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ZombiWurm
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Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave.
#26365904 - 12/06/19 09:24 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I thought it would be a good a quick way to heat it but it exploded all over my microwave.
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bodhisatta 
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm] 1
#26365907 - 12/06/19 09:26 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Operator error
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mushboy
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: bodhisatta]
#26365921 - 12/06/19 09:36 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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shit im doing it now
watch it so it doesnt boil over and keep the cap loose if you have no filter.
Edited by mushboy (12/06/19 09:37 PM)
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: mushboy]
#26365964 - 12/06/19 10:12 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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It boiled over in under 1 minute
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Failboat
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: mushboy]
#26365971 - 12/06/19 10:14 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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In high school my Biology teacher forewarned us about that I like the +30 seconds button for melting agar
<1min? That's fast. Must be a strong microwave
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Elrik
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Failboat]
#26366037 - 12/06/19 11:17 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Boil over isn't as bad as bumping. I have to be careful when extracting yeast for MYA, I can only boil it once. If I try for a second time the beaker just sits there and sits there and *BANG* the beaker jumps up in the air and the microwave is coated in yeast extract.
-------------------- The Nook
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Prietenul
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Elrik]
#26366057 - 12/06/19 11:37 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I never had any problem microwaving my agar bottles. Just set your microwave to a lower setting and stand next to it all the time.
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Growtech
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26366066 - 12/06/19 11:46 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
ZombiWurm said: I thought it would be a good a quick way to heat it but it exploded all over my microwave.
What kind of bottle was it? I microwave media bottles all the time and never had an issue.
Use better bottles.
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narmaduke
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Growtech]
#26366185 - 12/07/19 02:12 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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i microwave in a larger pyrex measuring cup because media bottles wont fit in my tiny ass microwave, never had an issue. just dont walk away from it..
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Growtech]
#26366438 - 12/07/19 08:21 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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A glass YooHoo bottle.
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Growtech
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26366538 - 12/07/19 09:17 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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While I wouldn’t think a glass bottle of any type would explode in the microwave (maybe it already had tiny cracks you couldn’t see), do yourself a favor and invest in a media bottle or two. Not only will they not explode, they will give you better pours without agar dripping where you don’t want it to drip. A media bottle is maybe my favorite mycology related purchase.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HM9CKR6/
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Growtech]
#26366542 - 12/07/19 09:20 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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By explode i mean the entire microwave is covered in MEA. Not that the bottle actually blew up.
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Failboat
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26366559 - 12/07/19 09:30 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I hope your microwave doesn't have too many little holes and edges
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Failboat]
#26366572 - 12/07/19 09:37 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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No not really. I cleaned it up but the mouth of the bottle was very close to the holes in the microwave where the fan is located. I think some might have gotten in there but I've since used it to heat food and it works fine.
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Growtech
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26366581 - 12/07/19 09:42 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Oh.... that’s different. It boiled over, not exploded. Lesson learned... don’t walk away from microwave when heating MEA and agar (I assume agar was in the mix) because it will boil over pretty quickly.
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Growtech]
#26366588 - 12/07/19 09:46 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Yea it was also in there.
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Growtech
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26366611 - 12/07/19 10:00 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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You should still get a proper media bottle. However you would want to keep an eye on that too, because it will also boil over if left unattended.
But at least you wouldn’t need to rummage through the garbage for chocolate milk bottles to do agar work.
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Growtech]
#26366619 - 12/07/19 10:05 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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lol i didnt dig through the trash for the bottle. I bought it for this purpose.
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bodhisatta 
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26366651 - 12/07/19 10:20 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Doesn't really matter what bottle you use if you microwave agar in any jar you're going to have to watch it.
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: bodhisatta]
#26366663 - 12/07/19 10:26 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Yeah, I walked away for a few seconds and it went to shit lol
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bodhisatta 
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26366669 - 12/07/19 10:28 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Like microwaving a bottle of frozen water. Some will melt first and start to boil but there's still a block of ice in the bottle. The first thin layers to melt off your agar will boil over well before the whole block is melted. It's a gentle process.
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: bodhisatta]
#26366675 - 12/07/19 10:32 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I was trying to heat it to homogenize the solution rather than heating it on the stove. Something went wrong anyway because it never solidified. (I made a second bottle) It didn't solidify when it cooled so i didn't even PC it. I let it sit overnight and it's still a liquid right now with some powdery solid at the bottom. I've made petri dishes before with no problems so I don't know what happened.
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A.k.a
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26366749 - 12/07/19 11:31 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Gotta be careful with Pyrex it can get superheated to above boiling without actually boiling until, as somebody said, it’s moved and then all that energy activates at once and explodes.
