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Short path kit reviews (So many to choose from)

B

ButterCup

Member
Hi Fellows,

I have been browsing for a while and haven't found any threads comparing the different short path kits or heads offered by various vendors.

I have the winterization and carbon scrubbing part down. I am looking for a 5 liter that will give consistently over 90% first pass without hexane polishing. I have only ran my friends' short path so I a noob when it comes to short path, however I have ran BR before many times, but due to some complications with work I have buy a short path now because it is cheaper then the BR which is 60-70k.

Below are some of the one that show on google search, your opinions and any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Summit's SPD-2 Thermal + PRO KIT

Summit's SPD-2 Legacy 5 Liter

Summit's SPD-2.1 Thermal+ Packable Head

AI 5L Short Path

Xtractor Depot Platinum 5L

Goldleaf Gold Short path kit
 
1

17-52-99

New member
dybert said:
A diffusion pump is like a supercharger for the vacuum pump. It allows you to pull deeper vacuum, thus allowing you to distill at lower temperatures.
Click to expand...

I know that part but why would you need to pull what 10-6 or so torr to do it. Anything organic will evaporate at a cold boil well before that, I don't see a need to go below10-4?

Also, those glass ground joints won't really hold the vacuum of that level (unless you dust off the old glyptal, lolz) and its still an oil pump where backstreaming would be an issue (a huge one in the case of the diffusion pump).

If you really need a vacuum that low why not run, say a pfieffer pump cube with a a turbo? All dry, about the same price (or used to be, I haven't check in a while).
 
Rickys bong

Rickys bong

Member
Veteran
dybert said:
A diffusion pump is like a supercharger for the vacuum pump. It allows you to pull deeper vacuum, thus allowing you to distill at lower temperatures.
Click to expand...

This is a poor application for a diffusion pump. You would need a cold trap or cryo baffle between the diff pump and the short path to catch any pump oil that might back stream into the receiving vessel.

If someone accidentally vented the system pump oil would go everywhere and completely ruin your batch of distillate.

They also don't handle high gas loads very well and would need to be bypassed during the decarb phase.

A turbo or roots booster would be a better choice. Roots blowers are idiot proof and very effective.

RB
 
D

dabbe

New member
I'd like to see Lab Society's new G2 short path distillation kits added into this as well. I see they are still out of stock (for how long?), but very curious if anyone's actually tried them or seen them in person? Would love some real-world results!
 
SkyHighLer

SkyHighLer

Got me a stone bad Mana
ICMag Donor
Veteran
The high end SPD kits come with temperature controllers that have both power and temperature control. I only know of two plug-n-play controller brands that have both functions, J-KEM's, and Glas-Col's like the 108A L14-1800.

https://www.jkem.com/temperature-controllers/precision-controllers/model-210-controller

https://www.glascol.com/precision-controllers


Or here's a better controller that anyone should be able to wire up themselves for less than a couple of hundred bucks. Controller, solid state relay/heatsink, thermocouple, and an extension cord for wiring, maybe a project box.

Still Heat Controller for Distillation Process Automation
Starting at: $67.95

Model: DSPR220

https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=53&products_id=559


"Application Example for Alcohol Distilling

Set the high power accelerated heating limit to 170.0°F (76.7°C) and power output to be at 100% of the element capacity, set distilling power at 30%. Set the foreshots/heads alarm at 172°F. Set the distillation ending criterial to be either when temperature rise to 175.0 °F or when the time is more than 3 hours. When the controller is powered up, it will heat the wash with full power. After the wash temperature reaches 170°F, the power is automatically reduced to 30%. When temperature reaches 172°F, the alarm will beep four times to notify the operator that temperature is close to the alcohol boil temperature so that he can remove the heads. Soon the temperature rise to 173.0°F, the timer is activated. After distilling for a while the content of alcohol is depleted and temperature starts to rise. Once the temperature reaches 200.0°F, the heater is turned off and the controller will send long beeps and flashing "End" on the display. if the temperature does not rise to 200.0°F after 3 hours, the heater will also be turned off. During the distillation, the user can use the rotary knob to fine tune the boil at any time. The figure below shows how the power is correlated to the temperature and time."

https://auberins.com/images/Manual/DSPR220_manual.pdf

https://auberins.com/images/Manual/DSPR400_manual.pdf

Auberins has DIY kits and plug-n-play options, about $300 ready to go.

https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=64_65&products_id=533


Or, I devised a setup utilizing a Variac for the power regulation which provides the advantage of being able to overdrive the heater at 130% of it's rating.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8050263&postcount=240

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8064606&postcount=241

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8067913&postcount=243

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8069624&postcount=244

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8073018&postcount=246

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8074191&postcount=247

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8075322&postcount=248
 
Last edited:
M

MrSpectre

Member
I'm @710st and I'm partnered with @bizzybee999. My heads are patent pending and feature an internally insulated distillation column and a 360 degree condensing pathway making them much different then the conventional shortpath head design many vendors are replicating. All of my distillation heads are hand blown by @Merge_scientific. The three sizes are as follows:

Small: 24/40 Flask joint and 24/40 Outlet joint
Medium: 34/45 Flask joint and 29/42 Outlet joint
Large: 45/40 Flask joint with dual 24/40 outlets

*All heads use GL14 for Heating/Cooling supply.

