Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: 280plus on April 10, 2010, 08:17:37 AM
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Is there anywhere to scrap out mercury? I'm reading some hign prices on the stuff and all I can see is reclamation. SOMEBODY is making a killing on this. I have at least 10 t'stat's which I'm going to turn in today at the haz waste disposal but I thought I'd try a quick post here while I go out and gather them up.
I hate when somebody makes money off of me and doesn't give me a cut. :P
:lol:
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well I know you can create about 250,000 dollars of EPA grade work with 4 old thermometers and a Maryland middle school
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OUCHIE!! :O
Off to haz waste disposal I go... =D
You know, I can remember 7th grade science class where we all put mercury in our hands and played with the stuff. Spilled it on the floor etc etc. Put pennies in it, turned them silver and walked around with them in our pockets. Imagine that now. :P
Probably explains my slightly off kilteredness, or any portion thereof. :laugh:
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I will buy those off you as long as the mercury weight is under 16oz total. I can send you shipping instructions. Seriously, I will purchase them. PLEASE don't destroy them. =|
EDIT: PM sent. I am quite serious about buying the metal as scrap if you'll sell it. =)
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Hm. Mercury tipped bullets? =D :laugh:
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Hell no, Hg forms an amalgam with Pb. :P
I use it for legitimate science use, in a controlled environment. I also occasionally pick up a large sealed vial I've made and just stare at it, slosh it around, etc. I've never found anything more fascinating in my life.
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Hell no, Hg forms an amalgam with Pb. :P
I use it for legitimate science use, in a controlled environment. I also occasionally pick up a large sealed vial I've made and just stare at it, slosh it around, etc. I've never found anything more fascinating in my life.
Yep, knew that. I wonder how many people that tried doing it though after reading the book?
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Yep, knew that. I wonder how many people that tried doing it though after reading the book?
???
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???
Ditto. Which book, Viking?
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Ditto. Which book, Viking?
Løberg warned us about Swedes! Must have been because they're imprecise. :lol:
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???
The Day Of The Jackal. Never read it?
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The Day Of The Jackal. Never read it?
I hate violence, in books/movies/games alike. =|
Back to the topic, though: PLEASE DON'T DISPOSE OF THE MERCURY! I'll pay for it. =)
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STOP do not turn anything in! ;) BRB gotta hunt a link [popcorn]
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if your willing to give out your email (http://www.metalworld.com/a/0165.html)
but really have you priced a old mercury barometer (http://www.sailgb.com/p/nelson_mercury_stick_barometer/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=directory&utm_content=USA¤cy=USD&country=USA) lately? :O yeah not just the Hg but still just think how much money has been handed to uncle sugar for nothing. :mad:
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Too late I'm afraid... =(
I only had a small time window to work with and I wanted this issue put to bed today so it's gone. That doesn't mean I can't come up with more however. It's only a matter of time.
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I use it for legitimate science use, in a controlled environment. I also occasionally pick up a large sealed vial I've made and just stare at it, slosh it around, etc. I've never found anything more fascinating in my life.
Mercury more fascinating than boobies? Hand in your man card.
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Breasts can be found on any woman, and can be handled to her preferences.
Nice Hg, though? Rather RARE in the pure form in nature, eh? ;)
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It's one of those things that when it comes in handy, there's nothing else that will do. What, do you have old mercury vacuum pumps or something? Or you building thyratrons? Barometers? Or flourescent lamps?
Is the high price due to the Compact Flourescent Lamp craze?
I guess all you have to do if you want some is canvass all the HVAC and plumbing and heating shops for old thermostats.
I remember an old Tung-Sol battery charger I had which had a mercury rectifier in it. When it was cool, you could see the droplets sticking to the glass.
One experiment I remember from high school was the teach had a long flexible coil of iron wire hung from a ringstand which dipped into a mercury pool. When voltage was applied, the coil's own magnetic field would cause it to pull itself together, thereby pulling the end out of the pool and breaking the circuit. With no current, the coil would expand again, dipping into the pool, and the next cycle would occur, so the coil would bounce up and down into the pool.
