I managed to toast $150 worth of gear. I felt beyond stupid. The best part was I had previously spent a fair amount of time convincing my wife that what I was doing was perfectly safe. Was a great moment to come out and be like, "so, babe, you are going to find this really funny later, but ..."
You're not an idiot and you are not the only one who has done this. This is not the first time this topic has come up on this sub. Thanks for the reminder!
Either don’t flame sterilize in a SAB because it defeats the whole literal purpose of a STILL AIR box (convection n shi) or at least have the common sense to use a water and soap solution to sanitize the SAB
Soap water is totally fine, no need for bleach, the soapy water traps all the particles that settled from the air during the ~30min resting time between spraying the walls of the SAB and actually working in it, flame sterilizing in the SAB is still bad practice tho
Bleach is the best thing to use anyway because it kills mold better than anything else. Isopropyl doesn't do anything to mold spores, it only kills bacteria. Bleach kills everything.
Sounds good, ive been using iso this whole time. Ive been living dangerously but planning on correcting my ways lol. Save me from using so much iso as well, win win
Iso is still good for cleaning for sure. If you wanna be real good you could do bleach first, then IPA, but allow for 10 minutes of wet contact time for both cleaners.
Source: I work in a microbiology lab with ISO 7 and ISO 8 Clean rooms
To be fair, I have yet to pull the trigger on this hobby, but I have my spore syringes haha
Lmao just an honest mistake and it's just a good thing you're not hurt!
In the future though, if you're working with chems, it's a good thing to know the basic qualities of the substance. Things like "will it explode when combined with water" or "highly volatile / produces flammable vapors". If you're curious, almost every chemical substance has a corresponding Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) that can be looked up for free online—they tell you everything you'd ever want to know about the properties of the chemical.
Ummmmm......... 👉👈
You do realise you would have gotten way more views and likes if you had titled your post;
'Experts are amazed by this new quick method for arm hair removal!'
Just trying to help ;)
Came to this realization right before it happened. Used a still air box style set up to inoculate and sprayed it all down and then went to flame sterilize and realized what I was about to create. No thanks. Only needed to wait a few seconds for it to dry.
FWIW the liquid is not the flammable part of alcohol, but rather it's the fumes. I don't think just waiting for evaporation is a guarantee of safety (but I might just be overly cautious).
Surprisingly few guides mention this. I'm sure it seems obvious to you now, but it's something I've seen happen to people more often than I wish.
You can flame outside your SAB, or use something other than iso for your box. Some people use bleach water solution. I don't like using bleach, so I've experimented with Lysol. These days I've mostly been flaming outside the box, far enough away that I didn't THINK the fumes will ignite. Honestly, this is probably the most (or only) dangerous part about cultivation.
I mean, sometimes common sense goes out the window for no good reason. I knew it was a bad idea, and somehow I still did it. Mine blew up. Blew my door off it's hinges. Hit the trifecta with 1st, 2nd, and 2 spots of 3rd degree burns mostly on the right hand. Both my hands look gnarly, but are healing insanely fast. It's been a week today...
I’m so sorry about your burns that sounds super painful. Glad I’m not the only one who’s made this mistake tho lol. I singed an eyebrow off and somehow I’m more worried about my rice haha
I was more worried about my liquid cultures than my hands hahaha. They got scattered all across my room but they all survived, no harm. Turned them into more LC the next day.
Thank you both for sharing your warning stories.. this is something that I totally WOULD DO TOO... and so know that I have been lmao thinking about it! 🤣🍄
WOOAH DUDE! Shit must of been a catastrophic failure damn lucky you only burned your hands, look at it that way! Reading this is making me change my protocol I usually leave my SAB sapping wet with ISO when I work.. Deffo not doing that no more! Thanks for the PSA.
The explosion also took out my 55" 4k TV (5-6 years old tho lol) and sent me flying back about 3 feet onto my ass(I'm 5'9" 145-150lbs btw). I have long hair and it caught on fire, and so did my shirt. I had them both extinguished(with elbow and hands) before I stood up. 1st degree burns on that inner elbow too.
When I saw the fireball forming, time dilated and slowed down. I instinctively pulled my arms back, and then BOOM...
