Trapped butane in wax?

[Criard]

I'm trying to educate myself on the processes of wax/etc making lately.

A friend of a friend makes wax which I procure for medicinal purposes. It has always been an interesting texture which I rarely see in the dispensaries. It's an actual sticky, peanutbuttery, waxy glob (the dispensaries normally have budder/crumble).
Today when I got some I asked what the purging process was. Apparently he has the extraction tube pour directly onto a hotplate/beaker with a magnetic stirrer and does not vacuum purge.

From a post I glimpsed but can't find now, I read that stirring while heat purging can trap butane in the wax? If so, how could I go about purging the rest of it out? Could I just reheat it on a plate over a water bath? Or would an ethanol wash be the most reasonable solution?

And if yes on the ethanol; is 151proof everclear sufficient or does it need to be the 190-something proof?

 

[Hashmasta-Kut]

but how does his taste? is it nice and smooth? maybe its fine and you are overthinking it..

 

[Rowdy420]

If you don't hear a noticeable sizzle when you dab it on the skillet i wouldn't worry bout it (sometimes water). If the taste is all there then he didn't burn the terpenes off in the purge, which does happen when you 170 it in the oven... try it for yourself, it'll get real fragrant. I generally stick to a hot water purge then jar the oil up and let it sit till the bubbles stop, a day or two. I like the taste of the oil better that has time to sit compared to heat purging... thanks Gray for that bit-o-knowledge!

If you want to purge it some more all I would do is place it warm (double boiler style) water...90-110 degrees.

Good luck, Peace

 

[Gray Wolf]

I'm trying to educate myself on the processes of wax/etc making lately.

A friend of a friend makes wax which I procure for medicinal purposes. It has always been an interesting texture which I rarely see in the dispensaries. It's an actual sticky, peanutbuttery, waxy glob (the dispensaries normally have budder/crumble).
Today when I got some I asked what the purging process was. Apparently he has the extraction tube pour directly onto a hotplate/beaker with a magnetic stirrer and does not vacuum purge.

From a post I glimpsed but can't find now, I read that stirring while heat purging can trap butane in the wax? If so, how could I go about purging the rest of it out? Could I just reheat it on a plate over a water bath? Or would an ethanol wash be the most reasonable solution?

And if yes on the ethanol; is 151proof everclear sufficient or does it need to be the 190-something proof?

If you can taste or smell butane, I would place it in a thin film and heat it to about 125F/140F and watch for solvent bubbles to cease, leaving only the fizzy Co2 bubbles.

If you can't taste or smell butane, I wouldn't worry about it, because the levels of health concern, are an order of magnitude higher than human sensory detection levels.

I would stick with the 190 proof, unless you want to end up with a soft, partially decarboxylated oil. Boiling off the extra water adds more heat than boiling off the alcohol.

 

[Criard]

Thank you very much everybody for the responses!

I can't believe I got a response from the infamous GrayWolf! It was actually google stumbling onto your skunkworks page that has gotten me into studying these processes in depth. Top notch work, my good sir!


Can I smell or taste the butane? It's kinda hard to say. The wax was made with some of the dankest smelling/tasting OG I've known and the scent translated well into the wax. If I didn't know it was made with OG I would seriously question if what I was smelling might be butane. On that same note, I really can't tell if I'm picking up trace smells of butane due to the near mothball stank of the OG.
As for taste, I will double check. I didn't bother to clean my oil rig last night when I got it. I will do so momentarily and report back on the taste. I can tell you, however that it wasn't the smoothest on the lungs. After a dab it felt like it was squeezing my chest and I had an asthma-like wheeziness for a few minutes after. "Expansion", if you will. But I haven't experienced any like that in a long time.
https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=46354&pictureid=1084899

 

[Green Supreme]

Hey Gray Wolf. Been thinking about mercaps. Do you think that winterizing removes some of the mercaps trapped in the waxes, by removing the waxes? Peace GS

 

[Waxmasta Flex]

dont think to hard about mercaps not all gas has it in it

 

[Gray Wolf]

Thank you very much everybody for the responses!

I can't believe I got a response from the infamous GrayWolf! It was actually google stumbling onto your skunkworks page that has gotten me into studying these processes in depth. Top notch work, my good sir!


Can I smell or taste the butane? It's kinda hard to say. The wax was made with some of the dankest smelling/tasting OG I've known and the scent translated well into the wax. If I didn't know it was made with OG I would seriously question if what I was smelling might be butane. On that same note, I really can't tell if I'm picking up trace smells of butane due to the near mothball stank of the OG.
As for taste, I will double check. I didn't bother to clean my oil rig last night when I got it. I will do so momentarily and report back on the taste. I can tell you, however that it wasn't the smoothest on the lungs. After a dab it felt like it was squeezing my chest and I had an asthma-like wheeziness for a few minutes after. "Expansion", if you will. But I haven't experienced any like that in a long time.

