BHO Vac Setup

[ceosam]

Hey I'm ready to upgrade from a turkey baster and would like input on the supplies I've put together. I already have a large glass extraction tube:

Robinair 15800 VacuMaster 8-CFM Two-Stage Vacuum Pump

Bel-Art Scienceware 420430000 Polycarbonate/PTFE Vacuum Chamber

Oil Slick Pad

Nylon Mesh Sheet,12" Width, 12" Length, 120 microns

Robinair Pump Oil

Figured this list would be useful as a quick reference for others as well. Anyone have anything against 5x Power? $30 a case at the shop nearby. Thanks
-sam

 

[hobb3s93]

get a metal chamber like vac it pro fro ebay only bout 30$ more than the polycarbonate for 3gal vac it pro.

i have the a nalgene plastic one like the one u posted. dont get me wrong it works great but if u gona start messing with heat while vac-ing u might wanna look into a metal chamber. i just got 3 gal vac it pro but broke the air release the first day lol.

also i dont think u need 8 cfm pump for a small chamber. i think 5 would do it if ur trying to save the money.hope that helps

 

[ceosam]

Thanks for the quick response... Metal chamber thing is definately something on my mind, I'd really like to heat it while vaccing. Is the vacitpro a POS or did you goof? What about glass chambers?

 

[ceosam]

This looks promising

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vacuum-and-.../221249262484?pt=BI_Pumps&hash=item33837bd394

 

[ceosam]

Also, I've decided to drop $100 more on a Yellow Jacket pump after reading about the non-U.S. made ones.

http://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Jacket...IWOY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376268053&sr=8-2

 

[bull619]

This looks promising

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vacuum-and-.../221249262484?pt=BI_Pumps&hash=item33837bd394

This will work well. If you plan to do larger runs then I would suggest a 3 Gal.

 

[ceosam]

I looked at the other versions of the same chambers in different sizes 1gal-5gal and this 1gal seems to have the largest inner diameter. I almost decided to go with a 3gal one so that I could build a rack and do two trays at a time until in occurred to me that -- how would I use a hotplate on the chamber (the one of the top rack will never be the same temp as the bottom)... So I'm keeping it simple with the 1gal.

This is the new list:

Yellow Jacket 93600 7 CFM Bullet Vacuum Pump

1gal chamber with 3/4"in lid

1qt Yellow Jacket Oil

Waring Hot Plate

Nylon Mesh Sheet,12" Width, 12" Length, 120 microns

Oil Slick Pad

 

[SkyHighLer]

If you can afford a better pump, one with a switchable gas ballast may come in handy if you get into winterization and need to remove moisture.
http://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Jacket...172&sr=8-1&keywords=yellow+jacket+vacuum+pump

Otherwise, this still seems to be the deal
http://www.amazon.com/Robinair-1550...F8&qid=1376329990&sr=8-3&keywords=vacuum+pump

The inside bottom of my five gallon stock pot chamber is about eleven and a quarter inches across...

I wouldn't shoot directly onto silicone.

120 microns is huge, I'm using 2.5 micron lab filter paper and think about 1.5 micron would be perfect...

The outside bottom of my stock pot is slightly concave, no griddle or hot plate could make good contact with it, but my heat mats do!

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=5915060&postcount=4
(I no longer believe the Ranco ETC is a generic version of the Dorkfood DSV temperature contoller, but can't edit my post.)

The temperature control with the Waring Pro hot plate leaves much to be desired, lab hot plates aren't much better.

Just my two cents...

 

[hobb3s93]

Thanks for the quick response... Metal chamber thing is definately something on my mind, I'd really like to heat it while vaccing. Is the vacitpro a POS or did you goof? What about glass chambers?

no idea bout glass chambers. i dont think its a pos, i was just dabbed out and overthought how the release worked and striped it. just went to harbor freight and picked up the same part for 3 bucks .

ill post sum pics once i get her up and running. for now im borrowing my homies.

i think u wanna go for a chamber with more depth to account for muffin.
cheers

 

[SkyHighLer]

Just about the perfect size stock pot vacuum chamber, 13 1/2" x 5 3/4"

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-GAL-VACUU.../121157624372?pt=BI_Pumps&hash=item1c358ea234

 

[ceosam]

Heating pads are a nice touch and I would have went with that 4gal if I had not already ordered.

Switching to microns, I've seen people use 200micron with no problem -- obviously I thought smaller would be better so whats the real story with this? I see them selling 100-200 BHO specific often. Currently using coffee filters which are 5-20micron

 

[SkyHighLer]

25 micron, http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-x-12-500...521?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43be2d82f9

Search "stainless steel mesh" at ebay...

Graywolf recently said 20-30 microns for coffee filters, and I concur, lol...The surface of coffee filters is very uneven (compared to lab filter paper,) and so to even things out, two coffee filters are generally used. A stack of two or more lab filter papers doesn't decrease the micron rating. Take a dab and think about it....

When thinking of what filter is best, keep vapor pen users in mind, just my two cents...

 

[SkyHighLer]

I'm sorry, I misquoted Graywolf in the above, he actually said,
"We prefer coffee filters. They are around 20/25 micron. We add a silk screen over the top of them for blowout protection." (this morning at forum x...)

Hold a single coffee filter up to the light and you'll even find outright holes of light among the mountains and valleys...lol. A single coffee filter paper couldn't pass as lab filter paper with a rating of 20/25 microns, the rating would be much higher as small amounts of large particulate are going to find there way through those holes. A stack of two coffee filter papers only hopes to ensure the second paper catches the bloops from the first, and then the 20/25 micron rating is justified. The biodiesel forums have a wealth of info on filtering in the same micron range as we are...you'll find micron ratings there for many common household materials.