Wapsi Square Forum

What's the correct spelling of "Kablammo"?

Prediction--an explosive-propelled mine cart ride out onto Mesa Verde...

"Ladies, has your old brand of household dynamite just not been cutting it? Does it take two, or even three sticks to get that stain out, when it use to only take one? And what about those pesky plugged drains taking half a box, only to plug up again in just a few days? And don't even start on how much it takes to clean the windows!"

"Now, with Hercules Brand Extra Dynamite, you can cut the time and effort for these household chores, and more! A thousand and one uses! Laundry, delousing the dog, trimming the cats nails, polishing the floor, making dinner, and so much more!"

Well, there goes their way back into the library

Unless they are smart enough to run back the way they came?

KnightDelight wrote:So ... looks like Sirens have a rather high pain threshold and this mine will soon be sealed off.

A while ago I made a very bad attempt at a pun*, but now I'm starting to wonder?

Does Atsali have some sort of immunity/resistance to fire?



* If a pun fails in the forums, and no-one sees it, does the Pun Jar still need to be fed?

Jay-Em wrote:Oooohkay..

two possible outcomes:

1. When the fuses are near-by, or already in some of the dynamite: "Kablooi",big badaboom.
2. When not, it's just suffocating and/or burning to a crisp.

Where's a "poiter" when you need one?

One problem with your assessment, old dynamite will have sweat nitroglycerin. This is extremely sensitive to temperature variations and fire is rather high on the temperature variations. So we must expect an Earth shattering KABOOM.

(Drops a vintage Marvin the Martian toy in the pun vault and runs like Hell)

So that's the "impending boom" Sphinx-Napped mentioned yesterday...

In regards to today's comic, it's good to see that a few readers have done their research as well. No dynamite will not explode if thrown in a fire, that's the purpose of the gun cotton that is mixed with the nitro, at that point it needs a supersonic shock of a blasting cap. However, dynamite that has been sitting for 100 years will "sweat" all the nitro to the surface and it crystallizes. At that point, if you sneeze, it goes "boom". Fire pisses it off and it still goes "boom".

need i say it again impending bigger boom!!{ now with bigger boom coming to mine near you for only 3.99$}

Leak wrote:So that's the "impending boom" Sphinx-Napped mentioned yesterday...

yeap that would be it,

Wapsi wrote:In regards to today's comic, it's good to see that a few readers have done their research as well. No dynamite will not explode if thrown in a fire, that's the purpose of the gun cotton that is mixed with the nitro, at that point it needs a supersonic shock of a blasting cap. However, dynamite that has been sitting for 100 years will "sweat" all the nitro to the surface and it crystallizes. At that point, if you sneeze, it goes "boom". Fire pisses it off and it still goes "boom".

yep it does, although the 100 year old boxes on tnt was just a added bonus to my prediction, i am glad you didnt do what other writers do and just expect it to go up due the heat and since the lantern dropped i predict that they may actual set it off with there screaming and if the screaming doesnt the fire will "cook" the nitro

Mark N wrote:Does anyone know if old dynamite has an acid smell to it???

Nitroglycerin is created by treating glycerol with nitric acid, so I would assume yes.

I note the fire is between them and the exit...

Sphinx-Napped wrote:

Wapsi wrote: yep it does, althought the 100 year old boxes on tnt was just a added bonus to my prediction

It's not TNT. That was developed during WWII. Then became the first plastique I think. TNT does not sweat, it will burn and not go off, and stores very nicely for long periods of time. Dynamite on the other hand is a very different thing. When it sweats it becomes more unstable that a third world dictatorship being run by Schroeder's cat.

zachariah wrote:

Sphinx-Napped wrote:

Wapsi wrote: yep it does, althought the 100 year old boxes on tnt was just a added bonus to my prediction

It's not TNT. That was developed during WWII. Then became the first plastique I think. TNT does not sweat, it will burn and not go off, and stores very nicely for long periods of time. Dynamite on the other hand is a very different thing. When it sweats it becomes more unstable that a third world dictatorship being run by Schroeder's cat.

oh my mistake i thought it was nitro/gunpowder mixed compound to give a more improved blasting since the wicks on tnt always soaked in chemical to speed up the burning process and wait a sec i just checked the page it's in fact does say dynamite says so on the boxes,i seem to remember back in the old days that they would make home made dynamite by taking some cotton soaking that in nirto then adding gun power by rolling the soaked cotten nitro in the gun powder in layers that's why most sticks of old dynamite appear to be brown and soaked, which it was due the nitro bled thru the casing

Fairportfan wrote:

zachariah wrote:This should have been Fridays cliff hanger. Very old, very dangerous, don't scream Kathy. Get Asti to go supersonic. Or jump in the car and push off downhill and hope you escape the blast and tunnel collapse.

Huh. Thought i replied to this.

Hercules Powder - or a corporation of that name - existed up until at least the 1970s.

