Cold trap vs Chiller

I am trying to decide between a 5L and a 2L (5 being my preference, I think) Across International is the brand I am looking at. I dont know enough to say which I would like better a dry ice or a chiller. What are the biggest differences I would expect to see between them?

I was hoping someone with more experience could help me find something that will meet my needs without needing to upgrade in a year.

Reality Check: I may be too optimistic thinking I will ever need to upgrade. I dont know that either.

At this time I am self taught on a 5lb CLS from BVV and think I have what it takes to go from there.

I have a nice little 2L short path system set up (I can provide pics if someone would be willing to make sure I did it correctly.)

I was supposed to get a course with this purchase so I was not left fending for myself like I was when I bought my CLS from a local supplier.

I found out after I travelled down to get it that the course was cancelled, and then to top it off, if I wasn't so full of questions, I would have left without carbon or ethanol for the winterization or glycol for my chiller.

I did have enough unanswered questions to get the impression the guy, nice enough and all, while he owned the company was more of a salesman and not someone who has actually run a system. He kept telling me I could get that information from the internet.. Lets hope he was right about that.

So needless to say I dont feel I can depend on him for an accurate breakdown of my needs. I would have been all over one when I went down but there were none in stock. and when I called to ask about the dry ice version he was unaware there was one. So I am here, hat in hand.

I currently have a decent amount of mystery oil BHO from when I first got my CLS mixed in with a mix of ethanol at a rate of 10/1 sitting in my freezer. I was missing the stirrer and a couple of o-rings so my Shorty just sits looking pretty ATM.

I think I have put together enough to fill my 1L limit in my 2L shorty once the ethanol is removed via rotovap, I was of the mind to go down once daily and give it a shake a day while it sits in the freezer I figured it cant hurt while I wait for the system to get up and running.

Which leaves me shopping around for a rotovap and leaning towards a 5L. It is what Mr. Salesman told me that I would need to recover the ethanol when I asked him about it, I did text and ask him about the one I was looking at from Across International and he is now telling me that size might not be enough for me and I might want to upgrade already. How would I know.

I dont want to be taken for a ride and I am hoping that maybe someone can toss me a few links to help out or can give me some sage advice so I can make an informed decision. I read a lot when doing my research as I am sure many do on here, but while I have a general idea I need some real detail.

It is killing me cause I can go to Amazon I can buy 3 5L for almost the same price as one 2L. My mind tells me to buy them and flip the others to pay for the one I use allowing me a system for free.. I would love that... But what looks like a good deal might not be, so before I waste money on a foolish purchase I would like to know what it is I actually need.

I can probably muster up 1 kg every two/four weeks for distillation. I would prefer to sit down all at once and get it dealt with in one event. Saving up my runs until I had enough for a second run.


Questions

(Unrelated to the Rotary part)

-Should I run my fluid through my Buchner funnel more than once since I have nothing better to do? IIRC i read this somewhere, necessary?

-What is my carbon ratio?

-When do I add carbon? Do I put it in at the same time
as I put in the ethanol to winterize? Or after?

Shake it and filter it and it is ready to be put in the RV OR put it back in freezer after I shake it then filter it or ???

-Anyone want to see my setups to tell me what I have done wrong?

I currently have my ethanol/Mystery oil BHO sitting in a 20L water bottle in my freezer.

-Is this okay?

-I know there is a max level for the 2L shorty, but, is there a minimum? I am thinking of 2 or even 3rd (if needed) runs.

-Can I use the plant fats in my lotions/soaps? Lip Balms?

-Is Across International a good middling brand?

As for the rotary evaporator

-Is a manual lift difficult to use?

-Is a power lift going to make or break my day?

-Is the dry ice system going to slow my production line down if I am doing about 10 L of liquid to be RVapped at a time?

-Could anyone give me some of their recovery times and how they recover their ethanol.

-Is the glassware proprietary or standard across the board?

I would GREATLY appreciate any Sage Advice that anyone would consider tossing my way.




Seriously Thank you. It is a big purchase and I want to make the right choices.

Sounds like you’ve got a lot of reading to do. There’s tons of info here at IC so start pouring over the threads. The search function works OK but some folks have better luck using google to search the site.

I can’t answer your questions as I’ve just started using my cls & am learning as well.

A solvent recycler is cheaper and safer to operate than a rotovap.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8080205&postcount=16


Summit Research's Treasure Chest is worth a look,

https://summit-research.tech/treasure-chest/

Gold Leaf's tutorials,

https://www.goldleaflabs.com/tutorial

I'll answer what I can, but take it with a grain of salt. I've been doing a lot of reading and also looking at getting some equipment.

MzGrowItAll said:

-Should I run my fluid through my Buchner funnel more than once since I have nothing better to do? IIRC i read this somewhere, necessary? -You can filter it more than once, it would probably be best to filter it again to see if there is more contaminates left behind, but you would have to winterize it again before filtering it again, maybe use a lower micron filter the second time?