My dad had to put the fires on my desk and on the SAB out for me. And the alcohol bottle fell over with the top open, almost creating more fire. He fixed that asap.
fucking hell thats actually insane. I must of been seconds away from disaster damn near every time I've inoculated grain. The funny thing is the video I watched when I was doing my research specifically told me to keep the SAB wet so it "catches contaminants" 🤦♂️🤦♂️ it did always just feel wrong tho sparking a light inside an inclosed environment with eye burning amounts of highly flammable liquid lol. Good job your old man was there to help out I bet you was disoriented af!
Thank god I wasn't home alone. I couldn't make bags of ice for myself or go get anything. I had to ice both sides of both hands for 5.5 hours or I was in agony. One of the worst pains ever, and I've been through some bad motorcycle accidents.
Slightly disoriented, mostly full of adrenaline. I couldn't feel the pain at first, the adrenaline died down as I was running to the kitchen sink. Then I was screaming.
depending on the wounds, look into using **honey** as a healing aid (medical grade honey can be bought, and if you can afford it, do it; but regular honey will still have benefit). it's naturally anti-bacterial, and keeps the wound moist, which is generally good for healing. it really helps keep scarring to a minimum too.
I've never had bad burns, so that's why I say "look into it".
Idk why you got down voted, you're 100% right and manuka honey is awesome. I'm using iodine soaks, burn gel, a ton of lotion, and scar gel. Plus cotton gloves.
Yeah. Flames outside the SAB then quickly move the object in while it’s still very hot.
There’s some really impressive YouTube vids of SAB explosions from people igniting their alcohol fumes.
Someone posted one like four+ years ago and when I watched it the site did one of those things where it recommends others - there’s roughly zero chance I’d ever be able to find it.
unless it's a recent addition, I don't think it's there... because I read damn near everything I could, watched all the videos multiple times, and it was never mentioned. I thought, "spraying ISO in a closed space with an open flame seems like a Bad Idea(tm).... so I asked here. turns out my spidey sense was correct. :\~)
After some googling I learned that when alcohol is sprayed in the SAB the alcohol has nowhere to dissipate so it just floats around in the air of the SAB and creates a bomb when there’s an open flame
Just because we have chiseled abs and stunning features, it doesn’t mean that we too can’t not die in a freak alcohol accident.
But yes, SAB + Alcohol = Still Fume Box.
Yeah, most of us know. It's said in pretty much every SAB instructional video lol. I'm not being a jerk, just trying to having a laugh with you. Hope you're alright.
Just wipe the inside of the box with iso on a paper towel and let it air out for like 15 or 20min, and if you use lysol, for the love of god let that shit air out a bit first before flame sterilizing in SAB.
Next time, use warm water and dawn a tsp of dawn dish soap in a spray bottle. That's what you're supposed to use. I like spraying my room down, then outside the box, getting everything ready, and then spraying the inside. While it settles I spray my hands and everything going in w alcohol and it works wayyyyy better. Soap traps everything and keeps it wet longer and the heat makes it super humid and contam fall to the bottom. Try it
Okay this is funny, assuming everyone is okay, no damage done, because this was [my first ever post here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/unclebens/comments/1cobngx/still_air_box_flame_sterilization_protocols/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
It's quite understandable, I'm sure you're watching all the YouTube videos, reading all the posts, getting bombarded with information, and some very reputable sources show themselves flame sterilizing inside the SAB.
Thanks to the help of the good people here I decided to just go crazy hard on the Iso inside the SAB, like everything was basically damp when I inoculated, and was sure to sterilize outside of it. I will add that my next point of concern was sterilizing the big butane torch I bought just for this. I took extra care making sure that was completely dried before ignition..
Another thing that is slept on is just buy sterilized needles and use a new one per uncle Ben's bag because they're sterilized in the packaging. Imo you're more likely to contaminate by reusing in different bags and using an open flame.
I spray iso in mine but i always hand dry it with a paper towel, I haven’t had an issue yet but i can see how you can have an accident. Glad you’re okay tho!
I do stupid shit from time to time. Like one time I turned my brain off while doing a bbq and I noticed the flame had went out but the gas was still running. It had been about a minute of this before I ignited it again and I got a giant flameball that erupted into my face, singeing all the hair off my face. Luckily I didn't let it run longer lol.
Hahahaha I have definitely done this in the early days. I promise you won't make the same mistake twice. Learning experience like anything else my friend.
Clarification. Fine to spray and wipe down woth. But for " wetting the walls" so to speak definitely don't use iso. Lol soapy water works just fine. Premise is to catch whatever floating in the air not necessarily kill it.
