Rotary Evaporators

[flatslabs]

Hey flatslabs,

Rotovaps use heating mantles to heat the flask. You still need glassware. Ostensibly the only difference is that rotovaps rotate. The rotation increases the surface area(now we are evaporating off of all the walls, not just a flat layer in the flask).

Unfortunately, rotovaps are:
1) expensive
2) typically small volume for the amount spent.

I am not sure if you misread my text, but I specifically said you still need to buy the glassware with a rotovape?

Yes they are expensive, I think that has been established. Buying cases of everclear is not cheap either when you factor in the shipping costs.

I know it's easy to think everyone on here is a beginner...but I'm not. And I'm giving sound advice. And you're not helping by spreading misinformation and leading people to believe they need expensive equipment that isn't appropriate for the task at hand.

I am not sure what type of misinformation you think I am spreading honestly?

 

[G.O. Joe]

Buy a simple distillation apparatus with a liebig condenser.

Rotovaps use heating mantles to heat the flask

You still need glassware.

If you are evaporating alcohol the rotation won't increase the distillation speed much at all.

With a rotovap you will actually spend more time filling it, disassembling it, etc. because you are not going to get a reasonably sized (2L) rotovap for cheap.

The conventional distillation that you mentioned uses mantles. Rotavaps use baths of oil or water, usually water. That larger surface area is also exposed to the heat of the bath as it evaporates.

The term rotavap includes the glassware that seldom strays from it, the bath, vacuum, and coil condenser pump, in practice.

You realize, most everywhere rotavaps are used are full of PhD's? Have you ever used a rotavap? I'll do timed tests with or without vacuum if there's something in it for me. The difference between daily distillation capacity of the two methods using a 3 liter flask is so not close.

When you want to refill a Buchi while running day-long vacuum distillation of many liters, connect a hose to the solvent tap on top of the condenser from your solvent, turn the knob until refilled. Nothing stops, nothing is disconnected. The rotavap and its vacuum can run continuously and are designed for it. Anyone can disconnect a Buchi standard ball-joint receiver and connect a new one in 4 seconds, the boiling flask and condenser, 30 seconds. It takes longer to connect all the standard distillation glass than all the rotavap glass. This is a good time to buy used Buchis in the US, with several major big pharma site closing and consolidation auctions even in just the past year.

 

[Permacultuure]

DabGenuis seems to have pretty fair pricing on his units.

 

[Permacultuure]

GO joe - I'd be interested in your opinion of his equipment

 

[G.O. Joe]

DabGenuis seems to have pretty fair pricing on his units.

GO joe - I'd be interested in your opinion of his equipment

That's another site all blank pages in my browser. Does he offer transactions with a minimum of financial institution involvement? Is there some special modification? If not, the search for rotavaps should start at a LabX, instead of a DabGenuis.

If you're thinking about baby steps into the business, my Buchi setup was for under $300, and it will turn a 3 liter 24/40 evaporating flask all day and night. You could buy right out of a Merck fume hood (ends Wednesday, HPLC refurbishers wet dream) instead of Chinese, before the town's pending spiral into a black hole. That second lot will fit smaller needs, because it's perfect and everything, but if you run that all day, you need a bigger unit or several flasks because you've got so much sticky oil you can afford it.

 

[Permacultuure]

Thanks for your input!

 

[ple1ades]

http://www.brinstrument.com/fractio...scale-fractional-distillation-description.php

What about this its not a rotovap but bad ass for what I have in mind.

 

[SkyHighLer]

Brett Maverick show and tell of his new Rotovap,

http://youtu.be/_i0hLPmMDSQ?list=UUOVuN6EssIqLP1kS98IXRYg

 

[SquattingBull]

Found this older thread and thought it would be an appropriate place to ask this question. When using a rotovape for those who have them already, does evaporating the alcohol inherently darken the color? The vast majority of folks I have seen posting pictures of them in action are doing so for oil that is to be used orally and thus decarbed so its not really an issue in that case. I would also infer they arent worried about injection temp or freezing since most folks dont use high grade material for or oral products in the first place and run warmer.

However, we have had some call for winterized shatter, and in thinking about how to achieve that high scale the roto vape seems like the way to go. We have done this before for experimental batches but in those cases were just taking already prime bho and winterizing it to remove any remaining fats/lipids/waxes but in that case since it was such a small quantity we just chalked up the losses in ethanol via thin film and a vac to finish.

So, can it be done with a roto vape and maintain color/ not gain the hashy debarbed taste or no?

 

[analogcricket]

what do you think about heidolphs?


http://www.heidolphna.com/products/rotary-evaporators/hei-vap-precision/

 

[SquattingBull]

The earlier talk in this thread commented on Bucci and Heidolphna being considered top quality product but perhaps some of our more experienced brethren that may own/use one could comment as I have no personal experience with them as well as answering my more general question above. So my intuition says they are probably just great but I don't want to speak on something than I haven't used before.

