as it's not 'sticky').
    Warmer temps will speed the process. If you are keen the jelly after removal can be warmed to liberate (much of)
    the solvent to be then condensed and reused.
    NOTE: Some electronic components can be damaged (esp. electrolytic caps you were replacing with TKRs/EXRs anyway !)
    Painted colour codes on some resistors can come off, but you could record the values as you remove the jellypoxy using the
    vigorous rubbing motion which comes naturally. Minor components cost mere cents and your circuitry will be essentially renewed.
    This particular solvent works very well on many 'hard/glassy' potting resins but results will vary . I can't promise
    success and you might have to try other nasty/toxic/banned solvents from that collection under your bed.
    Some are likely to shout me down about the use of this solvent and/or reveal a better method of epoxy removal. Go for it..
    (This was my first ever 'UA-cam comment', I hope I did it correctly and that you get to read it.)
    Cheers fellow thinkers,
    Li - not his real name - SA local, nice old grey bastard.

  • @jagmarc
    @jagmarc 2 роки тому +5

    Just remembered the consumer could buy carbon tet from the local chemist. Called "Dab-It-Off" brilliant stuff in a little glass jar with an attached sponge under the lid. Then they changed it to "new improved formula" which was rubbish.

    • @RiffRaffMama.
      @RiffRaffMama. Рік тому +1

      Was the "new improved formula" just a completely different substance all together? And what exactly did it "dab off"?

    • @jagmarc
      @jagmarc Рік тому +2

      @@RiffRaffMama. DabItOff was a grease dirt spot remover. Probably since the 1930s buy from chemist /pharmacy. It was in a small round glass jar about 2" diameter with a metal screw top that when removed exposed a rubber sponge wet by the contents. It was very effective for removing oil spots. Around the time it became also available in self service supermarkets the formulation changed. I suspect it changed to isopropyl alcohol. I tried it was no good and then threw it away.

  • @floorpizza8074
    @floorpizza8074 3 роки тому +17

    In the '70's, carbon tet was sold as a cleaning solvent that could be used on "dry clean only" clothing. My mother kept a bottle in the laundry room to clean up the spots on our church clothes. I'll never be able to forget the smell of that stuff... while it does have the stereotypical "solvent" smell, carbon tet puts its own evil spin on it that is truly remarkable. And horrible. I would've been able to tell Tom if he had real carbon tet just from being close by.

    • @jagmarc
      @jagmarc 2 роки тому +4

      In the UK we used to buy "Dabitoff" from the local chemist, pure carbon in a little glass applicator jar

    • @andygozzo72
      @andygozzo72 Рік тому +1

      @@jagmarc i thought that stuff was trichloroethane? certainly was the ones we had years ago, i still have one aerosol of trichloroethane brake cleaner somewhere,

    • @jagmarc
      @jagmarc Рік тому

      Before they changed it to trike it was carbon-tet @@andygozzo72

    • @TheGodpharma
      @TheGodpharma 6 місяців тому

      @@andygozzo72 Not sure if 'Dabitoff' was CT or TCE but you could definitely buy generic carbon tetrachloride (labelled as such) as a grease spot remover in the UK in the 60s and 70s. My mother always had a bottle.

    • @andygozzo72
      @andygozzo72 6 місяців тому

      @@TheGodpharma it was trichloroethane, certainly in the 80s, used to have some of it and loved the smell ... i still have one can of trichloroethane based brake cleaner....

  • @mothman1654
    @mothman1654 5 років тому +33

    Sciencemadness rank: International hazard.

  • @brencrun5068
    @brencrun5068 5 років тому +4

    Many, many, years ago (early 1960's?) I actually tried using one of those extinguishers. As the man says, turn plunger hard left, pull back plunger and it then works as a pump.

  • @BT-uq3qw
    @BT-uq3qw 5 років тому +1

    Two years of dedication to bring us a brief video of entertainment and education. Respect to you!

  • @dogphlap6749
    @dogphlap6749 4 роки тому +6

    I remember that stuff from the nineteen fifties. All the vans my father would work on had a brass fire extinguisher that should have been filled with carbon tetrachloride (most were empty). The smell was very distinctive, not unpleasant. Even in those anything goes days you were warned not to smoke while inhaling the vapour because it turned to phosgene (a poison gas) when heated. My father would tip an eggcup's worth into an empty leaky motorcycle petrol tank and slosh it around before gas welding the leaking seams. He never had one explode and he lived into his nineties with no liver problems but his heart gave out eventually. Back in the day it was a common solvent, good for degreasing but eventually it was replaced by freon for degreasing stuff and cleaning circuit boards but the discovery of the hole in the ozone layer has curtailed that chemical's use too.