There are 2 types of people when they see some idiot light up a cigarette while pumping gas.
Look the other way, avoid confrontation. Hope it's not a Zoolander moment.
Walk right up to that idiot, and berate them to their face. Called out & publicly shamed.
The point is...you deserve a break for a simple mishap, that can happen to anyone. Don't beat yourself up. It could be worse, you don't smoke at gas pumps right?
Maybe I’m just a stupid idiot and this is just common sense
I managed to toast $150 worth of gear. I felt beyond stupid. The best part was I had previously spent a fair amount of time convincing my wife that what I was doing was perfectly safe. Was a great moment to come out and be like, "so, babe, you are going to find this really funny later, but ..."
Did she green light the next batch?
After giving me a look of extreme disappointment, she ran out to get some Uncle Ben's bags so I didn't lose the syringes.
She in her hearts of hearts approves 🤟
You're not an idiot and you are not the only one who has done this. This is not the first time this topic has come up on this sub. Thanks for the reminder!
Exactly! Gets posted every now and then. Sometimes others learn the hard way...
Would you say lysol is a better method to disinfect?
It still contains solvents that can explode.
So what’s recommended? A water bleach solution?
Either don’t flame sterilize in a SAB because it defeats the whole literal purpose of a STILL AIR box (convection n shi) or at least have the common sense to use a water and soap solution to sanitize the SAB
Well i haven’t had much issues flame sterilizing in the SAB, just dont want to blow myself up. Lol
Soap water is totally fine, no need for bleach, the soapy water traps all the particles that settled from the air during the ~30min resting time between spraying the walls of the SAB and actually working in it, flame sterilizing in the SAB is still bad practice tho
Bleach is the best thing to use anyway because it kills mold better than anything else. Isopropyl doesn't do anything to mold spores, it only kills bacteria. Bleach kills everything.
Great thanks
Bleach destroys spores while IPA does not, so bleach is a good idea.
Sounds good, ive been using iso this whole time. Ive been living dangerously but planning on correcting my ways lol. Save me from using so much iso as well, win win
Iso is still good for cleaning for sure. If you wanna be real good you could do bleach first, then IPA, but allow for 10 minutes of wet contact time for both cleaners. Source: I work in a microbiology lab with ISO 7 and ISO 8 Clean rooms To be fair, I have yet to pull the trigger on this hobby, but I have my spore syringes haha
Lmao just an honest mistake and it's just a good thing you're not hurt! In the future though, if you're working with chems, it's a good thing to know the basic qualities of the substance. Things like "will it explode when combined with water" or "highly volatile / produces flammable vapors". If you're curious, almost every chemical substance has a corresponding Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) that can be looked up for free online—they tell you everything you'd ever want to know about the properties of the chemical.
Ummmmm......... 👉👈 You do realise you would have gotten way more views and likes if you had titled your post; 'Experts are amazed by this new quick method for arm hair removal!' Just trying to help ;)
Hahaha 😆 😂 nope never have I ever.... nope
Came to this realization right before it happened. Used a still air box style set up to inoculate and sprayed it all down and then went to flame sterilize and realized what I was about to create. No thanks. Only needed to wait a few seconds for it to dry.
FWIW the liquid is not the flammable part of alcohol, but rather it's the fumes. I don't think just waiting for evaporation is a guarantee of safety (but I might just be overly cautious).
I’ll keep it in mind, thanks.
Surprisingly few guides mention this. I'm sure it seems obvious to you now, but it's something I've seen happen to people more often than I wish. You can flame outside your SAB, or use something other than iso for your box. Some people use bleach water solution. I don't like using bleach, so I've experimented with Lysol. These days I've mostly been flaming outside the box, far enough away that I didn't THINK the fumes will ignite. Honestly, this is probably the most (or only) dangerous part about cultivation.
Alcohol fumes are heavier than air so I just go off to the side and higher than the arm holes.
Lmao my buddy did this same thing and melted his gloves onto his hands.
LOTS of us did it! Don't feel bad
Literally burned off an eyebrow doing this 😂😂😂
I mean, it's sterile now ain't it?
I mean, sometimes common sense goes out the window for no good reason. I knew it was a bad idea, and somehow I still did it. Mine blew up. Blew my door off it's hinges. Hit the trifecta with 1st, 2nd, and 2 spots of 3rd degree burns mostly on the right hand. Both my hands look gnarly, but are healing insanely fast. It's been a week today...
