Using UV (blacklight) to check purge with BHO and AA..

[uberman21]

Hey there IC! Shouts to Jump and AA!

I've been using a small 50 led blacklight flashlight to check my extracts for solvents lately, and am curious as to others results, especially with regards to absolute amber...How thick a cake are you able to purge fully with your current method? Does it reflect any iridescence when exposed to UV? What about your amber?

In my tests what I had thought to be fully purged honeycomb BHO (5-10g mounds, 1/8" thick when spread into piles 3-4" across) actually contains slight levels of solvents visible with UV light, while matter that I am able to press thinner purges successfully...I purge at 120 degrees for a few hours in mason jars vac sealed with a seal-a-meal on small squares of parchment..Looking for a way to get my larger, prettier bho cookies to be UV neutral..

While I am able to produce fully purged BHO, after winterizing I am unable to get the final product UV neutral..It solidifies to a state that will shatter into bits when dropped on the ground and is fully stable to the touch, yet elicits a deep iridescence under UV...No matter what I do I can't seem to purge all of the ethanol from the material..any suggestions?

I think UV testing is the way to go for all purging, but don't see many other people discussing it...What does everybody else think?

I run my amber at 180-200 degrees for 30 minutes after the last of the visible alcohol boils away, didn't have my vac chamber for this batch but spreading it thin after collection is quite difficult as the amber seems to solidify in seconds...I purge on a pie pan over water w/ a laser pen to check temperature..I think vac purging will help, but spreading the collected matter thin is tough! Maybe a larger pressure vessel where I can simply place my pie pan inside so I can vacuum purge without collecting (and balling up) the AA?

A couple photos follow, first set is AA showing green iridescence. second is a smaller fully purged BHO honeycomb blob, third is a larger BHO honeycomb showing iridescence due to incomplete purging.

Curious to see what everybody else thinks.











_UberMan_

 

[uberman21]

Here is the before photo of the fully purged oil, and a nice artsy AA shot as a bonus! Limited to 5 photos on the original post, bah!

 

[Gray Wolf]

We use a 3200 angstrom unit NDT blacklight to test for mold and residual solvent. They are normally used for fluorescent penetrant and magnetic partical inspection.

Mold and aflatoxins glow light green and solvent glows light blue. Other things glow too, with different hues. Plant waxes for instance glow, and act as a beacon for animals and insects that feed on the fruit they cover.

I can't really tell your exact colors from the pictures, and would need to see them up front and personal to have an opinion as to what they are.

We haven't had an issue with oil purged and decarboxylated at 250F, nor the thin film purges under vacuum, so there is some possibility you are looking at wax and not solvent.

 

[kmk420kali]

I am not an expert, but I also have one of those led flashlights I use for scorpions-- When I used it on my extracts, I find it is so strong that it reflects too much to really see if it is glowing or not-- That is kinda what your pics look like, that it is reflecting--

 

[reefsauce]

I have some qwiso that was hexane/brine washed. It's a kind of blobby shatter consistency.


Under backlight it looks an even dark red. I have a 2nd vial of the stuff that is thinner on glass and it looks bright orange under the black light.

Is that a sign of solvents?

 

[Gray Wolf]

I have some qwiso that was hexane/brine washed. It's a kind of blobby shatter consistency.


Under backlight it looks an even dark red. I have a 2nd vial of the stuff that is thinner on glass and it looks bright orange under the black light.

Is that a sign of solvents?

Solvents glow light blue.

 

[reefsauce]

thanks I was just curious because in the OP, uberman said he was trying to achieve "UV Neutral"

I guess what I am trying to get to the bottom of.... is hash oil SUPPOSED to be UV neutral? or is that slight red/orange glow to be expected?

 

[kmk420kali]

Solvents glow light blue.

I hope I am not becoming a pest...but how do you tell between a "Glow", and a "Reflection"-- Not trying to be funny...but I have found it difficult to tell--

 

[Gray Wolf]

It is the difference between reflecting the light and phosphoresce, where light is emmitted. It produces a soft glow as opposed to a reflection.

 

[reefsauce]

I wonder if my blacklight isn't in the proper spectrum to show the solvent glow?

last night was doing another hexane/brine wash and the stuff was the same orange glow when it was still full of hexane and still orange after being purged, as well as with isopropyl dissolved in it. never saw anything but orange. I don't know the exact spectrum it's just some 120v lightbulb style bulb with ~30 LEDs on it, doesn't list the exact spectrum. I wonder if the solvents glowing only occurs in a narrow range?

you mentioned 3200 angstrom NDT but those type of blacklights seem to start at 200-300 bucks minimum.

 

[Gray Wolf]

I wonder if my blacklight isn't in the proper spectrum to show the solvent glow?

last night was doing another hexane/brine wash and the stuff was the same orange glow when it was still full of hexane and still orange after being purged, as well as with isopropyl dissolved in it. never saw anything but orange. I don't know the exact spectrum it's just some 120v lightbulb style bulb with ~30 LEDs on it, doesn't list the exact spectrum. I wonder if the solvents glowing only occurs in a narrow range?

you mentioned 3200 angstrom NDT but those type of blacklights seem to start at 200-300 bucks minimum.

Not sure what you have, but we used to build our own non certified inspection lights, using Phillips blacklight bulbs, with our own large mogul bases, ballast and transformers. We used them to tell the general state of the part, not final inspection.

They sell the same bulbs certified for many times the price of the non certified ones. That is because only some of their bulbs meet the NDT specs for intensity and white light, and they get them by sorting through the gross manufacturing run and selecting the ones that meet NDT specification.

The non certified ones would still work for our purposes, as we aren't looking for microporosity or fine linear indications, so you might check out some more blacklights at a cheaper price.

 

[uberman21]

I use:
HQRP Portable Ultra Violet Black Light Torch Light Fake Money Detector +UV Meter



By UV-neutral I mean that I am for no iridescent appearance when viewed with a blacklight...Good shatters and waxes seem to be uv-neutral imho.

 

[CanniCastro420]

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