Help with my setup, best heatsource?

[SteelyMcKush]

Hi guys, I just finished my first run with new equipment recently and would like to add some things to improve my tek. Right now top of my list is a laser thermometer and a heatsource for the vacuum chamber.

A bit about the setup. using a QP glass tube with two unbleached coffee filters and a metal ring clamp to hold them down. The herb is all bud decent not amazing shit. but very very dry bud. have a 3 gallon provac chamber with a provac pump. It's 3 cfm 15 micron. gauge says it only pumps down to about 28 inches.





used 4 cans of Colibri butane and blasted into pyrex dish that was in a bigger pyrex dish with nearly boiled water.

after a few water refills and all big bubbles of have popped I brought it in and scraped it onto an nogoo dish. This may have been one of my mistakes I'm thinking parchment paper might have let it heat up quicker and more uniformly.



After that I swapped it back it forth between the vacuum chamber and toaster oven for a few hours. I had the toaster oven set to the lowest temp which was 150 deg F. and had only bottom coil in the toaster oven on instead of both. (Another mistake i'm assuming)






After a few rounds in the vacuum chamber the oil would not melt in the toaster oven anymore even after 10-15 minutes. Without a thermometer, I was worried about overheating it. Another problem I think I had was it was just way too big thick piece of oil to melt and purge properly.

For my next run i'm hoping to add a constant heatsouce to my vacuum chamber so I can maintain a good temperature throughout the vacuum purge. I went looking for a good griddle and IR thermometer but couldnt find anything suitable. I looked into the induction hotplate but they wont work with the aluminium chamber, and I can't find a griddle big enough to fit the 10" diameter of the chamber! Any suggestions??

Any other tips or help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[SkyHighLer]

Vacuum Chamber Heating Options:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=274780

For every thousand feet of elevation your dial gauge will be off by about -1" Hg. So if you're at 2,000' and your gauge reads -27.9" Hg, the vacuum level is actually -29.9" Hg in the chamber. It's only the mechanical gauge that's off, the rest of the system's fine at higher elevations.

 

[SteelyMcKush]

Thanks for the response Sky. So i'm headed off to petsmart to see if they have any good heating mats there. If not is my best bet is a hot water bath?

What do you think of my pictures?

 

[SkyHighLer]

It's cooked, try and limit the temperature to the bare minimum necessary to get the oil flowing enough to release the butane and moisture. With a steady heat source, 115F works nicely with most BHO.

 

[northernkush]

So a large griddle might work? At least will be better than what he has?

What do you mean cooked? Does that mean some THC has been lost? Is it still good to smoke?

Some of mine looks similar to that

 

[SkyHighLer]

So a large griddle might work? At least will be better than what he has?

What do you mean cooked? Does that mean some THC has been lost? Is it still good to smoke?

Some of mine looks similar to that

Cooked as in overcooked, should be ok, could've done better is all.

The thermostats on the griddles and hotplates are simple bimetallic strips opening and closing 120 volt contacts. The set temperature's + band will be large, and the arc from the contacts can ignite butane. Not a finesseful piece of equipment imo... ;-)

Any of these work so much better for the purpose,

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=5915060&postcount=4

 

[SteelyMcKush]

so is it impossible to melt down again at 115f and purge further or no?
Also will it be possible to make shatter like bho with a super dry bud?

 

[SkyHighLer]

so is it impossible to melt down again at 115f and purge further or no?
Also will it be possible to make shatter like bho with a super dry bud?

You passed the shatter state and went on to crumble (wax.) I suggest you use a much lighter hand with the heat, I also limit the degree of vacuum to -29.5" Hg. To just remove the butane and moisture, vacuum purge your oil in a thin film at 115F down to -29.5" Hg for about an hour. At that point I take what I get, if the bud is fresh, I'll get a hard shatter, with older bud it's thick sap, really, really old bud can come out almost runny, but that's an exception. Artificially creating something that resembles natural shatter can be done by further manipulation in the vacuum chamber, read the threads, that's what most of these guys are up to for commercial purposes.

 

[Sirdabsalot46n2]

Hehe .. Sky.... Always learning a lil something from your posts, again; thank you.