    • @ExtractionsAndIre
      @ExtractionsAndIre  4 роки тому +2

      Thanks for sharing! Yeah the smell is hard to describe but it is distinctive for sure. Never had used carbon tet before, but I knew for sure that's what I had when I finally got it out, nothing else is quite like it

  • @chasebh89
    @chasebh89 5 років тому +13

    watching you roll a brass cylinder around a concrete floor hurt my soul

  • @Rhodanide
    @Rhodanide 5 років тому +41

    It's happening, boys

  • @danielmcpike8890
    @danielmcpike8890 3 роки тому +2

    Just started a new job in a small lab doing waste disposal, and we have a bottle of carbon tet. Seeing the bottle immediately made me think of this video!

  • @ex-dk3cj
    @ex-dk3cj 5 років тому +3

    love the videos- keep up the good work. would like to see you attempt toluene from benzoic acid via decarboxylation of benzoic acid to phenol, dehydroxylation of phenol to benzene, and methylation of benzene to toluene

  • @bromisovalum8417
    @bromisovalum8417 Рік тому +1

    I just read an old article where they compare lab grade carbon tet with 3 brands of fire-extinguisher liquids. Although the fire extinguishers contained over 80% CCl4, it was found that the manufacturers used additives to "prevent it from freezing". One brand used chloroform as additive, the second brand used a high boiling petroleum distillate ("petroleum spirits'') and the third brand used a mixture of chloroform and turpentine. The turpentine additive, according to the manufacturer, had the additional intent to "prevent the escape of poisonous gases such as chlorine from the mixture when exposed to heat" but in practice this did very little good. The authors also noted that carbon disulfide is a common impurity in technical grade carbon tetrachloride.

    • @bromisovalum8417
      @bromisovalum8417 Рік тому +2

      A funny anecdote, in an early 20th century folder descriptive of hand fire extinguishers, the 'Fire Extinguisher Exchange' (Cleveland, Ohio) states: "Carbon tetrachloride, the base of the liquid used in the one-quart extinguishers, strongly resembles chloroform in its physiological action ; it is not now used as an anaesthetic as several deaths are laid to its charge. Under heat it gives off chlorine gas. Its use is dangerous in confined spaces."
      Back in those days there have been a few deaths caused by people using CCl4 extinguishers to put out a blaze in a small, enclosed space, where the men were overcome by the fumes they inhaled, and died a few days later. When heated over 250°C in the presence of CO2, steam or rust, phosgene gas is generated (next to chlorine and hydrogen chloride). Non-fatal cases still caused painful damage to the respiratory tract which lasted for several weeks.
      It was not uncommon for people to collapse from inhaling fumes while operating these extinguishers in confined spaces and even when they were promptly moved to outside fresh air, they remained unconscious for several minutes.

  • @RaExpIn
    @RaExpIn 5 років тому +24

    I was scared that the cylinder might be pressurized. Not because it has to be, but due to decomposition. I didn't know that CCl4 ist stable in comparison to Chloroform, that slowly turns into Phosgene and HCl. Or possibly additives that might be as bad. Pretty interesting!

    • @alexredacted2123
      @alexredacted2123 5 років тому

      Chloroform needs light and O2 to turn into war gas, ya dingus!

    • @RaExpIn
      @RaExpIn 5 років тому +7

      @@alexredacted2123 I wouldn't rely on that, when opening a canister made of metal, containing a halogenated compound, which is about 60 years old. I also wouldn't rely on it it being completely air tight. And I'm pretty sure the reaction would take place without light, when time is long enough and oxygen might slowly enter the canister. It will become very slow, but what is slow considering such an amount of time? Thinking about the possibility that opening the canister might be the last thing I do, I'd choose to be better safe than sor..., uhm dead... I don't want to be THAT guy, but stay safe guys! And to be honest I would have opened the canister, too. :D

    • @ExplosionsAndFire
      @ExplosionsAndFire 5 років тому +2

      @@RaExpIn That's an interesting thought. A lot can happen over 60 years for a chemical to just sit there! I hope there wasn't any phosgene

    • @jagmarc
      @jagmarc 2 роки тому

      They used them in WW2 bombers then sold as war surplus for personal cars

  • @hueyhueyhueyhuey
    @hueyhueyhueyhuey 2 роки тому +1

    super new to your channel. love the content and enjoying the aphex twin!

