I know this sounds like the ramblings of an insane man, but hear me out...
I have a large quantity of old conn/Union style 20A 2p&g male/female cord ends. I had originally planned to throw them out, most are either damaged, or covered with 40+ year old gaff residue. I came across the box today and was reminded that even incredibly old gaff residue softens and releases really well when thrown in boiling water for a few minutes.
I ended up throwing about 20 of them in an old electric pot outside, and left them to boil for about 30 minutes. That aspect ended up working great, they came clean with almost no effort, and I was able to save the majority with no damage.
I went to put another batch in the pot when it finally crossed my mind "these conn style connectors are bakelite aren't they?". Now I already knew bakelite contained an incredible amount of formaldehyde, but the thoughts hadn't strung themselves together until that moment.
So thats what leads my to my concern and question. Did I release and as a result inhale a ton of formaldehyde from creating this stagepin stew? It certainly was not a high enough concentration for me to smell the formaldehyde if any was released at all.
The pot in question was regulated thermostatically to 250°F, and the water was at, well the temperature of boiling water of course. In theory that is at least 100° below the point where bakelite begins to offgas.
Curious to hear what everyone has to say about this. Unless proven absolutely safe. This is probably a little experiment I won't dare to repeat.
I have a large quantity of old conn/Union style 20A 2p&g male/female cord ends. I had originally planned to throw them out, most are either damaged, or covered with 40+ year old gaff residue. I came across the box today and was reminded that even incredibly old gaff residue softens and releases really well when thrown in boiling water for a few minutes.
I ended up throwing about 20 of them in an old electric pot outside, and left them to boil for about 30 minutes. That aspect ended up working great, they came clean with almost no effort, and I was able to save the majority with no damage.
I went to put another batch in the pot when it finally crossed my mind "these conn style connectors are bakelite aren't they?". Now I already knew bakelite contained an incredible amount of formaldehyde, but the thoughts hadn't strung themselves together until that moment.
So thats what leads my to my concern and question. Did I release and as a result inhale a ton of formaldehyde from creating this stagepin stew? It certainly was not a high enough concentration for me to smell the formaldehyde if any was released at all.
The pot in question was regulated thermostatically to 250°F, and the water was at, well the temperature of boiling water of course. In theory that is at least 100° below the point where bakelite begins to offgas.
Curious to hear what everyone has to say about this. Unless proven absolutely safe. This is probably a little experiment I won't dare to repeat.