@The OP

This^ is about the cheapest way to obtain a very consistent & even source of heat.
This setup allows me to nail 115° F perfectly.. I can slightly adjust the rheostat in very small rotations and control the temp in 1° increments.

It holds temp with zero spikes or drops in temps.

The griddle= 16$ Walmart... Rival, Deep Dish model
50 lb bag of All Purpose Sand = 3.50$ Home Depot.
Infrared Point and Shoot Temp Gun = 30$ Home Depot
A nice Digital food thermometer = 20$ish

This setup is strictly for the final vac Purge, LONG after the liquid solvent has dissipated.

As pointed out by SKH ... The heating system does spark when the element is heated.

I simply first empty a generous mound of sand directly into the griddle, then even the sand out flat then nestle the chamber into the sand.. Then I pour more sand around the side wall of the chamber.

I like at least 2.5”-3” layer of sand..this buffers the uneven poorly conducted heat from a cheaply made griddle, it essentially turns a very cheap griddle into a dependable precise source of low heat.

The food thermometer is placed into the sand in a fashion where the probe is touching the bottom of the chamber and the surface of the sand.

For me; the food thermometer allows me to monitor the oil temp without having to stop the vac process open the chamber and verify oil surface temps.

Food thermometer reads 138° F

Oil surface consistently reads 115° after many verification temp checks.
Hope this helps.
Happy oil making.

 

[SteelyMcKush]

Thanks for all the useful info sirdabs.

I went out already before your post and grabbed a griddle and infrared thermometer.



As you can see the griddle I bought is completely flat, and wont be able to hold any sand...will that make it useless? Should I go back and switch it for different one?

Also I noticed that the laser wont go thru my chamber lid and measure the oil accurately, making it hard to monitor.

 

[Sirdabsalot46n2]

You could still use a mound, but it inevitably would cause vertical or uneven heating.

I would keep your griddle, because it's of better quality..

Grab a stainless steel or aluminum pot or even a clay pot that your chamber will fit into...

Empty sand into that, then nestle chamber in there...
Even more dispersion...better heat control...

Essentially as close to a vacuum oven as possible.
The temp is not accurate through the polycarbonate lid..

Refer to the digital probe thermometer tip above..

Verify temp with digital in the sand , then record temp with IR..

Adjust rheostat on griddle until” calibrated”

 

[SteelyMcKush]

Thanks for all the great info, I'm going to find some sort of pot today, and giver another try tonight. I'll post pictures with the second attempt

 

[SteelyMcKush]

Thanks to your help sky and sirdabs the second attempt went a lot I think. What you think of the pics?

 

[Gray Wolf]

You could still use a mound, but it inevitably would cause vertical or uneven heating.

I would keep your griddle, because it's of better quality..

Grab a stainless steel or aluminum pot or even a clay pot that your chamber will fit into...

Empty sand into that, then nestle chamber in there...
Even more dispersion...better heat control...

Essentially as close to a vacuum oven as possible.
The temp is not accurate through the polycarbonate lid..

Refer to the digital probe thermometer tip above..

Verify temp with digital in the sand , then record temp with IR..

Adjust rheostat on griddle until” calibrated”

Good idea!

 

[Gray Wolf]

Thanks to your help sky and sirdabs the second attempt went a lot I think. What you think of the pics?

View Image

View Image

Certainly in the ball park!

Pictures could be more flattering if more of a closeup, and easier to judge quality.

How was the taste and smell?

 

[SteelyMcKush]

Good idea!

It was! It worked perfectly, kept the oil at 110F the entire time. Thanks again sirdabs.

 

[SteelyMcKush]

Certainly in the ball park!

Pictures could be more flattering if more of a closeup, and easier to judge quality.

How was the taste and smell?

I'll upload more pictures when I can. Taste and smell are both great. Next time should be even better i'm hoping.

Also not sure how to edit a post so, sorry for the double.

 

[Sirdabsalot46n2]

Good idea!

Why thank you GW!

I think a big clay pot (for garden) would be the cheapest option, and conducts heat very well..

I use one as a DIY smoker for bbq.ing
Versatile damn things..lol

 

[Sirdabsalot46n2]

You are quite welcome Steely!!!!!
Glad it worked..

Nice slab o shatter....

 

[dreaded]

sooo... if using the pot with sand in it like above... can't you use the stove top instead of griddle....