  • @bromisovalum8417
    @bromisovalum8417 4 роки тому +4

    "Tetra" used to be everywhere in the 80s, a very common degreasing agent, until it was replaced by trichloroethylene, and later that got replaced too, usually nowadays by butyl acetates or the like.

    • @petedepledge3359
      @petedepledge3359 4 роки тому +1

      Early 90's i worked for a company that had some defence contracts. Carbon tet? Sure. Is 10,000 litres enough?

  • @foxtailedcritter
    @foxtailedcritter 2 роки тому +1

    Wow VERY INTERESTING to see a fellow Aussie into Chemistry on here. Didn't expect that. I never finished highschool but after years of messing about and learning from youtubers it's a BRILLIANT hobby/skill/way of life.
    But yeah surpied at a fellow Aussie.
    I usually see yanks all the time like NileRed doing Chemistry instead. That's pretty awesome. Subscribed

    • @RiffRaffMama.
      @RiffRaffMama. Рік тому

      His video titled "let's set fire to some metals and put it out" or something popped up in my recommendations a few days ago and I though that sounded like fun, but as soon as he spoke and I realised he was Aussie as well I legit said to my husband "oh this just got awesome" because no one does sketchy shit like we do. Straya.

  • @cezarcatalin1406
    @cezarcatalin1406 5 років тому +42

    Mix it with SO3
    SO3 + CCl4 => SCl2O2 + COCl2 !!
    Spicy and dangerous !

    • @ExtractionsAndIre
      @ExtractionsAndIre  5 років тому +30

      That's real spicey

    • @MyLonewolf25
      @MyLonewolf25 5 років тому +5

      ᏰĪᏝᏝ ՇÎρɧᏋƦ for the stupid
      Pls explain the spicy

    • @Odin1465
      @Odin1465 5 років тому +20

      COCl2 is called phosgene, which is extremely toxic and generally despised by the chemistry community for that. But, it is a really handy chemical with very useful reactivity, either way you pretty much cant get hold of it, even in germany where CCl4 is not hard to get.
      I also vote for that reaction ;) useful chemical for the future.

    • @cezarcatalin1406
      @cezarcatalin1406 5 років тому +4

      MyLonewolf25
      You get a sulfuric chlorination agent and phosgene... everything is spicy and dangerous about this reaction !

    • @mfree80286
      @mfree80286 5 років тому +6

      @@Odin1465 Mmm, smells like the freshly cut grass you're about to find yourself under in the cemetery.

  • @NuculearFallout1
    @NuculearFallout1 5 років тому +1

    Love your videos mate. Thanks for producing enjoyable content 👌🏻

  • @deathkeys1
    @deathkeys1 5 років тому +81

    if he never uploads again, we'll know why.
    press F for respects.

    • @deathkeys1
      @deathkeys1 5 років тому +2

      @Evi1M4chine the joke is on you, I never played the game nor did I ever own a console, but the meme rubbed of on me.

    • @justsmallstuff4994
      @justsmallstuff4994 5 років тому

      F

    • @burajirujinn
      @burajirujinn 5 років тому

      Don't even know which game it came from and only saw a random screenshot of the moment, but...
      F

    • @adamlifevictor5772
      @adamlifevictor5772 4 роки тому

      F

  • @DrPersonman
    @DrPersonman 5 років тому +2

    You might get one of those impact screw drivers if you end up trying to open another one. Its just beefy screw driver that you hit the back of with a hammer and it turns slightly. They only cost 10-20usd and they are really handy when you run into things like that, as long as you have a vice or something to hold the cylinder anyway.

  • @Christer2222
    @Christer2222 5 років тому +19

    Didn't CodysLab also get a hold of some Carbon Tet? Pretty cool that you got a hold of something like this

    • @wyattsheffield6130
      @wyattsheffield6130 5 років тому +21

      I think it was Halon that Cody found

    • @peterirvin7121
      @peterirvin7121 5 років тому

      @@wyattsheffield6130 Yup. Completely different compound than carbon tet

    • @kesslerfox
      @kesslerfox 5 років тому +15

      Carbon tetrachloride is Halon 104
      Cody had Halon 1211

    • @wyattsheffield6130
      @wyattsheffield6130 5 років тому

      @@kesslerfox good clarification!!

    • @PapaWheelie1
      @PapaWheelie1 5 років тому +1

      I have an extinguisher full of halon - hanging out in my garage

  • @Nick52400
    @Nick52400 4 роки тому

    I have one of these extinguishers and was wondering what to do with it so i could restore it and now i know! thank you~

  • @quint3ssent1a
    @quint3ssent1a 5 років тому +3

    this fire extinguisher looks so dope. Brass vessel and handle, it's like a prop from steampunk movie.