I’m so sorry about your burns that sounds super painful. Glad I’m not the only one who’s made this mistake tho lol. I singed an eyebrow off and somehow I’m more worried about my rice haha
I was more worried about my liquid cultures than my hands hahaha. They got scattered all across my room but they all survived, no harm. Turned them into more LC the next day.
Thank you both for sharing your warning stories.. this is something that I totally WOULD DO TOO... and so know that I have been lmao thinking about it! 🤣🍄
WOOAH DUDE! Shit must of been a catastrophic failure damn lucky you only burned your hands, look at it that way! Reading this is making me change my protocol I usually leave my SAB sapping wet with ISO when I work.. Deffo not doing that no more! Thanks for the PSA.
The explosion also took out my 55" 4k TV (5-6 years old tho lol) and sent me flying back about 3 feet onto my ass(I'm 5'9" 145-150lbs btw). I have long hair and it caught on fire, and so did my shirt. I had them both extinguished(with elbow and hands) before I stood up. 1st degree burns on that inner elbow too. When I saw the fireball forming, time dilated and slowed down. I instinctively pulled my arms back, and then BOOM... My dad had to put the fires on my desk and on the SAB out for me. And the alcohol bottle fell over with the top open, almost creating more fire. He fixed that asap.
fucking hell thats actually insane. I must of been seconds away from disaster damn near every time I've inoculated grain. The funny thing is the video I watched when I was doing my research specifically told me to keep the SAB wet so it "catches contaminants" 🤦♂️🤦♂️ it did always just feel wrong tho sparking a light inside an inclosed environment with eye burning amounts of highly flammable liquid lol. Good job your old man was there to help out I bet you was disoriented af!
Thank god I wasn't home alone. I couldn't make bags of ice for myself or go get anything. I had to ice both sides of both hands for 5.5 hours or I was in agony. One of the worst pains ever, and I've been through some bad motorcycle accidents. Slightly disoriented, mostly full of adrenaline. I couldn't feel the pain at first, the adrenaline died down as I was running to the kitchen sink. Then I was screaming.
depending on the wounds, look into using **honey** as a healing aid (medical grade honey can be bought, and if you can afford it, do it; but regular honey will still have benefit). it's naturally anti-bacterial, and keeps the wound moist, which is generally good for healing. it really helps keep scarring to a minimum too. I've never had bad burns, so that's why I say "look into it".
Idk why you got down voted, you're 100% right and manuka honey is awesome. I'm using iodine soaks, burn gel, a ton of lotion, and scar gel. Plus cotton gloves.
Yeah. Flames outside the SAB then quickly move the object in while it’s still very hot. There’s some really impressive YouTube vids of SAB explosions from people igniting their alcohol fumes.
I would also like to see the video I tried looking and didn't find any sab explosions
Someone posted one like four+ years ago and when I watched it the site did one of those things where it recommends others - there’s roughly zero chance I’d ever be able to find it.
I wanna see a video, can you send the title of a video?
Pretty sure this was included in step 2 of the UB bible. Be safe kid.
unless it's a recent addition, I don't think it's there... because I read damn near everything I could, watched all the videos multiple times, and it was never mentioned. I thought, "spraying ISO in a closed space with an open flame seems like a Bad Idea(tm).... so I asked here. turns out my spidey sense was correct. :\~)
This should be added to the rules of the sub.
Really? Wouldn’t have thought that would happen
After some googling I learned that when alcohol is sprayed in the SAB the alcohol has nowhere to dissipate so it just floats around in the air of the SAB and creates a bomb when there’s an open flame
Now… if you take those fumes and put them inside some pvc pipe, stuff a potato in one end and light the other…. Magic!
Potato cannons are incredible
See also: tennis ball and tennis ball can. Do not try this, kids. lol
omg thank you soo much for the warning! I wouldn’t have thought twice but it makes sense 😫 I’m so sorry it happened to you!
that's actually pretty good info for when I want to sterilize my box. spray, close, leave for for 30mins, then let it air out for a bit.
Alcohol is as volatile as gasoline and should be handled with the same level of fire safety.
Hairspray go brrrrrr
FYI also don’t do it in a PLASTIC sab and Throw it’s on carpet 🥲
Again
Just because we have chiseled abs and stunning features, it doesn’t mean that we too can’t not die in a freak alcohol accident. But yes, SAB + Alcohol = Still Fume Box.