Thanks for the good thoughts bro!

If butane is there, you will taste it on the exhale. It has a mild taste and is subtle.

 

[Gray Wolf]

Hey Gray Wolf. Been thinking about mercaps. Do you think that winterizing removes some of the mercaps trapped in the waxes, by removing the waxes? Peace GS

Some of the mercaps would leave with the wax, but not nearly enough. If ethyl mercaptan is present, it will pretty much stay present.

As noted, we are fortunate that the lighter butane that we use, doesn't contain them.

 

[Hashmasta-Kut]

Hey Gray Wolf. Been thinking about mercaps. Do you think that winterizing removes some of the mercaps trapped in the waxes, by removing the waxes? Peace GS

thinking about mercaptans, thats odd, i dont think you make oil ever do you? if you did you would know pretty much nobody uses butane with that stuff in it.

 

[gunnaknow]

You'd certainly know if it contained mercaptans because they stink. Methyl and ethyl mercaptan have boiling points of 6 °C and 35 °C, so they can be removed with thorough purging but you'd prefer not to have to remove them, or stink up the place.

 

[Green Supreme]

thinking about mercaptans, thats odd, i dont think you make oil ever do you? if you did you would know pretty much nobody uses butane with that stuff in it.

LOL, you assume everyone making butane oil understands. Now that is too funny. Just curious for others and a better understanding for me.

Would have to wonder how you would have approached another members post on this subject.

"Nobody uses butane with that stuff in it", classic. Peace GS

 

[gunnaknow]

Green Supreme, if it smells similar to rotten eggs, cabbage or leeks then it contains mercaptans. It's added to propane and butane intended for tanks. Some brands fill their lighter refills with the same butane but it's not added to butane specifically intended for lighter refills. Any brand that states that their butane is triple refined or more, or has the Near Zero Impurities logo, is using butane specifically intended for lighter refills and it won't contain mercaptans.

 

[Bowb Aandweeve]

LOL, you assume everyone making butane oil understands. Now that is too funny. Just curious for others and a better understanding for me.

Would have to wonder how you would have approached another members post on this subject.

"Nobody uses butane with that stuff in it", classic. Peace GS

Somewhere, a LONG time ago, I read an article called "Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Cannabis" which used PVC and "large butane cylinders used for camping stoves", so I gave it a shot. I knew nothing about mercaptans. so on the butane is butane theory, I sprayed that through a hard purchased oz in a PVC tube and did the water bath and stir. I threw that mess away and never had another thought about the process until I found this site and then this forum. Very glad I did.

 

[teemu shalanie]

I was gunna add that mercaptine is added to natural gas to give it that rotten egg smell so u can detect it if it leaks , if its in your bho , your bho literally stinks
TS

 

[CannabisTHC]

If butane is there, you will taste it on the exhale. It has a mild taste and is subtle.

Personally I can taste the butane in a product if there is any but I've realized not everyone can taste butane. I've sampled products that definitely tasted like they had butane in them but according to other people there wasn't any weird taste. Maybe they just needed to refine their taste buds and sample more oil.

 

[Gray Wolf]

Personally I can taste the butane in a product if there is any but I've realized not everyone can taste butane. I've sampled products that definitely tasted like they had butane in them but according to other people there wasn't any weird taste. Maybe they just needed to refine their taste buds and sample more oil.

There is actually a fairly wide sensory band for hydrocarbon smells. The MSDS list hexane for instance at 130 ppm sensory threshold, but some people have detected it as low as 22 ppm.

 

[Hashmasta-Kut]

LOL, you assume everyone making butane oil understands. Now that is too funny. Just curious for others and a better understanding for me.

Would have to wonder how you would have approached another members post on this subject.

"Nobody uses butane with that stuff in it", classic. Peace GS

ok let me try and understand what you said. i assume everyone who make oil understands..... what?

and how is your misquote of me classic? i said pretty much everyone who makes it uses clean butane, i didnt say everyone.

 

[OGShush]

I think it's possible to make a butane free wax, but there is still some remaining contaminant that results in the textural difference. I really think it has to be moisture, it would explain the "honeycomb" effect of butane forcing it's way out of solution and leaving behind water vapor. If you don't mind the taste of the wax I'd say smoke it. If it bugs you I'd warm it in a $20toaster oven from wal mart on the lowest setting. If you have a vacuum, when it gets runny vacuum ASAP.

I had a guy bragging about his wax (bright yellow, grainy, nasty) and refusing to dab the shatter we had until I use the above tech to turn his wax into shatter. It made my day to see him walk home staring at the piece of shatter with a puzzled look on his face.