It wouldn't bother me to discover that Hercules Powder went out of business since the last i knew of for sure, and all of its executives died broke and destitute.

Actually the name was in use until 2008 and it moved away from powder and explosives in the 70's. DuPont who sold it in 1912 to someone else. Most of it's business all the way through WWII was mostly providing powder for the military to make ammunition and other places it was still used. The crates clearly have the DuPont name on them so that means it was from that period.

Another thing is why the differences in the strength of the crates? We see 40 to 85 percent on them. The percent is a measure for how strong it is compared to 100 percent dynamite that is not modified by inert filler to reduce the strength. When blasting in a mine you always use the same grade in every blast hole so you can control exactly what gets blown up. If not the results would be deadly for everyone. Since this batch is mixed it suggests a cache for someone who wants to keep it secret. It could come from Mexican bandits or criminals. Maybe an arms runner even. So it is likely this was not left by miners, but someone else.

Anyone else smelling "trigger event" here?

jwhouk wrote:Anyone else smelling "trigger event" here?

been smelling that since the said acid smell in the air and showing a lantern

eee wrote:

Mark N wrote:Does anyone know if old dynamite has an acid smell to it???

Nitroglycerin is created by treating glycerol with nitric acid, so I would assume yes.

After the nitration process, nitoglycerine and nitrocellulose and similar nitrated materials are repeatedly washed in solutions (e.g. sodium bicarbonate) to neutralize the excess acid which remains... this is necessary to stabilize them against shock and accidental detonation.

The chemical-info sites I looked at, have "color, taste and smell" sections for each chemical; the entry on nitroglycerine mentions the color and a "sweet burning taste" but mentions no odor. This suggests that nitroglycerine per se has no distinct smell of acid.

However, chemical breakdown might change that. Smokeless gunpowder is based on nitrocellulose ("guncotton"), as were old-style movie film bases. Both of these guncotton derivatives can break down with age or due to improper storage; both have a characteristic acidic odor when that happens, and both become increasingly unstable.

A similar deterioration and decomposition of nitroglycerine might thus result in an acidic odor, and might also make the deteriorating bang-goo even more touchy.

It's possible (but probably unlikely) that another nitrated explosive might be present... picric acid. This wasn't used as often as nitroglycerine/dynamite for industrial and mining purposes... when dry it's even touchier than nitroglycerine, I believe.

In any case, Katherine and Atsali are now in the sort of situation which usually results in the Bomb Squad having a very interesting day.

Sphinx-Napped wrote:
It's not TNT. That was developed during WWII. Then became the first plastique I think. TNT does not sweat, it will burn and not go off, and stores very nicely for long periods of time. Dynamite on the other hand is a very different thing. When it sweats it becomes more unstable that a third world dictatorship being run by Schroeder's cat.[

oh my mistake i thought it was nitro/gunpowder mixed compound to give a more improved blasting since the wicks on tnt always soaked in chemical to speed up the burning process and wait a sec i just checked the page it is infact say dynamite says so on the boxes so my tnt reference is still accurate to point it may not blow up but when the nitro feels that heat getting near it will explode the gunpowder if any near even in the dynamite

Sorry but there is no nirto in TNT. It is a different compound entirely. The fuse is dipped in a fluid to allow them to burn in any environment, not to burn faster. Fuses always burn at a set speed and you test it before using. You need to know how to figure out how much time you have to run for cover after all.
There is no gunpowder in dynamite, never was. It is nitro mixed with an inert filler to stabilize the nitro and make it easier to use. Over time the nitro will seep out of the filler as it is absorbed , not mixed into it. Kinda like water in a sponge. Once it seeps out it when it is a problem. If it is old enough to crystallize it is even worse.
Powder and nitro are never mixed as they work differently. Powder burns, nitro detonates. The two processes are incompatible and detonate is much faster than burning. The danger is from loud noises, falling rocks, an insect landing on it, a small pebble bouncing, or even the sight temperature rise from the fire. Anything can set it off and will.

Dave wrote: In any case, Katherine and Atsali are now in the sort of situation which usually results in the Bomb Squad having a very interesting day.

Not an interesting day. Nightmares. The only way to dispose of something like this is buffer it in place and blow it. For that they would need approval up the chain. How long would that take? Meanwhile they get to sit there praying that nothing happens.

zachariah wrote:Sorry but there is no nitro in TNT. It is a different compound entirely.

They're different chemically, but are fairly close "cousins".

TNT is tri-nitro-toluene.
"Nitro" is tri-nitro-glycerine.
EGDN (a related explosive) is ethylene glycol dinitrate (or di-nitro-glycol if you prefer)

They're made via the same basic chemical process (nitrating the organic starting material using nitric and sulfuric acids) and store energy within the molecule via bonds involving nitrogen atoms. All of them go boom quite nicely when suitably encouraged.