Help building a purplizer machine please!

diggingthe1 · Apr 10, 2016

I have been making these relic hummingbird feeders and having a blast using up my junk pile. Check them out on the arts and crafts page. Anyway I personally like the sun colored bottles and have spent years turning them purple. I live at almost 10000 feet and that helps. The tourists like to buy the dark purple bottles more so than the light colored ones. My brother built one with a bulb used to radiate food. I used it for a week ago in the garage but a little scared of radiation. It seemed to work but would love to find out more information. I have hundreds of common bottles I need to turn. Using the sun turns only a certain few dark purple. This has been covered before I'm sure but couldn't find any info. Thanks in advance for any help!

NJKLAGT · Apr 10, 2016

I've never done it, but you can make one with a germicidal lamp bulb fastened to the inside of the lid of some kind of sturdy box or tote that won't burn/melt lined with aluminum foil. And make sure the on/off switch is outside the box so you can turn it on without looking at it - looking at these bulbs can damage your eyes.

diggingthe1 · Apr 10, 2016

Thanks Njklagt. The one I tried was a germicidal light. There are a variety on eBay. I'm sure the brighter the better! I guess I need to leave them in longer than a week

NJKLAGT · Apr 10, 2016

As much as it depends on the amount of time you expose the bottle it depends on how much manganese there is in the glass. Two bottles of identical shape, size, and age may very well take different lengths of time to turn. You might even find that they contain very little or no manganese despite their age and they won't turn colour much or even at all. Not every bottle made before such and such a time will turn colour! So if you've left one in there for a week and nothing's happened, I'd give up on that one and try another. And make sure you don't nuke those rare beauties!

diggingthe1 · Apr 10, 2016

I agree as long as the bottle has a hint of purple it should turn dark. Thanks I might try two lights in the trash can, I would like to do 30 at a time, I'll have to experiment to get the most light to the bottles. Thanks!

2screwed · Apr 10, 2016

A couple of quick thoughts on this. I don't think you need to worry about radiation unless you expose yourself to the light. As mentioned before it can damage your eyes, it can also burn the skin and with prolonged exposure can cause skin cancer. So a safety switch that turns the light off automatically when the box is opened might be a good idea.
These bulbs also produce ozone. Ozone is a lung and eye irritant so a simple way to vent the box might also be a good idea. I don't know how much ozone your box would produce but it is better to err on the side of caution. Ozone is also a corrosive so a metal box will corrode over time. How much it corrodes depends on what the box is made of and how much ozone the box creates. If I was building one I think I'd go with wood and line it with aluminum foil.

sunrunner · Apr 11, 2016

I don't like to see a good bottle turned purple. but it's a good way to spruces up common slick's .

diggingthe1 · Apr 11, 2016

2screwed said:
A couple of quick thoughts on this. I don't think you need to worry about radiation unless you expose yourself to the light. As mentioned before it can damage your eyes, it can also burn the skin and with prolonged exposure can cause skin cancer. So a safety switch that turns the light off automatically when the box is opened might be a good idea.
These bulbs also produce ozone. Ozone is a lung and eye irritant so a simple way to vent the box might also be a good idea. I don't know how much ozone your box would produce but it is better to err on the side of caution. Ozone is also a corrosive so a metal box will corrode over time. How much it corrodes depends on what the box is made of and how much ozone the box creates. If I was building one I think I'd go with wood and line it with aluminum foil.

Thank you so much for the precautions! I have a nice wood trunk that will be perfect, and I think I will do it outdoors! I really appreciate the post! Thanks!

diggingthe1 · Apr 11, 2016

sunrunner said:
I don't like to see a good bottle turned purple. but it's a good way to spruces up common slick's .

It does spruce the slicks up, but I'm with you it looks to phony on good bottles.

Harry Pristis · Apr 11, 2016

I don't think I'd worry too much about the ozone. Every electric motor in your house produces ozone. Air purifiers deliberately generate ozone as well as filtering the air.

Sanitizing lamps produce UVB, ultraviolet light in higher frequency than UVA (black light lamps). You don't look at the sun because the direct UVB light will burn your retinas . . . the same with the sanitizing lamp.