ok i have this humongo jar. it works amazing. when it works. id almost prefer to use something not glass. any suggestions? or any suggestions on what u use? this jar is poorly made but its large.... but its not cheap on the pocket book. right now its completely filled and when i was just about done i heard a weird *POP* looked around it and didnt see anything. let it sit for the past 10 hours and its SLOWLY LEAKING ON MY CARPET! its cracked right along the seam i found a tiny crack after further investigation. but no way in hell im dumpin that now so its got 2 towels under it to soak up whatever dibbles out... good thing im getting new carpet in a week hahahaha.

I can't decipher from your post what exactly you're using the jar for...

What exactly were you doing when it cracked? My friends or myself have never had any problems using glass.

I've had glass crack on me, it's not unheard of. Depending on what solvents you are using you can use Polypropylene jars (if you are using naphtha) or HDPE jars (if you are using limonene). But the best idea is to get Lab-glass IMO and consider the following things:

i) When you are adding lye, make sure it dissolves properly. If you have lye beads stuck to your glass somewhere they could be causing heat gradients which could weaken your glass. Add the lye slowly, bit by bit and let it dissolve completely. Only when your water is clear is your lye fully dissolved.

ii) When you add the lye your water heats up. If you close the lid of the jar you will have pressure build up. At some point your glass will give way. Lab-glass like these can withstand a bit more pressure than your average canning jar, but still it is advisable to leave the lid a bit unscrewed while the water is still heating.

iii) For safety reasons it is good practice to keep your jars inside some kind of tub, sink to catch the caustic mess if it breaks.

iv) If you are working with naphtha, which is pretty volatile and you shake it, or just leave it standing over night, you will also have some pressure build up. If your glass is already weakened from the lye-induced heat gradient or for some other reason this might also be a problem, though I think points i) and ii) are more dangerous. I usually unscrew the cap after shaking to release the pressure just in case, even though I use lab glass. With limonene this isn't so much a problem.

I hope you are careful with the caustic stuff. Maybe next time at least keep it in an environment with a tile floor - easier to clean, less mess

take care!
cheers & love
Enoon

Yeah, enoon basically said it all. But for reference I have had a canning jar break one time before, but that was adding it to boiling hot water after leaving it in my chilly house with chilled naphtha in it.. now, I just dont make my hot water bath so hot, and I slowly add the jars to the bath instead of just plopping them in. I use hdpe 2.5 gallon water jugs now for all my extractions involving lye and solvents. I would never mix my mhrb and lye and or naphtha in a glass jar, because if it breaks or leaks you could lose everything. even in hdpe, I keep them in a plugged up sink, so it for some reason the plastic gives way and leaks or breaks, I can still use a baster or something to suck up any spilled mixture that was caught by the sink..

[quote] I would never mix my MHRB and lye and or naphtha in a glass jar, because if it breaks or leaks you could lose everything. even in hdpe, I keep them in a plugged up sink, so it for some reason the plastic gives way and leaks or breaks, I can still use a baster or something to suck up any spilled mixture that was caught by the sink../quote]

secondary containment,.. great idea

Great post from enoon there.

I have done everything "by the book" and still had glass jars crack on me. The only explanation I can think of is that the glass is not up to it, and lab grade is needed. The second time it happened was really frustrating as I had been extremely careful to follow steps to ensure it didn't.

At the time I had no other containers for this mix, so basically had to do a botch temporary repair with loads of glass glue and gaffer tape to hold the glass together until I had a suitable replacement.

As others suggest, I switched to HDPE plastic, and placed the bottle into a thick plastic bucket in case of any accidents. I wouldn't want to be aroud when my gf found a mimosa brew spilt all over the carpet!

safety first, safety second

thanks enoon for all the info. guess just got a little impatient maybe went to fast. i know what really probably cracked it was the tiny amount of pressure i used to push on the bottom to pick up any pieces stuck to the bottom. shoulda just went slower. and im guessing the glass isnt the best for it but it's probably operator error at this point hahaha. thanks alot guy and good idea on the tub method. that would def suck if it spilled all over. good thing its a tiny tiny crack and what was coming out actually slowly dried and theres like a crusty spot where it stoped leaking lol. get EVERYTHING out within 24 hours so off the get a new container

thanks again everyone i appreciate all the help!!!! <3