I wonder what we have here….

Update Nov 3, 2009: almost ready for some fun things…

1L and 500mL round bottom flasks, plus all the other bits for distillation. Enough to do reflux and workup. I have also gotten a separatory funnel (not shown) and other bits of glassware.

Upcoming soon will be a procedure for hydrolysis of vegetable based oils to obtain oleic acid, which amongst other uses will be for a ferrofluid procedure.

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Oh what a lovely Tuesday morning, but what rouses me from my sleep so early?

My distillation glassware has finally arrived!

Just as a teaser, but perhaps down the road things like essential oil steam extraction and simple distillations will be posted.

Review of the GT Power A8 Battery Charger

In the realm of intelligent battery chargers, there are far too many choices. Prices range from about $50USD to some in the $300 range and come with a whole variety of features. The problem is that the new emerging market is for cheap products that don’t perform, or don’t have the durability and quality expected for a complex device.

Most new intelligent battery chargers can charge, discharge, and cycle Pb, NiCd, NiMH, Li-ion, LiPo, and more recently LiFePO4. These chargers feature control over charging/discharging current. Contrast this to your ‘dumb’ chargers that are essentially trickle charge wall warts that push in around 0.5C that can overcharge NiCd/NiMH, or slow LiPo balance trickle chargers that come with RC helis sometimes.

The GT Power A8 charger sells for about $80USD + S&H, I got mine from HobbyCity.com.