I Made Faraday's Spirit Lamp (Copper Chloride Synthesis)

This halloween i wanted to make a special sort of decoration. I found this recipe for spirit fuel in an old book by Michael Faraday and thought id give it a try. Only problem is I didn't have the main ingredient! copper II chloride. So I made some :)
Hope you enjoy. this is my first video and I'm sure there's loads of quality issues. Ive got a lot of projects in the works and lots of ideas to share so Im looking forward to learning and making these better. Please comment what you like and what you think I can improve on :) thanks!

Check out my Instagram @fraser_builds

[lucascsrs]

Improvised vaccum filtration?
DIY magnetic stirrer?

Oh yeah, I know it will be the good stuff.
+1 subscriber

[pufthemajicdragon]

Dude, your DIY stir plate is ingenious! That deserves a video of its own!

[michaelevans]

Something about the hand made stir plate is sending me over the edge. I'm in love with this channel and with you.

[sciencething]

To make a bright blue in pyrotechnics people add a copper compound and something that emits bright green (boron and barium) together (and chloride ions are also important) becuase human eyes are the most sensitive to green so it makes the blue appear brighter so your lamp might be even brighter blue with the addition of trimethylborate or barium chloride

[rob]

grind the copper sulphate in a mortor before adding. it dissolves better if in a powder form. hot water helps too.

[Cybr-Kun]

Dude's got a soulstone torch from minecraft

[MadScientist]

You can also synthesize it in small amounts quickly using HCl as an electrolyte and 2 copper bars connected to a low voltage power supply. At some point the copper will form in the negode as fast as it dissolves at the posode but the ii chloride will reach a good concentration. Start with water and add acid drop wise to use all of the HCl, and drive the water off.

Also, methanol makes for a better fuel. It will handle a little bit of water better as well as having no incandescent carbon in the flame, so the green color will be more pure.

That said, use heat to drive off as much water as possible from the CuCl2 before you dissolve it in the methanol.

Your different colors in the solids are combinations of oxidation states and hydration, and will ultimately revert to hydrated CuCl2 (green-blue) in air.

To give a suggestion just for the end goal of a green flame, boric acid in methanol is very easy to prepare and gives a little bit more "limey" green than CuCl2 but still pretty.

[chiaraoneill]

How does it feel to be a wizard with a vlog

[JJ-ykil]

*sits in front of his green spirit lamp in an otherwise underrated house all Halloween night……still cooler than all other houses in the neighbourhood combined. Nice.

[thool]

Good luck bro, I've been working on a stable burning blue candle or torch that doesn't melt out any metal on any container you keep it in, for six years. Making copper chloride is way easier if you just pour hydrochloric(muriatic) acid over the copper sulfate.

[averyanderson]

I like your stir plate sweet design. Im going to watch all your videos and i hope you show how you made it.

[lungfish]

I did something similar once by dipping desoldering braid (woven copper wick) in acetone, then in hydrochloric acid. Once it had gotten a little green, I pulled it out and used it as a wick for alcohol. Flame was colored.

[hesitant]

Nah, found one of the best videos in the internet. 100% must do

[therunt]

11:57- Yeah, that's beautiful! Glad it's on camera.
That flame is amazing, thank you for showing us!

[MRJAYJAY]

Fraser the Great, my favorite wizard of all time

[joeyhinds]

Hey nice lab setup! You could build yourself a basic water aspirator. That will give you a decent vacuum for running filters and other setups normally requiring a pump

[LFTRnow]

I realize that isn't a heated stirrer, but CuSO4 dissolves much better in hot water. 20 g/100 mL at 20˚C, 73g/100 mL at 100˚C Just 60˚C is enough to double the solubility from 20˚C. It becomes 39g/100 mL at 60˚C. Any heat you can add (either as hot water before the stirring) or periodically, such as putting the beaker onto a heat source, will help with the initial dissolving process considerably. Also, I haven't tried it but try just dissolving some copper sulfate directly into the alcohol. While the CuCl2 making was fun, it probably isn't needed.

[MRJAYJAY]

“Calcium chloride is really easy to dissolve, so I’ll just add a little bit of water”
*Proceeds to pour ‘water’ out sketchy labeled bottle*

[christopherjones]

My man, you need a separatory funnel.

Also Buchner funnels are relatively cheap.

[ellifahmerril]

First, of course, excellent video. Very well explained and still captivating. Second, where you from, dude? Your accent has the most interesting inflections.