What's new
  • Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

Won't Wax Up

Kcar

Kcar

There are FOUR lights!
Veteran
I don't get it. Super nice Vortex trim/smalls. Smells great,
looks great, took some buds out and smoked them. Tasted great.

So we run 3 loads through the extractor and end up with a bunch of super smelling, but kinda dark oil. Not black by any means, but
not yellow and pretty, either.

Been trying everything to get it to wax up to no avail.
A few hours ago it looked like it was turning, then 20 minutes
later is was back to oil.

Not sure what to do at this point...
 
Momerath

Momerath

Active member
Had same thing happen to me recently. Got some really nice trim/smalls from buddies light dep, about 3 months old. Ran it just like everything else, came out darker than normal and did the exact same thing, started waxing, then stopped and reverted back to sap. My best guess was that it wasn't stored properly, got exposed to higher than ideal temps or environmental conditions, and partially decarbed. I have found even very partially decarbed oil won't wax up properly. This is just my theory on this particular batch of trim, as I have had 6+ month old trim wax up flawlessly.

Is it abnormally high in terpenes? That has been a cause for not waxing on several occasions for me. Also, I've noticed that high CBD strains are less likely to comb up properly than high THC strains. Have you run this strain before and gotten it to wax up?
 
N

nakadashi

Member
This is so funny. You guys are trying to make wax while I just had a very bad day with material that inexplicably started waxing up when the first half of the run was a nice shatter.

nsXsFJu.jpg
These pics are all of the same batch of trim.

I suspect what caused the waxing is that I transferred the oil to parchment paper with a lot of butane still remaining. Usually I let my recovery chamber sit in warm water for a while to let a lot of the butane purge out. I think the butane purged out while the slabs sat at room temperature in regular atmosphere, and caused some kind of irreversible structural change. Later application of heat in the vac oven did not cause the wax to shatter up again.

Another possibility involves the high rH on the second day.

Anyways, perhaps one thing you can try to wax things up is to leave more butane in the oil and let it purge in regular atmosphere before a final purge.
 
Crooked8

Crooked8

Well-known member
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
There was either too much heat and it decarboxylized or the trim was too old. Ive had the same issue but only when either of those were the problem. Fresh trim that was stored in cooler temps waxes up more easily. If you want shatter, never go over 110, if you want comb never go over 130.
 
N

nakadashi

Member
Crooked8 said:
There was either too much heat and it decarboxylized or the trim was too old. Ive had the same issue but only when either of those were the problem. Fresh trim that was stored in cooler temps waxes up more easily. If you want shatter, never go over 110, if you want comb never go over 130.
Click to expand...
Too much heat was definitely not the issue. Like I said, the batch that waxed up was actually exposed to LESS heat than the one that did wax up. It was all from the same batch of trim which was fresh (fresh enough to yield shatter at least).

Thank you for the advice though ,I have never been able to make comb on a consistent basis, but I am going to try to cook some of this stuff as an experiment to make comb for the first time.
 
R

RegisPhilburn1

Member
Winterize that stuff naka. it wont comb up well after that point

Look like you folded it in on itself, ime that can lead to wax/nucleation points
 
M

midwestHIGHS

Member
Veteran
folding, balling, whipping, access moisture/humidity, temperature fluctuation, can all cause nucleation points to form where the crystallization of your oil spreads like cancer.
 
Momerath

Momerath

Active member
Gotta agree with MWH. Agitation, excess moisture and/or butane can all lead to wax. Making comb on a consistent basis requires you to have all your variables perfect, as one little change can screw the pooch pretty good. It boggles my mind that so many people want that honeycomb, even though its shatter gone wrong!

I second the notion to winterize. It will turn that pile into a beautiful stable slab of glass.
 
Crooked8

Crooked8

Well-known member
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I really dont get why people think shatter is so superior. It takes more heat to get comb which means its likely to be farther purged than any shatter. Am i wrong?
 
N

nakadashi

Member
Crooked8 said:
I really dont get why people think shatter is so superior. It takes more heat to get comb which means its likely to be farther purged than any shatter. Am i wrong?
Click to expand...
Farther purged may not necessarily be desirable if what you are aiming for is terpene retention. IMO all honeycomb is OVER purged. Given that 'tane is relatively benign it does not make much sense to lose a lot of terpenes just to get butane concentrations from PPM to PPB.
 
Crooked8

Crooked8

Well-known member
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I am absolutely aiming for terpene retention. I want it to taste and smell as good as possible. However, ive never smelled shatter that was more pungent than comb. All shatter to me had a muted smell. Ive made comb that REAKS exactly like the flowers used.
 
Gray Wolf

Gray Wolf

A Posse ad Esse. From Possibility to realization.
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Wax/oil hydrates have more surface area exposed casting off the monoterpenes, so they smell more pungent, even though they actually have less terpenes left.

For a show and tell, make a shatter and then after changing your vacuum pump oil, turn it into a wax.

Now go smell your vacuum pump oil.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top