The last (Large) 45/50 model also allows for an additional spinning band to be installed if you'd like...
 
mobin

mobin

Member
Hell yes. Finally people pulling their heads out. I tried to pull off a similar funtion using a jacketed cold finger off the lid of a reaction vessel. I was aiming for a low/no heat sep. Your path design might help with my original intent. Folks in the industry who do work rather than talking cheeks who sell shit make the progress. Thank you for being a wheel instead of a card on the spokes.


MrSpectre said:
I'm @710st and I'm partnered with @bizzybee999. My heads are patent pending and feature an internally insulated distillation column and a 360 degree condensing pathway making them much different then the conventional shortpath head design many vendors are replicating. All of my distillation heads are hand blown by @Merge_scientific. The three sizes are as follows:

Small: 24/40 Flask joint and 24/40 Outlet joint
Medium: 34/45 Flask joint and 29/42 Outlet joint
Large: 45/40 Flask joint with dual 24/40 outlets

*All heads use GL14 for Heating/Cooling supply.

The last (Large) 45/50 model also allows for an additional spinning band to be installed if you'd like...
Click to expand...
In
 
SkyHighLer

SkyHighLer

Got me a stone bad Mana
ICMag Donor
Veteran
MrSpectre said:
I'm @710st and I'm partnered with @bizzybee999. My heads are patent pending and feature an internally insulated distillation column and a 360 degree condensing pathway making them much different then the conventional shortpath head design many vendors are replicating. All of my distillation heads are hand blown by @Merge_scientific. The three sizes are as follows:

Small: 24/40 Flask joint and 24/40 Outlet joint
Medium: 34/45 Flask joint and 29/42 Outlet joint
Large: 45/40 Flask joint with dual 24/40 outlets

*All heads use GL14 for Heating/Cooling supply.

The last (Large) 45/50 model also allows for an additional spinning band to be installed if you'd like...
Click to expand...

:tiphat:

https://www.instagram.com/bizzybee999/
 

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mobin

mobin

Member
MrSpectre said:
I'm @710st and I'm partnered with @bizzybee999. My heads are patent pending and feature an internally insulated distillation column and a 360 degree condensing pathway making them much different then the conventional shortpath head design many vendors are replicating. All of my distillation heads are hand blown by @Merge_scientific. The three sizes are as follows:

Small: 24/40 Flask joint and 24/40 Outlet joint
Medium: 34/45 Flask joint and 29/42 Outlet joint
Large: 45/40 Flask joint with dual 24/40 outlets

*All heads use GL14 for Heating/Cooling supply.

The last (Large) 45/50 model also allows for an additional spinning band to be installed if you'd like...
Click to expand...

how much take my money!
 
SkyHighLer

SkyHighLer

Got me a stone bad Mana
ICMag Donor
Veteran
SkyHighLer said:
The high end SPD kits come with temperature controllers that have both power and temperature control. I only know of two plug-n-play controller brands that have both functions, J-KEM's, and Glas-Col's like the 108A L14-1800.

https://www.jkem.com/temperature-controllers/precision-controllers/model-210-controller

https://www.glascol.com/precision-controllers


Or here's a better controller that anyone should be able to wire up themselves for less than a couple of hundred bucks. Controller, solid state relay/heatsink, thermocouple, and an extension cord for wiring, maybe a project box.

Still Heat Controller for Distillation Process Automation
Starting at: $67.95

Model: DSPR220

https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=53&products_id=559


"Application Example for Alcohol Distilling

Set the high power accelerated heating limit to 170.0°F (76.7°C) and power output to be at 100% of the element capacity, set distilling power at 30%. Set the foreshots/heads alarm at 172°F. Set the distillation ending criterial to be either when temperature rise to 175.0 °F or when the time is more than 3 hours. When the controller is powered up, it will heat the wash with full power. After the wash temperature reaches 170°F, the power is automatically reduced to 30%. When temperature reaches 172°F, the alarm will beep four times to notify the operator that temperature is close to the alcohol boil temperature so that he can remove the heads. Soon the temperature rise to 173.0°F, the timer is activated. After distilling for a while the content of alcohol is depleted and temperature starts to rise. Once the temperature reaches 200.0°F, the heater is turned off and the controller will send long beeps and flashing "End" on the display. if the temperature does not rise to 200.0°F after 3 hours, the heater will also be turned off. During the distillation, the user can use the rotary knob to fine tune the boil at any time. The figure below shows how the power is correlated to the temperature and time."

https://auberins.com/images/Manual/DSPR220_manual.pdf

https://auberins.com/images/Manual/DSPR400_manual.pdf

Auberins has DIY kits and plug-n-play options, about $300 ready to go.

https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=64_65&products_id=533


Or, I devised a setup utilizing a Variac for the power regulation which provides the advantage of being able to overdrive the heater at 130% of it's rating.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8050263&postcount=240

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8064606&postcount=241

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8067913&postcount=243

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8069624&postcount=244

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8073018&postcount=246

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8074191&postcount=247

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8075322&postcount=248
Click to expand...


Lab Society now has their own temperature controller with power regulation as described in my quote.


Digital Temperature Controller And Monitor
$1,305.00

https://labsociety.com/lab-equipment/digital-temperature-controller/
 

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