how to empty columns?

[pnw bb]

Hello guys, im just trying to be efficient in unpacking my columns on my closed loop systems and was curious what tech you guys are using.

we currently use 4'' x 36'' columns most commonly.

Thanks!

 

[Dilly B]

http://skunkpharmresearch.com/2013/06/18/easily-clearing-a-spent-terpenator-column-with-gusto/



compressed air, it works awesome!!

 

[hammalamma]

I use a spade drill bit but i'm only running 1 1/2 by 18 or 24 spools.

 

[Dab Strudel]

In my 3"x30" I use a bigger spade bit and make a few holes, move it around, then when the center is hollowed out I take my 2.5" packing tool and give it a dozen good slams with some elbow greese or one wicked tap (with the tool in the column) to the ground... if you dont mind sweeping up spent trim that is

 

[prune]

Pressurized air can be problematic with larger tubes and regular carpentry spade bits can easily gouge your cylinders. Garden augers work quite well without any sharp edges and are designed to evacuate as they penetrate. Here's one example:

http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-74520...F8&qid=1414170942&sr=1-9&keywords=plant+auger

Obviously, don't use these with "wet" tubes or in enclosed spaces as your drill can be an ignition source...

 

[Chonkski]

Pressurized air can be problematic with larger tubes and regular carpentry spade bits can easily gouge your cylinders. Garden augers work quite well without any sharp edges and are designed to evacuate as they penetrate. Here's one example:

http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-74520...F8&qid=1414170942&sr=1-9&keywords=plant+auger

Obviously, don't use these with "wet" tubes or in enclosed spaces as your drill can be an ignition source...

This option has always scared me. I would hate to mess up the inside of the columns.

 

[Scalawag]

Pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't it be easier to use a dowel and say, a 3" circle of cardboard as a ram rod? Leave one end of the column connected, open the other, put your circle over the end of the weed. Open the other end and push through.

 

[Permacultuure]

Depending on how well you extracted unpacking with a a dowel and an ice pick is pretty manageable. I find that unstuffing immediately is easier than then the next tray.

The air compressor trick worked great with 1.5-2" columns and if you have a compost pile and good aim. With the 4" columns the use of cordless drills scares me because with my 4"x36" there is always a gas left in the center, and drills spark....

Get a dowel, ice pick and cheap labor

 

[A6 Grower]

I screwed a butter knife on the end of a 1"x1" stick and poke the hell outta it.

 

[JointOperation]

made a poker out of a metal clothes hanger.. i push in.. and as i pull it back out.. most of the stuff comes with.. i use a flathead screwdriver for the first 5-6 inches.. then the metal clotheshanger i bent to shit to make it work well.. i can unpack a 14in glass tube in 3-4 mins.

 

[dopecook]

Hello guys, im just trying to be efficient in unpacking my columns on my closed loop systems and was curious what tech you guys are using.

we currently use 4'' x 36'' columns most commonly.

Thanks!

honestly bro, i just fist the damn thing

i can get my whole arm into the 4" tubes no problem. I just pull the shit out till its loose enough to ram out with my packing dowel.

 

[Gray Wolf]

honestly bro, i just fist the damn thing

i can get my whole arm into the 4" tubes no problem. I just pull the shit out till its loose enough to ram out with my packing dowel.

That is how we clear 4" tubes as well and I have extra large hands.

They are too large in diameter for our air supply, to blast them out like the 1 1/2 and 2" columns.

 

[maxinum]

for a column larger than 2'' i use a pneumatic drill ( no sparks) with a bulb auger bit for the drill .

 

[Chonkski]

honestly bro, i just fist the damn thing

i can get my whole arm into the 4" tubes no problem. I just pull the shit out till its loose enough to ram out with my packing dowel.

Thanks for the reassurance, hehe

 

[dopecook]

I've seen a fellow extractor use a shop vac while the tube is still upright. I guess it's an edan labs thing . Doesn't work very well for me.

 

[Permacultuure]

I've seen a fellow extractor use a shop vac while the tube is still upright. I guess it's an edan labs thing . Doesn't work very well for me.

Yeah, that method is laughable.....I tell my guys, the more you pack in a tube the faster we go home Shop vacing would work on loose packing jobs, and still then it seems inefficient.

 

[bonafide]

what do ya do w/ the unpacked materiel once you have run it ?? I only run my CL for one long shower, pound out the old stuff and DI it and use the kief for edibles

 

[Permacultuure]

Alcohol extraction or we sell it for 10 bucks a pound. Plenty of cannabinoids left in ours too. The people who buy it make gummies with it using hexane......

 

[Chonkski]

Alcohol extraction or we sell it for 10 bucks a pound. Plenty of cannabinoids left in ours too. The people who buy it make gummies with it using hexane......

Shit man, I throw away soooooo much.

I would love to just donate it

 

[Gray Wolf]

We compost our spent material.

Consider that the perfect compost for growing cannabis is cannabis, because it contains exactly the right balance of nutrients.

It is also the perfect bed for cannabis pathogens and parasites, but baking it out in a thin layer under black plastic in the hot sun will elevate the temperature hot enough to kill those pathogens and bugs.