  • @z987k
    @z987k 3 роки тому +1

    You can get extinguishers full of CCl4 online. They look kind of like a soda/beer can. The common brand name was a Hero Fire Extinguisher.

  • @gsuberland
    @gsuberland 5 років тому +11

    That roundbottom flask is a fire grenade!

    • @firstmkb
      @firstmkb 4 роки тому +1

      Graham Sutherland I had forgotten about seeing those somewhere - what a crazy real thing!

  • @Ke3per88
    @Ke3per88 2 роки тому +1

    Have just found a full one of these at my mums house. Weights a ton can feel it sloshing around inside.

  • @shottysteve
    @shottysteve 3 роки тому +15

    at 5:00 when it says carbon tetrachloride, i felt that

  • @AlwaysBastos
    @AlwaysBastos Рік тому

    We used to clean electrical equipment with it in the 60's and '70s. Very good stuff.

  • @damonjenkins2185
    @damonjenkins2185 3 роки тому +3

    I remember when I let a halon fire extinguisher off for fun before I knew what it was, in 2015. I now don’t know how to obtain any more halon

  • @E_Legal_Alien
    @E_Legal_Alien 2 роки тому +1

    Fire extinguisher from Brooklyn.. Nice

  • @mealex303
    @mealex303 5 років тому +13

    Add a molecular seeves and get rest out of tube b4 its gone then mix in some mayonnaise and make the worlds first explosive salad dressing 😂

  • @nibblrrr7124
    @nibblrrr7124 4 роки тому +1

    1:08 they don't make quality extinguishers like that anymore. even when the building around them burns down completely, all the contents stay inside safe & sound, not a single drop leaked.

  • @dankhill6851
    @dankhill6851 4 роки тому +3

    You should generate some ozone, and then try to destroy it with cabon tet, to see how efficiently it destroys the ozone layer, I think that'd be really interesting.

  • @WorldPowerLabs
    @WorldPowerLabs 2 роки тому +1

    We used carbon tet. in high school organic chemistry class, circa 1995. I wouldn't be surprised if the teacher had a stash from years before its use was limited.

  • @todanceonbrokenglass
    @todanceonbrokenglass 4 роки тому +7

    I did some research on similar chemicals, turns out it’s plausible to make phosgene gas out of carbon tetrachloride.

  • @charleschidsey6192
    @charleschidsey6192 3 роки тому

    Seeing you struggle to get the handle to operate followed by additional tribulations removing that screw built up a tremendous anticipation of success. Then watching you gently, almost tenderly, tip the canister over the funnel and out comes…………..fuck all! This is exactly why yours is my favorite chemistry channel on YT.

  • @Element4711
    @Element4711 5 років тому +37

    My dude. AIM AWAY FROM FACE. Please. Idk why I thought it was going to be a pressurised container but probably should have been treated as one.
    Stay safe and keep up the good work mate.

    • @sixstringedthing
      @sixstringedthing 5 років тому +11

      This is one thing that I learned from AvE. Do not fuck about with pressure vessels, even when you think they're not holding pressure.
      And he's mainly just talking compressed air or LPG, let alone a potential bomb full of a horribly toxic halon.
      I guess in this instance the risk was pretty low though. :)

    • @laharl2k
      @laharl2k 5 років тому +1

      Why would you use brass for a pressurized container? Brass cant hold pressure for shit, thats why we use steel.

    • @insanelyme938
      @insanelyme938 5 років тому +12

      @@laharl2k the 60s man...

    • @Kubla84
      @Kubla84 5 років тому +1

      not pressurized, you pumped it to squirt it out

    • @DamienDarksideBlog
      @DamienDarksideBlog 4 роки тому +2

      Yo, I'm Canadian and my proximity to America has drilled it into me that even if it isn't a gun, always point away from your face or others. Sure it wasn't a pressurized container... originally. Any container can become pressurized with the right reaction and enough time. Especially with temperature changes from seasons and storage.
      Just like you treat an unloaded firearm like a loaded firearm, you should treat non-pressurized nozzles the same as any pressurized nozzle.

  • @matthewphillips9083
    @matthewphillips9083 2 роки тому

    Just seen a full one of these at salvage store in the adelaide hills if you're interested! Was a 'Pyrene' brand, they also had a halon detector there which was random

  • @ShadowsLetsPlays37
    @ShadowsLetsPlays37 5 років тому +5

    Maybe you could use some of it to demonstrate the reaction of sodium with it? I've heard it's a terrible idea to mix the two but couldn't find any good videos on it.