 

[gholladay]

Found this older thread and thought it would be an appropriate place to ask this question. When using a rotovape for those who have them already, does evaporating the alcohol inherently darken the color? The vast majority of folks I have seen posting pictures of them in action are doing so for oil that is to be used orally and thus decarbed so its not really an issue in that case. I would also infer they arent worried about injection temp or freezing since most folks dont use high grade material for or oral products in the first place and run warmer.

However, we have had some call for winterized shatter, and in thinking about how to achieve that high scale the roto vape seems like the way to go. We have done this before for experimental batches but in those cases were just taking already prime bho and winterizing it to remove any remaining fats/lipids/waxes but in that case since it was such a small quantity we just chalked up the losses in ethanol via thin film and a vac to finish.

So, can it be done with a roto vape and maintain color/ not gain the hashy debarbed taste or no?

I guess another way of asking this question would be "does using a rotovape at low temperatures allow the oil to remain light in color and not decarboxylate?" Does the vacuum contribute to the decarbing of the oil as well?

I know I have seen slabs of shatter that have been winertized, like Chonski makes, but is that still capable in the rotovape. I would hope so..

GH

 

[pusbag]

Well I have used a rotovape at work but I kind of prefer my old alcohol reclaim still I built off of skunk Pharms website especially for edibles and topicals. However thinking of building this next for doing absolutes for dabbing. Maybe even some shatter if possible.
http://skunkpharmresearch.com/rotary-evaporator-from-siskiyou-sam/

 

[SquattingBull]

Yea thats definitely an interesting build I have looked at that before. Would be a cool project. Sortof the same question though being does the addition of the heat required to make either of these systems work mandate that the color darken and decarboxylation (at least partial) occur? Is it possible to run a rotovape at a low enough temperature to make dabable absolutes or is the temperature so low it wouldn't allow for evaporation to occur in the first place? At least not fast enough to be reasonably useful?

 

[dybert]

Yea thats definitely an interesting build I have looked at that before. Would be a cool project. Sortof the same question though being does the addition of the heat required to make either of these systems work mandate that the color darken and decarboxylation (at least partial) occur? Is it possible to run a rotovape at a low enough temperature to make dabable absolutes or is the temperature so low it wouldn't allow for evaporation to occur in the first place? At least not fast enough to be reasonably useful?

Decarbed oil isn't inherently dark... Its the other stuff in it. (Look at clear for example, 100% decarbed and as light as can be)

 

[gholladay]

Decarbed oil isn't inherently dark... Its the other stuff in it. (Look at clear for example, 100% decarbed and as light as can be)

Dybert,

Let me ask this question: "is all oil coming out of a rotovap decarbed?" I know that decarbed oil can be light in color if done correctly, but does the vacuum and temp of the rotovap decarb the oil every time? Can you run the rotovap at a temp and pressure setting that will allow you to have winterized shatter at the end, or is it always decarboxylated after the rotovap?

I think what Squattingbull and I are both after is this. If we make good looking blond oil and then winterize it, and let it evaporate until dry, we can get a nice slab of winterized oil that finishes as blonde shatter. We're wondering if you can use a rotovap to reclaim most of your ethonal and then still have the product turn out like that. Almost every time we see oil in a rotovap it is dark in color and typically destined edibles.

GH

 

[MEMED]

g,
I make purdy slabs of absolute on rotovaps chock full of thca. It works great. I wouldnt make "dabbable" solvent derived extracts w/o it nemore, no ssd 4 me! Get a couple, you'll need em for sure. Figure out how to utilize them, tons of reads on it. Hands on is best tho. Hope things are going good for you and yours Mr. holladay! Waves to Dybert.

 

[SquattingBull]

Decarbed oil isn't inherently dark... Its the other stuff in it. (Look at clear for example, 100% decarbed and as light as can be)

I do realize this and I apologize for the ambiguity in the question you are right that they are two separate issues although often inherently connected when dealing with bho. The clear is also no longer what could be considered a bho or a winterized bho because they have distilled it via a molecular distillation process and while I cant wait to play with those toys me and g do not have them yet....

But I am with you that is is not the decarboxylation chemistry that makes it dark but the other constituents being exposed to the heat that makes it so. Valid correction.

Dybert and MEMED gracias for your input it was both clarifying and immensely helpful I am looking forward to getting to play with some fresh new rotos very very soon.....

 

[gholladay]

g,
I make purdy slabs of absolute on rotovaps chock full of thca. It works great. I wouldnt make "dabbable" solvent derived extracts w/o it nemore, no ssd 4 me! Get a couple, you'll need em for sure. Figure out how to utilize them, tons of reads on it. Hands on is best tho. Hope things are going good for you and yours Mr. holladay! Waves to Dybert.

MEMED,

That's exactly what I was looking for! That's what I thought, but I hadn't heard anyone say it outright, so thank you.

GH

 

[MEMED]

cheers guys. Hey gholla, are u and squattingbull partners? Just curious. Im surprised yall dont already have this on lock with your situation and all. Its maaaad important to know whats up when your at the level your playing on gholla. Get a clue, or get swallowed up! Word from the wise, no offence.