Tryin to refine my methods

[midcalbmx]

Hello there. New to these forums. I have been doing a great deal of research lately which has led to me here. I am hoping some of you more experienced blowers can help give me some tips? or even some new techniques.

This is the way I was taught by my good friend.

We are using 3 foot long stainless tubes. It has a blow valve on one side and a filler on the other. Custom welded and assembled professionally. The blow side of course has a filter placed between the sprayer and tip.

We can usually get 1/2lb of trim in one tube. We dehydrate the trim at 95 degrees for 1 hr prior to blowing.

We blow onto a glass table outdoors for safety, in a well ventilated area.

Now here is where I was taught something I have not seen yet. I scrape the yield and place this immediately in my heated closed loop vac system. I usually cook at -29HG at anywhere from 90-130 degrees depending on how its reacting.

Now I am wondering if I am missing a step by not water bathing?


I can usually yield 30-40grams of wax from 1lb of trim. Usually.

Everytime my concentrate will come out either shatter, or a very stable room temp wax. But it is dark. Sometimes very.

Now I am rambling on while im cooking, but here are mainly my questions.

Should I be water bathing it ?
Can I produce a crumble with the method I am using?
Is there any way I can get a lighter colored product?
Better materials from a greener plant?

Also I read somewhere wax will spark even if there is no butane present? Could someone please elaborate?

Thank you very much and I apologize in advance if I have missed any obvious important threads that are easily found. I have been trying to research as much as possible.

Ive done around 14 blows at this point, and I really would just like to make some of my customers happier.

THANKS!

 

[bull619]

The water bath is where you get rid of most of your butane. The vacuum chamber should be where you finish off your extract instead of where you are trying to get rid of most your butane.

The only way I have produced a crumble is by letting it sit on a heating pad for a few days. I am even having a little trouble making a honeycomb. I can produce shatter relatively easily but when I try to make anything else I have trouble getting it stable. It is always sticky to the touch and doesn't look like the honeycomb I see online. I'm scared to get my oil above 120 as I don't want it to get darker.

For a lighter product you want your material to be fresher and better quality. One good instructional I refer to uses a dehydrator like you do but for a longer time. He believes this makes oil lighter.

I'm far from a professional but thought it couldn't hurt to chime in.

 

[Gray Wolf]

The water bath is the initial purge to get rid of the pool of butane. As long as that is evaporating away, you don't need the hot water bath.

Anything above around 85F will darken the oil. We make shatter at 115F and -29.5" Hg and then turn it into crumbly wax, by pressing it into a muffin cooking at 100F under vacuum until it waxes up.

 

[bull619]

The water bath is the initial purge to get rid of the pool of butane. As long as that is evaporating away, you don't need the hot water bath.

Anything above around 85F will darken the oil. We make shatter at 115F and -29.5" Hg and then turn it into crumbly wax, by pressing it into a muffin cooking at 100F under vacuum until it waxes up.

Do you ever run into situations where the wax stays sticky and won't get crumbly? I have a couple runs that I tried to get to wax up and they just turn into semi hard slabs that are really sticky to the touch.

 

[Gray Wolf]

Do you ever run into situations where the wax stays sticky and won't get crumbly? I have a couple runs that I tried to get to wax up and they just turn into semi hard slabs that are really sticky to the touch.

Wax that is partially decarboxylated will end up looser and sticky.

 

[bull619]

Wax that is partially decarboxylated will end up looser and sticky.

Would the most likely cause of this be that I let my temps get too high? I'm still using a griddle and an aluminum chamber so I know there is quite a bit of fluctuation in heat.

I'm thinking the next step is for me to get an induction cooktop with a digital temp gauge. The problem is this requires me to get a stainless steel insert or a different chamber as induction won't work straight with aluminum.

One of the guys on Ebay that sells the chambers told me to just set up a heat table inside and to keep heating my oil every 30 minutes. I want to be able to just set my chamber and not worry about it for a while, especially when trying to make honeycomb. He was telling me that heat applied while already under vacuum doesn't transfer to my oil inside the chamber. Curious what others think of that.

 

[SkyHighLer]

Would the most likely cause of this be that I let my temps get too high? I'm still using a griddle and an aluminum chamber so I know there is quite a bit of fluctuation in heat.

I'm thinking the next step is for me to get an induction cooktop with a digital temp gauge. The problem is this requires me to get a stainless steel insert or a different chamber as induction won't work straight with aluminum.