  • @jordanwilliams5849
    @jordanwilliams5849 2 роки тому +1

    OK... I had to stop at 3:30 because: A: I was on the edge of my seat waiting for that to spray you in the face followed by me looking for the follow up video, and B: wondering if it is kept in some sort of porous material like acetylene? I shall hit play to find out. SUBSCRIBED!

  • @anchorbait6662
    @anchorbait6662 5 років тому +8

    "if there was a fire I would be dead right now." haha

  • @D_eyeofthe_BHolder
    @D_eyeofthe_BHolder 5 років тому

    You make whatever you want with it. The important thing is that, whatever you decide to do, you have fun and put it on UA-cam.

  • @spider0804
    @spider0804 5 років тому +17

    It is banned in austrailia.
    Ah, so like everything else then!

  • @nicholasmcintyre4166
    @nicholasmcintyre4166 5 років тому +2

    Watching you play with dangerous chemicals is making me subconsciously avoid touching my face and is giving me a urge to wash my hands😅

  • @willynebula6193
    @willynebula6193 5 років тому +13

    Some advice
    You need
    A bench vice 😉

    • @willynebula6193
      @willynebula6193 5 років тому +2

      Oh and spend 20 bucks and buy yourself a Stanley screwdriver set with the clear green and yellow handles, thank me later

    • @ExplosionsAndFire
      @ExplosionsAndFire 5 років тому +1

      I do have a bench vice elsewhere in the shed! I did put it in there too, still couldn't get the screw out. :(

    • @willynebula6193
      @willynebula6193 5 років тому +2

      Sounds like you just needed a little squirt of magic in a can(wd40). Which gives me an idea for a video, try working out the contents of wd40 then check your results against the msds. I think a lot of people will be interested. Thoughts?

  • @NoahGooder
    @NoahGooder 2 роки тому +1

    I never thought I would be entertained by watching a grown ass man struggle to open a fire extinguisher from the 1960s

  • @matthewduke4233
    @matthewduke4233 5 років тому +4

    Hey! I have been a long time chem fan, and I just started college to become a chemistry major. Im wondering if I will learn enough to be where you are or if you spent way more time personally pursuing this hobby or what.

    • @WarMarsM
      @WarMarsM Рік тому

      How'd the degree go?

  • @LASERFACE_G
    @LASERFACE_G Рік тому

    Seriously great choice of music

  • @danielgrantcoleman
    @danielgrantcoleman 5 років тому +11

    Now you just need some triphynelphosphine. Make some alkyl chlorides. 👍

  • @tay-lore
    @tay-lore 2 роки тому

    I already saw waht you did with it!! I don't remember what exactly it was... But I remember you pulling some carbon tet out of your freezer like it was nothing

  • @Aengus42
    @Aengus42 5 років тому +9

    I seem to remember carbon tet as a general solvent handy for cleaning around the home. Am I mistaken?
    Also, is it related to trichloromethane? I met a girl in 1980 who had a hamster called "trike". I asked where his name came from & she moistened her scarf from a little bottle & said "Inhale through this, I'll hold you close while you breathe in once, deeply."
    I didn't, but on looking at the bottle the hamster's name was a shortened version of "trichloromethane".
    Is that in the same group of chlorinated solvents?

    • @sivalley
      @sivalley 5 років тому

      Yeah halocarbons are a fun bunch.

    • @chromecrescent
      @chromecrescent 5 років тому +1

      I think trichloroethene is a common house cleaning agent, not carbon tetrachloride

    • @SerumCRM114
      @SerumCRM114 5 років тому +1

      Yep, trichloromethane is also known as chloroform. Both where often abbreviated as Tri or Tetra.

    • @sivalley
      @sivalley 5 років тому +1

      @@chromecrescent yes, TCE is still a widely available degreaser, but it is very not human friendly.

    • @Aengus42
      @Aengus42 5 років тому

      @@SerumCRM114 Thank you! That explains a *whole* lot! 😋

  • @leeroy144
    @leeroy144 3 роки тому

    I have a vintage pyrex storage jar for carbon tet. It's engraved on the side. I keep mercury in it. Found it doing demolition at an old textile mill.
    Pretty cool peice.

  • @SuperSqwiggy
    @SuperSqwiggy 5 років тому +4

    It's still a date... now I'm off for a toastie and a distillation, bye

  • @chrissmith5778
    @chrissmith5778 Місяць тому

    "if this were a fire... i'd be dead right now" got a genuine laugh out of me lol