[frazierk]

I have been playing around with separations a little bit but the high terpene portion (HTE, HTFSE, sauce, whatever you want to call it) always comes out dark and pretty viscous, and I can't figure out exactly what to do to get a lighter and less viscous extract.



I pack columns with really high quality dry trim/larf that is only a week or two old, and sticking them in the deep freezer over night. I use a 70/30 n-butane/propane mix chilled on ice water then injected through a coil om a dry ice/isopropanol slurry. I am having to push a lot of the gas through the column by injecting nitrogen through the chiller coil at 50 PSI or else it wants to stay in the column.

I am currently not dewaxing or using a molecular sieve.

This is the only time I see any extract I make come out dark. When I make pull 'n snap or shatter it always comes out looking gold. I use the same process except I pull a muffin when making pull 'n snap/shatter and pour when making separations. What might be causing the dark color to come through with the separation but not with the pull 'n snap/shatter?



I have come up with a few possibilities:
- The chiller coil I am using isn't long enough as it only has a single layer of coils and isn't getting the gas cold enough.
- I could use a gas mixture with more propane or some iso-butane.
- Gas is contaminated with water (however I am seeing no nucleation in shatter/pull 'n snap).
- Not dewaxing fully (does a single solvent dewax help remove dark color?)

What do ya'll think?

[Digital Man]

Originally Posted by frazierk

I have been playing around with separations a little bit but the high terpene portion (HTE, HTFSE, sauce, whatever you want to call it) always comes out dark and pretty viscous, and I can't figure out exactly what to do to get a lighter and less viscous extract.

View Image View Image View Image

I pack columns with really high quality dry trim/larf that is only a week or two old, and sticking them in the deep freezer over night. I use a 70/30 n-butane/propane mix chilled on ice water then injected through a coil om a dry ice/isopropanol slurry. I am having to push a lot of the gas through the column by injecting nitrogen through the chiller coil at 50 PSI or else it wants to stay in the column.

I am currently not dewaxing or using a molecular sieve.

This is the only time I see any extract I make come out dark. When I make pull 'n snap or shatter it always comes out looking gold. I use the same process except I pull a muffin when making pull 'n snap/shatter and pour when making separations. What might be causing the dark color to come through with the separation but not with the pull 'n snap/shatter?

View Image View Image

I have come up with a few possibilities:
- The chiller coil I am using isn't long enough as it only has a single layer of coils and isn't getting the gas cold enough.
- I could use a gas mixture with more propane or some iso-butane.
- Gas is contaminated with water (however I am seeing no nucleation in shatter/pull 'n snap).
- Not dewaxing fully (does a single solvent dewax help remove dark color?)

What do ya'll think?

Just think ........... it wasn't that long ago (2 years ?) that nobody cared if it was dark or not .... as long as it was loud and potent. Welcome .... to the machine.

[Thomas@LRL]

Originally Posted by Digital Man

Just think ........... it wasn't that long ago (2 years ?) that nobody cared if it was dark or not .... as long as it was loud and potent. Welcome .... to the machine.

That isn't true. The majority of the people processing two years ago didn't know what factors were impacting the color or how to avoid initiating such a change. We have learned an awful lot about the associated plant biology and chemistry since then and can now deliver more accurate criticisms.

[Gray Wolf]

Originally Posted by frazierk

I have been playing around with separations a little bit but the high terpene portion (HTE, HTFSE, sauce, whatever you want to call it) always comes out dark and pretty viscous, and I can't figure out exactly what to do to get a lighter and less viscous extract.

View Image View Image View Image

I pack columns with really high quality dry trim/larf that is only a week or two old, and sticking them in the deep freezer over night. I use a 70/30 n-butane/propane mix chilled on ice water then injected through a coil om a dry ice/isopropanol slurry. I am having to push a lot of the gas through the column by injecting nitrogen through the chiller coil at 50 PSI or else it wants to stay in the column.

I am currently not dewaxing or using a molecular sieve.

This is the only time I see any extract I make come out dark. When I make pull 'n snap or shatter it always comes out looking gold. I use the same process except I pull a muffin when making pull 'n snap/shatter and pour when making separations. What might be causing the dark color to come through with the separation but not with the pull 'n snap/shatter?

View Image View Image

I have come up with a few possibilities:
- The chiller coil I am using isn't long enough as it only has a single layer of coils and isn't getting the gas cold enough.
- I could use a gas mixture with more propane or some iso-butane.
- Gas is contaminated with water (however I am seeing no nucleation in shatter/pull 'n snap).
- Not dewaxing fully (does a single solvent dewax help remove dark color?)

What do ya'll think?

Dark colors suggest C-30 molecules, because the cannabinoids are white to light yellow and the mono/sesquiterpenes are mostly colorless.

I suggest trying alcohol and dry ice to get your injection temperature below -30/50C.

The C-30 anthrocyanin plant pigments also exhibit the Beers/Lambert effect when it comes to light refraction and color, so the beaker will always be significantly darker than a thin film.

[frazierk]

Originally Posted by Gray Wolf

I suggest trying alcohol and dry ice to get your injection temperature below -30/50C.

See the thing is I did use an iso/dry ice bath with a pre injection coil and it still came out that dark. However I just upgraded to one of bizzybee's units which uses liquid CO2 for cooling and has a dewaxing chamber so that should help me get the result I am looking for. I will report back and let you ya'll know what I find out.

[Thomas@LRL]

Originally Posted by Gray Wolf

Dark colors suggest C-30 molecules, because the cannabinoids are white to light yellow and the mono/sesquiterpenes are mostly colorless.

I suggest trying alcohol and dry ice to get your injection temperature below -30/50C.

The C-30 anthrocyanin plant pigments also exhibit the Beers/Lambert effect when it comes to light refraction and color, so the beaker will always be significantly darker than a thin film.

Is there a way to improve the color in post processing via carbon or bleaching clay? I know that Carotenoids degrade at 260C but that's a bit high temp for cannabis.

[Digital Man]

Originally Posted by Thomas@LRL

That isn't true. The majority of the people processing two years ago didn't know what factors were impacting the color or how to avoid initiating such a change. We have learned an awful lot about the associated plant biology and chemistry since then and can now deliver more accurate criticisms.

I was referring to the consumer.

[Gray Wolf]

Originally Posted by Thomas@LRL

Is there a way to improve the color in post processing via carbon or bleaching clay? I know that Carotenoids degrade at 260C but that's a bit high temp for cannabis.

Joe has done good things with bleaching clays and chromatography beads.

I've improved color with charcoal, but losses of target elements was high.