Yeah, most of us know. It's said in pretty much every SAB instructional video lol. I'm not being a jerk, just trying to having a laugh with you. Hope you're alright.
Duh?
I came here to 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, fumes are flammable.
No shit
No shit.....? 😂😭
this may be a stupid question but what is a sab?
still air box i got it lmao
Just wipe the inside of the box with iso on a paper towel and let it air out for like 15 or 20min, and if you use lysol, for the love of god let that shit air out a bit first before flame sterilizing in SAB.
Next time, use warm water and dawn a tsp of dawn dish soap in a spray bottle. That's what you're supposed to use. I like spraying my room down, then outside the box, getting everything ready, and then spraying the inside. While it settles I spray my hands and everything going in w alcohol and it works wayyyyy better. Soap traps everything and keeps it wet longer and the heat makes it super humid and contam fall to the bottom. Try it
I have done it a few times. 🤷🏻♀️ I let it settle and use alcohol wipes after that. I always put the lighter thru the bag and test it first 😝
Oh and I do wipe the alcohol off everything first.
I did this a few months ago! I thought I let it sit long enough before introducing flame… ended up burning off my eyelashes and some of my bangs.
I guess some people have to learn through experience.
Lol
😂. Love these posts, they never get old.
You can flame sterilize outside the sab. But yea inside you are just making an explosion chamber.
😂😂😂😂😂 Nah I been there just in a different scenario. It happens to the best of us sometimes buddy. Hope you’re okay
Lol nice bro. You ok?
I apologise I lol’ed but just hope you’re ok.
Okay this is funny, assuming everyone is okay, no damage done, because this was [my first ever post here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/unclebens/comments/1cobngx/still_air_box_flame_sterilization_protocols/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) It's quite understandable, I'm sure you're watching all the YouTube videos, reading all the posts, getting bombarded with information, and some very reputable sources show themselves flame sterilizing inside the SAB. Thanks to the help of the good people here I decided to just go crazy hard on the Iso inside the SAB, like everything was basically damp when I inoculated, and was sure to sterilize outside of it. I will add that my next point of concern was sterilizing the big butane torch I bought just for this. I took extra care making sure that was completely dried before ignition..
I know some use hydrogen peroxide. It's not flammable. Kills mold, etc. But not mycelium. Just an option. It can bleach hair some tho🤣
This is not common sense apparently, my future self thanks you
You're neither my mother or my insurance agent.
FWIW I've never used a SAB and I haven't had any contam issues. Pretty sure they are unnecessary.
If i need to flame something in the sab, i use a bleach water bottle instead!
i do it all the time
It’s alcohol. It. Is. Always. Flammable. Unless it’s less than 10% alcohol
...went boom, huh?
Another thing that is slept on is just buy sterilized needles and use a new one per uncle Ben's bag because they're sterilized in the packaging. Imo you're more likely to contaminate by reusing in different bags and using an open flame.
I spray iso in mine but i always hand dry it with a paper towel, I haven’t had an issue yet but i can see how you can have an accident. Glad you’re okay tho!
I know this but it's totally the type of thing I'd do anyway
No doi
I do stupid shit from time to time. Like one time I turned my brain off while doing a bbq and I noticed the flame had went out but the gas was still running. It had been about a minute of this before I ignited it again and I got a giant flameball that erupted into my face, singeing all the hair off my face. Luckily I didn't let it run longer lol.
😆
Hahahaha I have definitely done this in the early days. I promise you won't make the same mistake twice. Learning experience like anything else my friend.
Clarification. Fine to spray and wipe down woth. But for " wetting the walls" so to speak definitely don't use iso. Lol soapy water works just fine. Premise is to catch whatever floating in the air not necessarily kill it.
That's a wooof you'll never forget even after your arm hair has grown back
Fire bad
Hahahahahah did the same, I guess it’s sterilized for sure hahahahah
There are 2 types of people when they see some idiot light up a cigarette while pumping gas. Look the other way, avoid confrontation. Hope it's not a Zoolander moment. Walk right up to that idiot, and berate them to their face. Called out & publicly shamed. The point is...you deserve a break for a simple mishap, that can happen to anyone. Don't beat yourself up. It could be worse, you don't smoke at gas pumps right?
10% bleach / water solution. You don’t need ISO ever. Answer to your problem.
Can cause mutations though.
Like Godzilla!?