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Hello Gents

 

I had an accident with my mercury filled carb sticks ( I spilled the mercury on my driveway ) My question is Does anybody know where I can find just an ounce or two of mercury...I spilled about half what was in there. Thanks for any ideas

 

Ken

 

I used to have about 1/3rd of a quart jar. But, I have shared so much with my friends that I have very little to spare.

RandyA

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I dont have a carb stick of any kind, but have seen this question before. Why couldnt you just swap over to the fluid these things use now? There is no moving parts or the like right? If the blue fluid works in one why couldnt you just swap it out?:confused24:

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I would say the weight of the mercury is the key factor. Very dense, very heavy. A lighter fluid would be sucked out of the tubes in short order as the standard manometer tubes are quite short.

 

Some have made DIY set ups using several feet of tubing with other liquids that seems to work.

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I noticed the manometer fluid refill container on the Dennis Kirk site had lots of bubbles in it. Could be very problematic for tuning with lots of bubbles in the tubes.

I guess if the mercury spills from my old manometer, I'd try 90wt gear oil as a first trial replacement.

-Pete, in Tacoma WA USA

'83,88 Venture

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Thanks for all the ideas. I found a shop in Omaha that still has the mercury ( quicksilver )

and they are shipping it to me. I don't have a problem with mercury...as long as you are careful and wear gloves and not try to swallow any of it, you should be fine. Heck, Dentists used to put in your mouth as fillings. If I remember right...maybe thats why I never passed a test in school...Could be why my moniker is what it is...I'll have to ponder that for a spell. Snaggletooth, who is from Omaha let me in on it. They only have a few bottles left for about $25 plus shipping. Cie la Vie. Thanks for everybodys help. You guys are the best

 

Ken:cool10:

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i use to use mercury in glass tubes hang them from the rear view mirror and watch the LEO smack the radar guns trying to get them to work again (not happening) my local PD quite setting up speed traps for the longest time :whistling: my buddy charged them to much to repair them (that was before i found out he was fixing them) so mercury does have its good uses :shock3:

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I remember in high school we used to play with the stuff.

Including Rolling it around in the palm of my hand!

 

Might explain a few things:whistling:

 

in grade school I remember a guy had a vial of the stuff and rolled it around the palm of his hand blending it with his (gold?) ring. After a couple of hours the merc would actually coat it like anodization and result in a beautifull shiny mirror finished ring.... thing was after a few days the ring oxidized and looked like something out of a cracker jack box. As I remember it, the oxidized aluminum finished wouldn't rub off. :doh:

back in the day who knew, definately explains a few things...

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I personally feel that the dangers of handling mercury have been greatly exaggerated. Yes, getting mercury in your system is not good. It is 100% correct that it should not be used in paint for baby cribs, toys, etc. Never should be used in any way where it could be ingested. If handled properly though, there is very little risk to it.

 

There are a couple ways that you can absorb it into your body. One is through ingestion and the other is through breathing the vapors. At relative low temperatures, mercury will put off vapors that can be inhaled. I'm not talking temps in the hundreds either. On a typical very hot summer day, it can emit vapor that can be inhaled.

 

Otherwise, it can be handled quite safely. As most of you did, we played with it when we were kids. I've seen it dropped and scatter all over the floor many times. I also worked in a chlorine plant in Muscle Shoals, AL where mercury was used to manufacture chlorine gas. The main think we watched there was that any mercury spills were washed into trenches where it was cover with water until it to be collected and disposed of properly.

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