I have done several extractions and so far my biggest problem is these damn turkey basters. Honestly, I hate them. Maybe I'm just being careless and getting solvent in the rubber part...but still I loathe them.

I'm in the market for a separatory funnel and have just a few questions:

1) Im willing to spend the money for a good one that will not break. Is there a certain material that can stand the chemicals such as lye and naptha better then others? My impression that a glass is best...is this correct?

2) I have only used marsofold's A/B tek. I always end up with a 3 Liter sangria bottle almost full of my mimosa tea. The funnels this large are WAY too expensive, if any are available at all. The largest one I have found for a reasonable price is 1000ML, but the 500ML and 250ML are more cost effective. What size funnels do you use?

Should i just adapt the tek to smaller amounts of liquid? use a different tek? Or is there something i am just misunderstanding?

Sorry for the noobie type questions, but what do you folks suggest

(By the way I would really like to have one, not just for these type of extractions, but I am going to school for chemistry and it would be nice for me to have one anyway, so keep the posts suggesting a plastic bag as a funnel, or using a different siphoning device to a minimum, thanks!)

1) A glass sep funnel is best.
2) Adapt your tek so that you only end up with 1-1.5 lt tea to work with. Teks are guides and can be adjusted.
3) Use the turkey baster, get a smaller 500ml sep funnel to them get the residue soup from your extracted solvent.

I recommend a 2l glass sep funnel, you won't be sorry if you can source one.

Buy a borosilicate glass one (Pyrex®, Duran®, etc...) they are resistant to heat shock.
However a 2l one is gonna be really expensive (230$ for the cheapest i've found in the USA)

Man do those Pyrex 2L funnels look great. Unfortunately $230 is a bit out of range, im probably going to have to settle with half that.

It's ok I'm sure a 1L Separatory Funnel will be much nicer to work with then those basters

Thank you for your opinions

Limeteks are funnel-free and just as high yielding... just a though.

Spend 5 dollars on lime and the other 225 on more bark.

Also about turkey basters, SWIM may have lucked out but his seems to be HDPE2 and it has survived xylene all through it without degredation. It was from a dollar store.

Best of luck with whatever you decide!

Since you are a student: http://secure.sciencecom...-1000ml-P16024C2613.aspx

Teks can be modified to fit into anything

good luck buddy

-gir

You guys are awesome! Very quick and informational replies. Funnel purchased, problem solved

Thanks again!

There are "unbreakable" shatter proof separatory funnels made of polypropylene and PTFE. These are great, but not as clear as glass. The nice thing about these is that you can drop them while filled with solvent and they will NOT break.

Wow, I paid just as much for my 500Ml pyrex separatory funnel... man I'm so jealous!

Some separatory funnels are made of FEP (a type of Teflon). They are resistant to nearly all chemicals. They are pricey, but better than the polypropylene ones.

I know that this thread has been dead for a while, but I thought I should reply, as it is the first entry in Google for "2l separatory funnel". Amazon is currently selling a 2l glass funnel for $75. I can't attest to the quality, but it looks like good deal!

You don't need to pass all your liquids thru a BIG separatory funnel, do this instead:

1. Get a 500ml (that's the largest you'll need) separatory funnel.
2. Get all of your solvent out together with some of the unwanted tea using a pipette (and a pipette pump).
3. Pass the solvent and tea fraction you just pulled thru the separatory funnel to get rid of the tea fraction.

DON'T USE A ZIPLOC like in this pic. It is dangerous and ineffective.

No. Never under any circumstances should you use a ziplock bag for a seperatory funnel. It has a high potential for things to go wrong (caustic chemical spills). The naphtha will be pulling plasticizers out of the plastic (which is not HDPE2), and these will likely end up in your DMT (protip: you don't want to smoke plasticizers).

The bottom line: Don't do it.


Severely unsafe techniques like this are very strongly discouraged at the Nexus.

If you're looking for a poor man's separatory funnel, try a gravy separator made from borosilicate glass (pyrex) or at least HDPE2 plastic.

2000ml glass separatory funnel on amazon for 75dollars http://www.amazon.com/Se...id=1299622659&sr=8-3

I made a sep funnel out of a HDPE plasic syrup bottle. I can close it two ways: by putting in a straw and pinching/releasing it or by quickly closing/opening the cap. (tested it with water. I have trouble completely closing the straw. The cap method is messy. I think they would both work however.) Is this device safe?

http://www.datatelindust...atory-Funnel-2000/Detail

200ml FEP separatory funnel for $294.02. lowest price I could find.