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bodhisatta 
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: A.k.a]
#26366759 - 12/07/19 11:38 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Pyrex doesn't boil until thousands of degrees
Regardless of normal or pyrex glass water can super heat in a microwave. Its especially easy in plastic containers.
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Sir Pentinite
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26366766 - 12/07/19 11:46 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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It's the very smooth interior of glass vessels that allows water to become superheated. There are no nucleation sites to initiate boiling, so the temperature rises above boiling before that happens. Bumping is evidence of this and boiling chips are used to prevent it. Any sediment at all in the agar is probably enough to provide nucleation sites though.
It will boil over on the stove too. I was just dissolving some MEA in a pan and the same thing happened: took my eye off it for less than a minute and suddenly it's all over the place.
-------------------- "I thought to myself 'Boy, I'm sure glad there's nobody here to see this because this is exactly the sort of thing that gets people riled-up and they assume you're dying and that something has to be done. Where if you're alone, you know, you either come through it or you die, but in any case you avoid the fuss.'" - Terrence McKenna
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Sir Pentinite]
#26366818 - 12/07/19 12:11 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Any idea why my agar didn't ever solidify? It just looked seperated almost 12 hours later. That hasn't ever happened to me before. Usually it starts solidifying before I even finish pouring it into my dishes.
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: bodhisatta]
#26366823 - 12/07/19 12:15 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Are media bottles really necessary? I want to get some just because they look nice and my lab doesn't have any currently. "I'm building a fully functional lab in a closet lol" It's a project i've been working on for like 3 years. I get most of my lab tools from the local state University used store. I'm goin a little off topic but they currently have a gas chromatography machine for $100 and it just needs a few parts to be functional.
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Shroomerquest



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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26366982 - 12/07/19 01:20 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Title should be change to “don’t go for shit while microwaving agar”
--------------------
 EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS FREE...
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YogiBear



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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Elrik]
#26367047 - 12/07/19 01:58 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Shroomerquest]
#26367049 - 12/07/19 02:01 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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good point lol
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A.k.a
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26367103 - 12/07/19 02:34 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Gas chromatography?? How much are the parts gonna be though. That would be a nice piece of equipment to have.
I’m assuming for 100 bucks it must be a shell, I just checked and used machines start at 10-20k.
Or maybe you got the deal of a lifetime and can flip it for massive profit!
--------------------
LAGM2020     
Edited by A.k.a (12/07/19 02:37 PM)
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: A.k.a]
#26367113 - 12/07/19 02:40 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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It looks really old. I don't know anything about them and have never seen one in operation so I couldn't tell you. I do know they are super expensive though. This used store has anything you could possibly need in a lab though for cheap. Most of the lab glass is dirty though and needs to be cleaned well.
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26367120 - 12/07/19 02:43 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Growtech
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26367188 - 12/07/19 03:29 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
ZombiWurm said: Are media bottles really necessary? I want to get some just because they look nice and my lab doesn't have any currently. "I'm building a fully functional lab in a closet lol" It's a project i've been working on for like 3 years. I get most of my lab tools from the local state University used store. I'm goin a little off topic but they currently have a gas chromatography machine for $100 and it just needs a few parts to be functional.
Media bottles aren’t absolutely necessary, but they are so nice when pouring. They don’t dribble, it’s nice to have the ml markers so you can eyeball how much you have left while pouring, etc. They are a worthwhile investment and way more pro vs. pouring from a chocolate milk bottle.
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Growtech]
#26367218 - 12/07/19 03:42 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I'm gonna buy some once I can afford them. I found some good deals on Amazon but even those are kinda pricey. The Pyrex brand are way too much.
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Failboat
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26367225 - 12/07/19 03:46 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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The legit ones are much nicer than the cheap ones. I have both.
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A.k.a
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Failboat]
#26367280 - 12/07/19 04:12 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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The Pyrex are like 10-15 bucks. It is super nice having the ml so you can just put everything in the bottle and like he said no drips whatsoever and you know exactly how much is left.
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LAGM2020     
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blackout


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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26367346 - 12/07/19 04:46 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
ZombiWurm said: It boiled over in under 1 minute
if heating small amounts of anything in a microwave put in a bowl or large glass or water alongside it, the bulk of the microwaves will go into it and heat the small item more gently and evenly.
If you have a day old donut or bread roll going stale it can be revived like this! but if it goes in on its own it tends to get ruined by hot spots.
A bit of verm or perlite in a LC jar can stop the phenomenon of sudden explosions. If trying to heat treat agar, rather than just melt, then you need LOADS of head room in your jar, as it bubbles up like crazy.
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: blackout]
#26367395 - 12/07/19 05:06 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I do like doughnuts lol. I usually just double boil the agar in a pot but it takes a long time.
