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OK Labbies Please tell me the fastest effective way to clean my bunsen burners

Hi,

Welcome to Chemtalk.
If you do a search, (the link is up in the righthand corner) for "cleaning bunsen burners" the bottom 2 results will take you to a thread called "bunsen burners" which has a lot of advice regarding the cleaning of bunsens.

I found just searching for "bunsen Burners" brought up a lot of other stuff about them not just cleaning.

It is a task no-one seems to like.

The Fastest way is give them to your industrial arts teacher
But Step 1 Remove barrel if stubborn put screwdriver through air holes for leverage if you can't turm air entry sleeve spray with WD40 and warm over another burner
Step 2 Wire brush top of jet and use jet cleaning available from BOC gases or hardware store I also have a gun barrel wire pull through for cleaning inside barrel and rotary wire brush for cleaning outside.

and what do you do to clean out the gas taps themselves??
my HOD told me to get a drill and drill them out - the kids push all manner of things into the outlets so they are blocked....
I am not going to use a drill in a gas tap!!!
Any other ideas .. apart from handing the drill to the HOD and high-tailing it out of there...
[oh AFTER turning the gas on!!! snicker....

Yes I have a Bio mounted needle with the point bent at right angle that I slip in and pull out match sticks mostly also had biro tips... Little DARLINGS

yeah
I would b scared 2 use a drill in a gas tap too
i dont have 2 do that, my teachers do it for me and they have never asked me 2 do it either.
isnt it something the GA would do?

its something i have 2 get around 2 doing as well
good luck with ur cleaning

maria

Also most gas taps are tapered shaft type you undo nut on bottom there is a tab washer and spring then tap shaft up, then you can drill, use punch or any other way to remove obstructions, smear tiny bit of silicon grease on taper reassemble all after closing gas isolator of course

Seriously it is your GA's responsibility to call in a gas man who is licensed to do these repairs. If one gas tap is blocked with paper, matchsticks, biros etc then there are others which need maintenance as well. This is not a job for unqualified people. We have been employed for a specific job and this is not one of them. Yes we can take out some of the rubbish stuffed into the taps but sometimes this is not sufficient. I have had a situation where the gas tap appears to be off and is leaking gas when the whole system goes on line. We had students with a bunsen attached to the other gas tap and it was just sheer luck that we avoided a serious incident. I don't care how expensive it is now but any problems I have and the gas man is called. The gaslines are usually checked to make sure the pressure is holding and the gastaps are serviced to make sure they are clean and seated correctly. Any dud ones are replaced. This is a definite O,H&S issue and your HOD should know better.
Lyn.
P.S. And if you have to cancel pracs until the gastaps are serviced so be it.

I'm with Lyn it should not be your job to clean the gas taps
Workcover would have a field day

has anyone unscrewed their bunsens and just put them in hot soapy water? Or thru the dishwasher?

I have some that are gummed up from the heat conductivity prac that uses matches and vaseline...the vaseline melts and gets everywhere...

But i will try the screwdriver for leverage idea, have one that is stuck tight too.

I have done that - soaked them.. and then run really hot water fromt he tap through them

I put mine through the dishwasher when I couldn't unscrew them. It loosened some, but not all. I still have some I can't even budge with those super grip things from the technics room...

loading up the dishwasher!!!!

I've been doing this for 12 years without incident - just drill the gas taps out with a cordless drill. I have the gas supply turned on so that you can hear the gas flowing when you break through.

I replace my own gas taps as well. The only time I call a gas-fitter/plumber is when the actual turret (ie the piece the individual taps screws into) needs replacing. Most of our tap setups are doubles - ie 2 gas outlets per turret, however it got so bad a few years ago that whenever 1 tap was damaged, I removed that tap and blanked off the outlet with a special gas plug.

Unfortunately some time ago when new turrets were fitted, the tap was moulded to the turret so the whole unit needed replacing instead of a simple tap replacement.

It's a man thing Dave!
We are confident that even if we bugger it they are no further behind
Where the girls are scared to have a go.
Go for it girls! the sence of achievement when you succeed is enormous

Ocker! I will have you know that I used to rebuild car engines before computers were installed in them.. Girl thing my ()&*^*^%(*&^)(&*...
I am concerned about a spark igniting the gas - otherwise I would eb doing it!
And I will also have you know the maintenance guys come to me to get tools when they are upstairs did it incorrectly!

That's what I said mate!
If you want a thing done right, "Do it Yourself"

With a cordless drill you can drill at low revs hence little friction, less heat, less chance of sparking and less chance of KABOOM .

Since my cordless died, I use a small hand drill which is safer again as you can turn it as slow as you wish. Normally after a turn or two the bit grabs the offending matter and you can pull the whole thing out.

I've been working on our bunsens (I had no idea they were that bad!!)
My HT mentioned a tool that he has seen others use, that is kind of like a set of allen keys, with a thread that screws onto the gas jet and the spike that cleans out the little hole. Does that make any sense?
Does anyone know what I'm on about, and can you advise where to purchase please?
I have a little spike that the local plumber gave me for cleaning the gas jets, but it's very flimsy and I doubt it will last long.
J

Hi Julie,

I bought a set of cleaning tips from BOC when I was at Tamworth High, especially for cleaning bunsens. You'd be able to get them from plumbing suppliers or hardware stores.

Also, try doing a search on here for cleaning bunsens or fixing bunsens.

Have fun!