-What is my carbon ratio? -I think its 3% of your alcohol/extract mix

-When do I add carbon? Do I put it in at the same time
as I put in the ethanol to winterize? Or after? -I'm pretty sure carbon scrubbing should be your last step before evaporating the alcohol

Shake it and filter it and it is ready to be put in the RV OR put it back in freezer after I shake it then filter it or ???

-Anyone want to see my setups to tell me what I have done wrong? -I'm curious to see what you have going on

I currently have my ethanol/Mystery oil BHO sitting in a 20L water bottle in my freezer.

-Is this okay? -Shouldn't be much different since you last put it in the freezer, even if it did change somehow it doesn't really matter since your turning it into distillates in the end

-I know there is a max level for the 2L shorty, but, is there a minimum? I am thinking of 2 or even 3rd (if needed) runs.

-Can I use the plant fats in my lotions/soaps? Lip Balms?

-Is Across International a good middling brand? -I would say its a good reliable brand, from what I've found from research, there heads for distillation is lacking but you could change that out when you gain more experience.

As for the rotary evaporator

-Is a manual lift difficult to use? -I don't think it will be hard to use, maybe you might have to put a bit of muscle into lifting the water bath, as I'm sure anything over 5L only the water bath moves up and down.

-Is a power lift going to make or break my day? -Probably won't break your day but I personally would go with a power lift since your already spending all that money

-Is the dry ice system going to slow my production line down if I am doing about 10 L of liquid to be RVapped at a time? -I can't see it slowing your evaporating time down, I personally would get a chiller so I don't have to go out and get dry ice

-Could anyone give me some of their recovery times and how they recover their ethanol.

-Is the glassware proprietary or standard across the board? I'm pretty sure with rotovaps it is usually proprietary, short path is more standard

Click to expand...

Triple J.. Thank you so much for your time. I will pop on with some pics here soon.

Another question (For all)

I already have a 20L diaphragm pump for my shorty, would it be sufficient for a 2L RV?

I really like the idea of of using a solvent recycler never heard of it till now, do you know of anyone in the concentrate industry using one of those? Seems more efficient, I like that its safer to use, I'm assuming its just as hard to get your material out.

This probably sounds stupid but I've never heard of anyone saying rotovaps are very dangerous, is it comparable to using a CLS inside?

SkyHighLer said:

A solvent recycler is cheaper and safer to operate than a rotovap.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=8080205&postcount=16


Summit Research's Treasure Chest is worth a look,

https://summit-research.tech/treasure-chest/

Gold Leaf's tutorials,

https://www.goldleaflabs.com/tutorial

Click to expand...

Yes, the pump will be fine for a 2L rotovap, if you don't mind me asking where did you get your equipment from.

MzGrowItAll said:

Triple J.. Thank you so much for your time. I will pop on with some pics here soon.

Another question (For all)

I already have a 20L diaphragm pump for my shorty, would it be sufficient for a 2L RV?

Click to expand...

Hey JJJ. Sorry about the delayed response

The equipment is AI. Purchased in the Vancouver area

Chiller is typically used for condensing, then dryice is typically used for a cold trap chamber for terpene isolation.

Thanks for sharing MzGrow, I’m pretty sure I know where you got your equipment as I’m in that area.

How’s the AI glass, any leaks and is it sturdy, and what able their heating mantle, is it accurate?

OregrownGreen, she was asking about the types of condenser options offered on rotovaps.

Yeah, JJJ Got it at evolved.

Questions, you see that golden curl shot? Notice the red in the back, those two colours are separable, correct??


Concerning the glass..
I had nothing to compare to connecting the AI glass until I just ordered some from 250/500 mL flasks from amazon made by LaBoy and have no complaints in quality of either... both feel good to handle, and not obvious imperfections. So either they are both decent or both inferior.. I wouldnt know as I just dont have enough experience, but they feel good and solid.. That has to count for something.

I do have a few video clips.. the vacuum was whisper quiet and I am lead to believe that is my goal.. so they are leak free it seems.

Now the mantle thing, out of all my online video watching nowhere did I come across about the drop in temperature between fractions.. talk about hitting the panic button repeatedly my first ever run.

Every drop in temp just so happen to coincide with a tweak I did so naturally I assumed it was my fiddling that was causing the drop.

Fun times let me tell ya.. LOL

So this is what I can say for the mantle. It did its job well for something that seems to be a suggestion at times.

I had the set temp at 40 and when it decided to climb it didnt need to be turned up, it climbed well passed the set temp. It would not even get to set temp until it boiled off that fraction is what I have come away thinking.. correct me if I am wrong please.


Then there is the spinner.. Slow/low 4-700 to start off it seems and towards the end I was up to 1500. Right, wrong??

I have a million questions of why, what ... and would love to bounce techniques around, if you are into a long drawn out conversation. I am one of those who write down the details every 2-3 minutes just so I dont forget what the hell it is I am doing, but if I can utilize someone elses shortcuts.. why not eh.



@OreGrownGreen.. Thanks for the input.. I appreciate it, is it common for the terpene flask to look like it has a layer of ethanol in there was well?