One of the guys on Ebay that sells the chambers told me to just set up a heat table inside and to keep heating my oil every 30 minutes. I want to be able to just set my chamber and not worry about it for a while, especially when trying to make honeycomb. He was telling me that heat applied while already under vacuum doesn't transfer to my oil inside the chamber. Curious what others think of that.

Here's a couple of more ways to heat your vacuum chamber,
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=5915060&postcount=4

A couple of notes on the above...I no longer believe the Ranco ETC. is the generic for the Dorkfood DSV temperature controller. I'm testing out a DIY PID temperature controller setup at this moment, but unless electronics is your hobby I suggest going with the Dorkfood DSV.

 

[Gray Wolf]

Would the most likely cause of this be that I let my temps get too high? I'm still using a griddle and an aluminum chamber so I know there is quite a bit of fluctuation in heat.

I'm thinking the next step is for me to get an induction cooktop with a digital temp gauge. The problem is this requires me to get a stainless steel insert or a different chamber as induction won't work straight with aluminum.

One of the guys on Ebay that sells the chambers told me to just set up a heat table inside and to keep heating my oil every 30 minutes. I want to be able to just set my chamber and not worry about it for a while, especially when trying to make honeycomb. He was telling me that heat applied while already under vacuum doesn't transfer to my oil inside the chamber. Curious what others think of that.

My guess is that temperature control is the culprit. The griddle that we tried had little control in the 85F/120F range, so we moved on after trying a trivet and silicone rubber pad to diffuse the heat. We didn't try sand, but some folks who have swear by it.

We've had the best luck controlling in that range, using a heat mat. Do check out Skyhighler's suggested thread.

 

[hobb3s93]

Here's a couple of more ways to heat your vacuum chamber,
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=5915060&postcount=4

A couple of notes on the above...I no longer believe the Ranco ETC. is the generic for the Dorkfood DSV temperature controller. I'm testing out a DIY PID temperature controller setup at this moment, but unless electronics is your hobby I suggest going with the Dorkfood DSV.

is there a way to put those red circular mats inside the chamber skyhighler?

 

[midcalbmx]

Thank you for the great insight Grey Wolf. You seem to be a pretty well versed person when it comes to wax. I have done a few runs in the time ive posted this. I believe that my materials are just the sole reason to blame for the result. It has definitely Decarb'd itself and I will just have to find fresher materials, or invest into flower runs. Hopefully I can just keep experimenting and finding my methods. Hard to find a BHO master who will reveal their secrets. Have had great success multiple times making room temp wax and shatter. I think I might just stick with that, as my methods will not produce crumble with what im working with.

Definitely need to invest in a better cook top though. Has anyone gone fully digital and had good results? Looking into one that is very controllable, to help dial in the inside temps.

 

[SkyHighLer]

is there a way to put those red circular mats inside the chamber skyhighler?

I'm sorry, I missed this post. Yes, you can drill a small hole or two for the power cord and sensor, with epoxy and/or RTV silicone sealant to hold them in place and create a seal. You'll probably still need insulation (wash cloths, etc.) between the heat mat and bottom of the chamber or you'll be heating the stock pot, when I suppose what you want to do is heat a heavy dish. That's the only real advantage to having the mats inside is in getting excellent contact with the bottom of a dish. If you're just going to be using parchment paper, either flat sheets or folded into a dish, what I've got can't be beat.

As for availability of the Omega round silicone mats, I called them yesterday to nail them down on how to get them since most sizes/wattages seem to be out of stock for five weeks (and have been for over a month!) They aren't coming in... you place your order and wait 4-5 weeks. They say the adhesive can't be removed, so definitely get them without adhesive unless you have a real need. The wattage per square inch (2.5) and sizing (just larger than the bottom of the stock pot) I'm using is perfect... the entire bottom is uniform in temperature, and the exposed skirt of the mat never gets really hot (about 140F maximum.)

 

[nakadashi]

Hey SkyHighLer, I just got a dorkfood DSV. I am wondering if it is normal for it to click so frequently? I'm assuming that when it makes the clicking noise it is turning on/off (it will turn on once very few seconds). I am using reptile sand instead of water to retain heat and was thinking that I might have to use more, or switch to another heat holding medium, to protect the DSV. Thanks~

 

[SkyHighLer]

Yeah, the mechanical relay clicks on/off all the time...the most popular alternative is to wire up a PID controller and solid state relay with heat sink. Youtube has DIY PID controller tutorials, but they all make it out to be much more of a hassle than need be, with project boxes and extra wiring...

 

[nakadashi]

Ok thanks! Hopefully this mechanical relay is built to last