Funnel Assembly

Your laboratory drawers come supplied with two different separatory funnels. The first is found in the orange ground glass kit and the second is in a box in the upper lab drawer. Both are assembled in exactly the same manner. Be very careful as you look around for the various pieces. Usually the ground glass stopper is wrapped in tissue paper and is loose in the box . It is therefore easy to accidentally drop and break the stopper. Save yourself time and $$$ by locating the stopper and other loose parts before starting the assembly procedure.

Assemble the nylon valve assembly

The separatory funnel is always stored taken apart to insure all parts are clean and not going to get stuck in the funnel body. Therefore you will need to assemble the funnel before you use it. The diagram at right illustrates the assembly of most separatory funnels. As you assemble the funnel, be sure to put the nylon ring on before the black oring. The orange nut is the last to go on and should be snugly tightened but NOT overtightened. During the assembly process, note that the valve is "on" when the hole and handle are in line with funnel body.

Support the Separatory funnel with an iron ring, ring stand and clay triangle if necessary.

The smaller separatory funnel in the orange ground glass kit is too small to be supported by an iron ring alone. Use a clay triangle on top of the iron ring instead.

Note that in the picture at left the valve on the funnel is turned off. Avoid nasty surprises by making sure your funnel is in the off position at the beginning of your experiment.

Never place the funnel directly on the countertop as it may roll off and break.