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Sir Pentinite
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26367458 - 12/07/19 05:37 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
ZombiWurm said: Are media bottles really necessary? I want to get some just because they look nice and my lab doesn't have any currently.
Quote:
ZombiWurm said: I'm gonna buy some once I can afford them. I found some good deals on Amazon but even those are kinda pricey. The Pyrex brand are way too much.
They're not mandatory, but they are the right tool for the job and make it sooo much nicer. 500mL bottles are not that expensive really. I got some new name-brand 500s for $14/ea shipped and 1000s for $18/ea. The thing with name-brand bottles is that any other GL45 cap and pour ring will fit. I hear stories about the Chinese no-names not always being standard and the caps not always fitting well.
I would be leery of buying used bottles because it's anyone's guess what has been in them.
Quote:
ZombiWurm said: I get most of my lab tools from the local state University used store. I'm goin a little off topic but they currently have a gas chromatography machine for $100 and it just needs a few parts to be functional.
Like a nuclear reactor that only needs a few parts. 
I can't speak to your local University, but the community college here doesn't auction anything unless it's total crap. Imagine analytical balances piled in bins on top of each other.
-------------------- "I thought to myself 'Boy, I'm sure glad there's nobody here to see this because this is exactly the sort of thing that gets people riled-up and they assume you're dying and that something has to be done. Where if you're alone, you know, you either come through it or you die, but in any case you avoid the fuss.'" - Terrence McKenna
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ZombiWurm
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Sir Pentinite]
#26367497 - 12/07/19 05:50 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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I live next to a very good college. All their equipment is top quality even the stuff they sell to people. I have bought lots of stuff from them. You could build a fractional distillation aperatus for like $200 from them and it's quality glass. They also have home improvement things and microwaves and TV's. A fucking mascot costume lol
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Growtech
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26367872 - 12/07/19 08:59 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Just get the Pyrex ones. Trying to save $2 on some junky ones will just cost you more in the end because you will eventually buy the good ones. $12 or whatever they are is worth it.
Yes, not 100% necessary... you can pour agar from beer bottles if you want. But the perfect tool is not expensive and easily available. And will save you a ton of time and headache. Pouring from shitty bottles is along the same lines of using a sledgehammer to drive a nail into a piece of wood. Yes, you can do it. But if you are going to do it more than once, get the right tool.
Bod said it exactly right in his agar tek:
Quote:
bodhisatta said: To make the best agar I like to add all the dry ingredients into a media bottle
 these are 500mL pyrex media bottles, they're made for agar, they're about 15 dollars shipped, and they're the only bottle I will personally use for agar. Completely unmodified as is these are bar none the best vessel for pour agar.
Read the words on the bottle in the picture. Stop doing it the hard way.
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spicetimetraveller
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Growtech]
#26377016 - 12/12/19 11:12 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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They're about $45Cad in Canada, bit of a jump in price but you get what you pay for.
I did have a question about these bottles though when sterilizing the agar do you keep the plastic lids on or does it not get hot enough to melt the lid? On the lid of the pyrex gl45 it says Max Temp 140 Celcius or about 284 Fahrenheit.
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Growtech
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Why would they be so expensive in Canada? Doesn't Amazon ship to Canada? $24.94 for 2 of them on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HM9CKR6/
Keep the lids on, but crack them so they aren't sealed while in pressure cooker and cover the lid with foil. 140C is hotter than your pressure cooker will get. These things are literally made to be autoclaved over and over. Your pressure cooker would probably explode from too much pressure (well safety valve would pop) long before it could reach 140C.
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bodhisatta 
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Growtech]
#26377062 - 12/12/19 11:44 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Import fees, tariffs, shipping costs, etc... All get tacked on the price Americans see
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Growtech
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: bodhisatta]
#26377141 - 12/12/19 12:41 PM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
bodhisatta said: Import fees, tariffs, shipping costs, etc... All get tacked on the price Americans see
Oh ya... that. lol
Still worth it.
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spicetimetraveller
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: Growtech]
#26378510 - 12/13/19 05:17 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Oh okay, just thought pc temp of 120c of around 250f would be close. I'm gonna get one for now, pretty excited to trying cloning after reading all these teks.
Thanks for the info!
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ZombiWurm
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I was using a microwave to prepare the agar not sterilize it.
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The Mycologist
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Re: Don't put a bottle of MEA in the microwave. [Re: ZombiWurm]
#26378942 - 12/13/19 10:25 AM (4 years, 1 month ago) |
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Yea I bought plastic lids so I could microwave the agar jar easier.
-------------------- "That you are here—that life exists, and identity; That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.” ― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

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