Teach called it the "electrical muscle." And of course, there was a healthy spark every time the coil broke contact with the mercury. Gawd only knows how much Hg vapor the spark generated for this little high schooler to breathe.
But all that mercury vapor didn't affect me at all, even after all these yea
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My friend is a H.S. Biology teacher. He told me a story that a student stole an old vial of mercury from the chemistry lab, and when it was discovered missing, he was surprised as to how intense the investigation as to it's whereabouts would be.
He tried to dispose of the evidence down the family bathroom sink.
Of course, it all sat in the P-trap. :lol:
They had over $40,000 in plumbing replacement, municipal fees to have their sewer line dug up and replaced, and environmental testing.
A co-worker of mine was invited to pick through an elderly neighbor's home for tools and "guy stuff" before he went to a retirement/nursing home. One of the things he took was a 10lb crockery jug, with a cork, of mercury that dated back to the late 1800's early 1900's. He new it was dangerous, only handled it with gloves etc.
He eventually decided he'd just turn it in at a local Fire Dept. who collected hazmat, paint cans etc. When they found it was mercury, they flipped out, called the actual hazmat team, the health department and the police.
The health department wanted to take him for a blood test, and when he made noises about politely declining, the police moved in with cuffs, and noises about getting a warrant to inspect his home were made too. He did some fast talking, agreed to come in for a blood test at a later date after they had all his info and thankfully made all the fuss go away.
IMO, if places did pay spot/market prices for Hg, it would do a lot to get it out of circulation the environment IMO. OTOH, there might be more danger from people scrounging for it, then having a spill etc. but I think in the long run it would get more out of the environment than spread it around.
I can't remember where it was, but one person had a tale that his father worked at a gold mine, and one of the activities they let you do was put on waders and step in/on the mercury tank used to amalgamate the gold out of the ore. :O
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Imagine if you slipped and fell. Hmmm, wonder what would happen. Think you'd break the surface tension?
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Imagine if you slipped and fell. Hmmm, wonder what would happen. Think you'd break the surface tension?
Kind of academic. Mercury does not like to "wet" much of anything, other than metals to which it has an affinity. You'd probably penetrate the surface, but might have a surface tension bubble around your leg or whatnot, and your buoyancy is tremendous of course.
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Gawd only knows how much Hg vapor the spark generated for this little high schooler to breathe.
That explains so much. ;)
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Was that in Breckinridge CO? THere are still piles of gravel up there which have gone through the mercury-leaching process for gold.
Could not have been very deep in that mercury tank. With that density (13.5-ish, IIRC), it would be like walking on ten feet of sponge rubber as your feet tended to float. Even lead (Pb, density 11.35) floats on mercury (before it dissolves.)
By the way, if you do have a little Hg spill ( e.g., like a thermometer, not a major one) which gets into the carpet or the cracks between floorboards, etc, hie yourself off to the drugstore and get some "Flowers of Sulfur," which is essentially powdered pure sulfur. Sprinkle it liberally around the spill area and rub it in a little. This forms mercury sulfide, which is a solid with a low vapor pressure, and after a while it becomes vacuum-up-able. Repeat. They used to make a commercial mercury-"eliminating" substance for use in laboratories, but I forgot what it was named. It was largely sulfur powder.
Trouble is, the sulfur smells a little like sulfur (!) so keep the room well-ventilated, lest ye be accused of passing wind.
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I had a bunch of mercury switches I'd cut open as a kid, and was keeping the resultant large blob of mercury in a film canister. An aluminum one.
I knew nothing about how Hg liked to amalgamate with metals, or it's particularly unique affects on Al, but I noticed the can got "squishy" and that something was wrong, and transferred it away.
IIRC, mercury paste was used as a sabotage weapon in WWII, the wings would just fall off aircraft if it was applied and not discovered in time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Ilxsu-JlY
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and now we know where Gremlins come from [popcorn] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gremlin) sorry but i'm crazed from pain tonight, i'll stop now. :facepalm: