Pharmacist bottles

mshchem · Dec 6, 2020

bernard_L said:
I fully agree that one feels safer with strong acids in unbreakable (HDPE or other) bottles. Strong acids are not altered by atmospheric Oxygen. OTOH, photo developers are degraded by Oxygen. My point was that there are polymers with better barrier properties than HDPE, e.g. PET or PVA.

Concentrated mineral acids will attack HDPE. The only acid I ever handled in plastic was hydrofluoric. Nasty stuff. I've used PET bottles, still do. Most photochemicals in dilute form are fine. Color developer for E6 can crack PET as will most alkaline solutions. I made up 5L of Bromophen this afternoon. Put 4 L in a nice big glass jug. I still use some glass. Especially when my friend drinks horrible sweet wine that comes in nice glass bottles. I ordered some cone seal lids, nice.

wyofilm · Dec 6, 2020

mshchem said:
The only acid I ever handled in plastic was hydrofluoric. Nasty stuff.

Forest for the trees. As a post-doc I was using HF in an organic synthesis I was working on at the time. I was focussed on so many other details I forgot not to use glass as the reaction vessel. It took three tries in this synthesis before the dim lightbulb went off. HF is used for etching glass. Something I knew, but tunnel vision ...

AgX · Dec 7, 2020

ced said:
, any ideas why
both developed weird cracks around the top that slowly spread downward (both eventually thrown out) & they were not moved around much just used a plastic cooking pipette to draw a few mls of liquid gum arabic?

First thought is crystalls growing at cone flanges. But as you speak of gum arabic, maybe dried gum swelling up in humid atmosphere.

BMbikerider · Dec 7, 2020

AgX said:
Brown standard-glass bottles with narrow mouth and screw-on PE cap seems the most cheap regular chemicals bottle available here.

I will go along with this recommendation. I did a search on the internet and found a few suppliers in the UK, so there must be others elsewhere. The PE cap has a polythene insert and is completely airtight. I have kept pre-mixed C41 developer for 3 months in these bottles with no detrimental effect.

I go one step further and heat the bottles with the developer inside to about 50-55C in a microwave and then screw on the cap when it is warm. As the liquid cools it forms a partial vacuum in the space above. You will know if the seal has worked because when you unscrew the cap there will be a short sharp hiss of air entering the bottle.

Michel Hardy-Vallée · Dec 7, 2020

Since we're down the rabbit hole of bottles, might as well ask if all HDPE bottles are created equal, from a chemical point of view?

I bought a few from the Formulary, but eventually found out that I could get them much cheaper from ULINE. The ULINE ones appear to be slightly thinner, but other than that it seems to be the exact same material. So far so good.

AgX · Dec 7, 2020

HDPE only refers to the base resin. Typically dyes, or pigments, or UV stabilizers are added.
Also there are co- or even multi-layer bottles from different resins, to add barrier characteristics. Something that typically is not hinted at on the bottle itself.

eli griggs · Dec 7, 2020

Glass stoppers should be ground to the bottle they are on, so I suggest you do a little looking on line at how to ground a glass stopper correctly, and get some fine - very fine grits to finish the job, for the best possible fit, is done correctly.

This should help end any air invasion issue.

mshchem · Dec 7, 2020

Adox, Fujifilm, Ilford Tetenal, all use nice heavy walled bottles. The Jobo bottles are great, but rediculously expensive.
Jobo should sell bottles to Adox or Tetenal, I would pay a premium for that.

Pharmacist bottles

Membership Council

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency