I have been ozbargaining for about 2 years now.
Thought have you guys ask me something that actually makes me think about my career choice …again.
When people ask, I almost inevitably fumble and say Industrial chemist, Rubber Chemist; I guess, I might as well tell them Rubber
Technologist as those lucid names hardly makes any difference. My wife likes to think I am a scientist, as I have a PhD with research experience. But, I am more into production and related things nowadays.
Anyway, guys no question about American Rubber, such cliche; as far as production goes, its one of the oldest tech.
[AMA] I Am a Rubber Technologist, Ask Me Anything
Bimbilibilikili on 06/10/2021 - 00:47
closed Comments
Do you make condoms?
Rubber Technologist
Why? What else could you have chosen?
My wife likes to think I am a scientist
What are you really?
Does she make jokes about your work?
Could have gone to polymer research.
Does she make jokes about your work?
….
Not at-all.
On the contrary, she thinks I dilute when I say anything but scientist.
boioioioing?
When I think of RT. Have you ever thought to working for Pireli for the F1 tyres. Seems so technical as the tyres are put to such extreme use.
That would be dream job.
Currently no tyre manufacturer in Australia.
Has the rubber industry been hit hard by covid? Do you think it will bounce back?
What is it that you actually do? Has it been a Goodyear for the industry? I know that question might be a bit tire-some.
Formulate rubber compound and pd.
Actually a Goodyear, not tiresome at-all.
tyresome*
Only came here for this inevitable comment ;)…
Have you ever had a Cheque from the Rubber Company bounce?
Do insults really bounce off you and stick to other people?
Only if they are glue
Do you often invite questions from people then awkwardly stare at them for hours until they leave?
Rubber is a 2010 English-language French independent horror film about a tire that comes to life and kills people with psychokinetic powers.
Did you know Alfred Hitchcock?
Haha…. heard about that movie.
Hitchcock …..one of my favourites.
I have some old tech items with « soft touch » coatings that are getting sticky.
What causes this, how can it be avoided, and is there a fix?I think some kind of oxidation.
You can try cleaning with a mild solvent, and take off the affected first layer.
But, eventually it will come back.
It's called aging.I've been told it's caused by the plasticiser leaching out of the material. You can get the surface cleaned by soaking in trisodium phoshate (sold at Bunnings under the brand name Tricleanium) dissolved in water and heated to about 50C ~ 60C. Rinse off with hot water and then dry with a hair dryer. Do not use cloth or paper towels to dry as you will end up with fluff stuck to the surface.
There's nothing that can be done to prevent the problem returning, when it's a coating on normal plastic. You may be able to remove the coating with a lot of scrubbing and some 95% ~ 98% isopropyl alcohol. Probably not worth the effort.
If the problem is with a piece of material that is heat resistant, you can heat/bake the affected piece to drive off/set the plasticiser. Be aware that this stuff is toxic, so don't use your oven. Probably not worth the effort. I'm not sure what temperature you need to use.
I'm a bit embarrassed to say it but I immediately thought of the nerd in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion.
Since I moved to Western world, that's what people think of me. Specifically since moving to industry.
But, before that no one called me that, as I was working with another 500 PhDs.Did you end up getting the girl? And your own helicopter?
Got my girl.
Not the helicopter.
Where do you work?
A privately owned manufacturing business
1) What do you actually work on? Tyres? Bushings? Etc?
2) What are your day-to-day duties?
3) What did you do your PhD on?
4) Where did you study/do your PhD?
5) Any useful information regarding rubber that us regular people might find helpful?
- Industrial Products: sealing, buffer, diaphragm.
Currently no tyre. - Deciding material spec, prepare quote, pd.
- Polymer processing.
- 🇩🇪
- Any rubber degrades faster when exposed to sun and environment.If you want cut a piece of rubber, use clean or soapy water and then run the blade.
- Industrial Products: sealing, buffer, diaphragm.
Rubber Technologist
The soft stretchy roll on type?
No hard, wear resistant type.
Fair enough. Thanks for your response. I will withdraw my original comment.
My question is how does your career progress? Will you remain a chemist? Or take on a management role in the future?
I don't know what was your earlier question.
You can pm.Now,
Obviously, management is the next. BTW, I do have that tag already.
I am not really into total administrative or floor management, but the rubber scene in Australia is pretty small.
So, if I really want to follow my dream of leading a bunch of technical groups working on multiple projects, will have to move out.
Not happening anytime soon.
Well this may be out of your specialty but sort of related and totally random to see the post anyway. I have trouble with PVC fabric inflatable boats disintegrating in the UV. My understanding is plasticizers migrating and making the surface sticky and breaking glue bonds. Is there any way to deal with that? Most solutions are throw it in the bin or overly expensive adhesives.
Bit out of depth, but you can try acrylic based glue.
Don't think isocyanate type will work.
Once the antioxidants are gone or used up, basically accelerated aging is hard to control, except you can minimise/slower the rate by keeping it in a dark place.
Is it true that Bungee Gum has the properties of both rubber and gum?
Not into Anime
I have a certificate 4 rubber technology and am very experienced in the process of vulcanization
Not much work in that field so I work at Coles
so you are vulcan - live long and prosper
What material choices are there for o-rings/seals that will be exposed to beer? i.e. Food safe, resistant to water/alcohol mix, suitable for use under pressure and at ph as low as 3.4.
What are their pros and cons?
What food safe cleaning chemicals and lubricants should be used on these without causing degradation to the material?
Silicone is that pick for brewing and kegging gear.
Pretty indestructible also for normal cleaning chemicals used in brewing.There are many kinds of "silicone" and some are more suitable than others. I was hoping to get a more specific answer from this AMA. Kegland keep on changing the materials they use in their products and every time they say that the new stuff is better than the old stuff. ;-) It would be good to know a bit more about this topic.
I don't think you need to really worry about Silicone grades, as long as they are food grade/safe.
If you have trouble sourcing a certain profile, go generic.
Just get a piece of profile and send it to likes of Silicone Rubber Extrusions or Jehbco Silicones, and explain your application and parameters.
Initially might cost you for tooling, but long term you are in control.
Good luck.
As the guys suggested, silicone is a good choice.
pH 3.4 seems fairly acidic, I think food grade EPDM wouldn't be too bad either; unless; you have high-temperature application.
For a particular temperature, pH, and pressure level I would suggest you try first and then use.
Pros. Silicone is highly temperature resistant, pretty inert as far as most of the common chemical goes.
EPDM is one of the most common synthetic rubber, with very good acid resistance, cheaper. Physical properties; generally can be compounded to be lot better than silicone.Cons. Silicone, comparatively costly, and tear resistance or overall physical properties are poor.
EPDM- not good for high or very cold temperatures.Cleaning chemicals: Check food-safe, but detergents or surfactant-based cleaning agents should be fine. Don't use solvent-based cleaning agents.
What do you do?