Equipment Reviews
Any items of specialist equipment that I use I’ll review and share my thoughts on here. Perhaps they will be of use to others.
Medline type Becelec 2 electric Bunsen Burner
![Picture](/uploads/6/5/7/2/6572022/2786109.jpg?268)
Becelec 2 Electric Bunsen Burner
Chemistry usually involves heating things, and traditionally the options were either a gas Bunsen burner or a spirit burner. The problem is that most home chemistry labs don’t have provision to hook up a mains gas Bunsen Burner (and you shouldn’t go trying too either unless you are qualified to do so), and spirit burners don’t run hot enough for many tasks.
Fortunately there are some specialist electric devices that are designed to remove the need for a traditional Bunsen burner, and the Medline Becelec 2 is one of them.
It’s basically an electric cooker heating element in a smart looking enclosure with a couple of cool features added.
The specification of the unit is:
Temperature range 37 to 920°C, 130mm diameter heating area, Power rating 500W, Dimensions 310 x 200 x 110mm (L x W x H), Weight 1.7kg
There is a removable ring guard (just unclips) on the top that helps to prevent accidentally touching the hot plate. With the guard in place, you can easily accommodate a 500ml conical flask and if you remove the guard, you can sit a up to 1 litre flask or beaker on the plate.
You will see that it also acts as a retort stand and comes with a combined bosshead and clamp; you can also attach additional size standard bossheads if required.
There’s a nice little metal side table that clips on to the case if required, and a burning dish that you can use to make a real flame if required (you just add some gel and heat).
The only problem, and it’s just a small thing really, is that if you turn the heater off or the temperature down, it takes a little while for the heating element to start to cool. This means that it’s difficult to instantly remove the heat if required; it’s not like just blowing out a Bunsen flame.
Rapid electronics in the UK stock these – Item code: 52-0460
Fortunately there are some specialist electric devices that are designed to remove the need for a traditional Bunsen burner, and the Medline Becelec 2 is one of them.
It’s basically an electric cooker heating element in a smart looking enclosure with a couple of cool features added.
The specification of the unit is:
Temperature range 37 to 920°C, 130mm diameter heating area, Power rating 500W, Dimensions 310 x 200 x 110mm (L x W x H), Weight 1.7kg
There is a removable ring guard (just unclips) on the top that helps to prevent accidentally touching the hot plate. With the guard in place, you can easily accommodate a 500ml conical flask and if you remove the guard, you can sit a up to 1 litre flask or beaker on the plate.
You will see that it also acts as a retort stand and comes with a combined bosshead and clamp; you can also attach additional size standard bossheads if required.
There’s a nice little metal side table that clips on to the case if required, and a burning dish that you can use to make a real flame if required (you just add some gel and heat).
The only problem, and it’s just a small thing really, is that if you turn the heater off or the temperature down, it takes a little while for the heating element to start to cool. This means that it’s difficult to instantly remove the heat if required; it’s not like just blowing out a Bunsen flame.
Rapid electronics in the UK stock these – Item code: 52-0460
Water Distiller
![Picture](/uploads/6/5/7/2/6572022/9653639.jpg)
You can make distilled water via a still but doing it in quantity is a pain. It requires a fair amount of space in my already cramped space, uses a lot of energy boiling the flask, and takes forever.
After running my still on and off for a day, I decided there had to be a better way, so I invested in a commercial water distiller. It was around £120 new off Ebay including delivery, and I’ve not looked back. You tip in around 3-4 litres of tap water, push the button and sit back and leave it to produce around a litre an hour of nice clean distilled water. The unit switches off when it’s done, is quite compact and is easy to clean and store away.
It has a fan on top to force cool air up through the condenser which means in winter, the unit will actually double up as a 500 watt electric heater and keeps the entire room warm.
One thing I did do, is remove the carbon filter on the water output. I found that sometimes the filter overflowed as it took too long for the distilled water to pass though. Also, I don't see why I need to filter already distilled water.
After running my still on and off for a day, I decided there had to be a better way, so I invested in a commercial water distiller. It was around £120 new off Ebay including delivery, and I’ve not looked back. You tip in around 3-4 litres of tap water, push the button and sit back and leave it to produce around a litre an hour of nice clean distilled water. The unit switches off when it’s done, is quite compact and is easy to clean and store away.
It has a fan on top to force cool air up through the condenser which means in winter, the unit will actually double up as a 500 watt electric heater and keeps the entire room warm.
One thing I did do, is remove the carbon filter on the water output. I found that sometimes the filter overflowed as it took too long for the distilled water to pass though. Also, I don't see why I need to filter already distilled water.