Why do eyewash bottles squirt their contents?

[dewbane]

I've put real effort into trying to google an answer to this question, and I came up empty.

At some point, somebody gave me the idea of putting things like cutting oil and coolant into eyewash bottles. This works really well, initially. My shop is way too small to justify the cost and hassle of flood coolant, but squirting a little coolant out of an eyewash bottle has proven really effective. It's also great on the lathe, and for general tapping, drilling, and on and on. I think eyewash bottles are really useful, and I love them!

Then I opened my shop after a long, cold winter, and the base cabinet under my g0602 lathe was full of cutting oil and coolant, and all my eyewash bottles were empty. Huh?

Over the course of the last couple of months, my coolant bottle, and my heavy high sulphur cutting oil bottle are both dribbling their contents. There is always a little circle of their contents under the bottles, no matter how many times I wipe them. The bottle full of way oil seems to be unaffected do far. The Trim Sol bottle seems to be hit the worst. The contents are usually frothy, and I've lost at least half a bottle of the stuff purely to this kind of atmospheric or barometric attrition.

I'd love to figure out a way to stop this, and I have no idea why it's even happening. Changes in barometric pressure and temperature over time? Shop gremlins? My cat is slipping out there in the middle of the night to squeeze the bottles? My wife's boyfriend is squirting my fluids everywhere to show me he is a better man than I am (even though the worthless little twit isn't even old enough to grow a beard, and he's unemployed)?

I don't know, folks. I'd love to continue using these bottles. They're really great in use. It's just that they keep wasting my expensive fluids for no obvious reason.

 

[Aukai]

Chemical decomposition of the plastic, probably similar to when they added Ethanol to gasoline. Anything with a plastic, or fiberglass tank had significant issues.

 

[DANNYBOY]

I don't know why they dribble, but I've found if I loosen the cap they won't do it.

 

[machPete99]

thermal expansion and contraction will tend to self pump out the fluid in the bottles. The better ones may have some valving to prevent it, but loosening the cover should work too.

 

[Tozguy]

If the bottle has a tube inside that extends to the bottom then repeated thermal contract /expansion will pump the fluid out over time.

If not then maybe its the type of plastic. The plastic of a container is formulated for the contents it is designed to hold. Unfortunately eyewash is a very gentle solution so its container would not require a resistance to solvents or VOCs.
Even the caps won't last. Sometimes they do if you get lucky but it is a roll of the dice.

I put some chlorinated water in a plastic spray bottle once and it ended up making a bad stain on the cement floor. That was a surprise because chlorinated water is sold in plastic containers. Now I look for small containers that have held harsh liquids like brake fluid or gas/oil additives.

Even those red plastic gas cans have a limited life span due to some kind of deterioration.

 

[stupoty]

I use cheep nail varnish remover as a cheep source of acetone for weld prep and general acetone cleaning , I have been using the empty bottles for storing cuttin oil for a while now and they haven't melted or leaked , has a squirty hole top too !

Glass jars can be good for storage also from a non reaction to contents way.

Stu

 

[RJSakowski]

It's the thermal expansion and contraction. When I worked in a chem lab, we saw it all the time. The same thing happens with some pump disprnsers for hand detergent. If you loosen the cap slightly, it will stop. Just remember to tighten the cap before use. Don't worry about forgetting because it won't dispense with a loose cap.

 

[FOMOGO]

I fear you may have an infestation of shop gremlins, and the bottles, much like octopi, are squirting small amounts of fluid as a means of self protection. They can be mean little bas*!#ds, so proceed with caution. Cheers, Mike

 

[MrWhoopee]

We had this problem with bottles of acetone etc. when I worked in a lab. Drill a VERY small hole (or use a hot wire) through the cap. It will allow air pressure equalization but is small enough that the bottle will still work when you squeeze it. In the future, shop for "wash bottle", you will find them intended for solvents instead of aqueous solutions.

 

[Boswell]

Not a big deal but I think the cause is less temperature cycling than air pressure changes. This configuration of a closed bottle with a tube to the bottom of the bottle, is essentially a barometer. If the vertical squirt tube is clear, you can see the changes in air pressure. The solution is the same , loosen the cap or like MrWhoopee says, add a small weep hole to allow the air pressure in the bottle to equalize with ambient air pressure.