Tossing some old thermostats

[PCustoms]

I'd salvage the mercury switches and toss the rest of the thermostat. The mercury is perfectly safe if enclosed in the glass tubes.

Then what are you going to do with the tubes?

See several comments in this thread regarding the different hazmat classification for thermostats vs raw mercury.

 

[bluedog225]

I had a tremor for 15 years from playing with mercury too much. In the kitchen.

 

[bluedog225]

They will have to pry my 1950s Honeywell mercury switch thermostat out of my cold dead hands.

 

[Bert_]

They will have to pry my 1950s Honeywell mercury switch thermostat out of my cold dead hands.

That's why I hang on to a couple. You gotta have something to control the heat after you toss out the new digital stat.

 

[Nick Rivers]

Many of us did, but we didn't know what we didn't know back then. I saw a photo in an old textbook once of a man laying on his back, floating on top of a huge vat of mercury.

A company that does the HAZWOPER and Hazardous Waste training for our employees still shows that picture of the man floating on mercury.

 

[hobie18]

Imagine a swimming pool full of gold, mercury and a block of cement

 

[Danno1]

A company that does the HAZWOPER and Hazardous Waste training for our employees still shows that picture of the man floating on mercury.

I saw a you tube video a couple of years ago of a large vise floating in a vat of mercury.



.

 

[Two Speed]

Codys Lab, floated an anvil.

 

[Metal-Marc]

It's often difficult to tell when people are serious or when they're joking in online posts. It can help if you include a smiley emoji or something.

 

[no704]

just curious, why do you have so much mercury and how do you store it?

Chemistry. Plastic bottles kept in a secondary container.

 

[hobie18]

They will have to pry my 1950s Honeywell mercury switch thermostat out of my cold dead hands.

Shaky, cold, hands.

Yes. There have been many times I wanted to replace the xxxxx electronic one.

 

[ATC]

I have a couple ounces of liquid mercury around here somewhere. I bought it just because.

 

[NHtoolguy]

Then what are you going to do with the tubes?

See several comments in this thread regarding the different hazmat classification for thermostats vs raw mercury.

I would use them as positional switches in a project, like an alarm trigger or something similar. But, that's why I have my own hoard to deal with.

 

[rustyzman]

We hired an operator at work that had worked for the previous owners of the building for many years. That company had a mercury spill from an item that was stored on a rack and fell. According to his account of the event, once this was all reported and investigated (not the same day apparently) they closed the plant for a hazmat cleanup. Then they sent hazmat to all the houses/domiciles of everyone in the area that could have been exposed during the spill and performed any cleanup needed there as well (vehicles, etc).
He said that the process was a very big deal. It's listed on the EPA Superfund site, but no details. Wonder how much that all cost?

Offside story, I remember an estate sale that had some really cool big glass carboys of a clear liquid in the garage on a top shelf. Very old, dirty and dusty, and nobody knew what was in them. I had no interest myself, but in discussion they noted that they were not selling them because they had no idea what was in them and they also had no idea what they were going to do to dispose of them either... Hope they didn't agree to clear out the place at the end of the sale too!

 

[Jack_K]

Mercury can be used to find vibrations.



Source: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=DdsDAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA958&pg=PA958&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[Nick Rivers]

Picked up an old Motion Pro mercury filled carburetor synchronizer for motorcycles with up to 4 carbs. When I got it, it was empty. I had some mercury someone turned in at work, so I refilled the synchronizer, kept a spare vial. Gave the rest to a friend that does prospecting.

 

[BurtEggley]

the winner is HHW at your local landfill. Usually they will have a webpage online giving their hours. Here, the drop off is free. There are a lot of things we did not know caused problems. Ask my mom, she died in her 30's of cancer from exposure to some of them.

 

[karoc]

I knew guy who would take mercury and fill up gun barrels to clean them. Plug both ends let it set, I guess it work he was gun smith