Extraction Tube Questions

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marauder

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Extraction Tube Questions(large tubes)

I have a large glass extraction tube about 2 ft long and almost 2 inches in diameter. Does anyone have any tips on extraction and cleaning when dealing with a tube this large? Very interested in learning how to get the best yield/getting all your oil out and into the pyrex with such a large tube. I am totally new to BHO, I've read a lot of material about it but am still learning the art of it all through trial and error. Lots of gratitude to you guys on here, probably would have blown myself up if not for you, thanks.
 
Splifferous

Splifferous

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I have a large glass extraction tube about 2 ft long and almost 2 inches in diameter. Does anyone have any tips on extraction and cleaning when dealing with a tube this large? Very interested in learning how to get the best yield/getting all your oil out and into the pyrex with such a large tube. I am totally new to BHO, I've read a lot of material about it but am still learning the art of it all through trial and error. Lots of gratitude to you guys on here, probably would have blown myself up if not for you, thanks.

iv'e been dabbing and blasting for a couple months now, but im a *very* fast study and since basically switching from nug to oil completely, i have accumulated a decent working knowledge of the technique, and the variables involved.

my first thoughts about your tube is that its huge. huge in general, but particularly for being glass. i prefer to use mt stainless steel turkey baster for nug runs, and i use 2" ABS tubes very occasionally for trim runs, and that is normally a 12"-15" length packed very snugly with trim. i usually get around 1.5 oz in the tube. and remember that its roughly 1 can of butane per oz of material in the tube. i suggest that you get the filter clamped (hose clamps ftw) on, steel screen too for added safety if you want (filter on the inside, screen on the outside; using the same one hose clamp). then weigh the tube assembly and write the number down. pack it as tight and even as you can with a dowel or similar. then weigh it again. subtract the start weight and figure out how many cans you need according to the 1:1 ratio. then cap it up (for the ABS tubes i use a 2" ABS test plug; plumbing dept at ace hardware) and secure that with a hose clamp too. 2 feet of tube will prolly need 2 cans minimum of butane, and thats bound to make the glass pretty cold. use gloves (fuggit, protective eyewear too while were talking about pressurized explosive solvents... blowouts *can* happen, and BHO in the eye has got to suck some serious ass). also, blast the butane in in 10-15 sec intervals, and then ease up on the pressure on the can so that it stays attached, but isnt spraying. hold that for a 5 count, then 10-15 sec of spray, 5 off, etc. this will help to prevent pressure from building up too much in the tube, lessening the chance of a blowout. do this until the discharge from the tube is running clear. at that point no more spraying is needed, but keep the can attached and the tube vertical until it stops dripping. i usually get a friend or the wife to put a 2nd set of hands on the tube so that we get heat into it. it seems to make the dripping run out a little faster. bottom line here, is make sure that the only way for pressure to get out is thru the filter.

some tips that i dont want to omit:
-all butane action happens OUTSIDE.
-NO SMOKING once the butane cans come out to play.
-tear off the extra coffee filter. extra filter leads to extra leaching of the oil as the run progresses. extra coffee filter WILL capture oil that would otherwise end up in your dish.
-if using a glass tube, inspect it before every run for hairline chips or cracks. do not use a damaged piece of glassware for pressure applications.
-heat the water for the hot water bath inside and carry it outside for the run.
-catch in a clean dish.
-make sure nothing can fall into the dish you spray into while spraying.
-have extra hot water and an extra can of butane ready.
-cut the end of the butane adapter tips to open them up for better flow.
-pre-tip the cans, especially if using more than one can.
-hot water bath until the bubbles stop and the dish is not cold; a cold dish means its still off-gassing butane. if the water is too cold at this point, add more hot water, thats what you took it out there with you for!
-purge well.

i use a blow dryer on high to heat the dried off dish from the bottom side, then place it on my nalgene vacuum plate and under a 100w infrared lamp at a distance of 5-6 inches. after 3 or so minutes of warming, the pyrex chamber goes on (to the infrared can stay on and keep doing work) and it gets vacuum purged in 5-7 cycles. the first 3 or so pac pulls are low pressure; just to get the oil to foam up. i then vent the chamber and go again. once the oil doesnt foam up to the point of wanting to get on the chamber, i just let the pump go for whats usually 4-5 minutes, until the foam oil collapses like a bad souffle, well, actually about 1-2 minutes past that point. then i vent the chamber again and use a small butane pen torch to raze the bubbles at the surface and heat the oil. dont dwell on one place, and dont get close with it - do not burn your oil. basically use the torch to tell you if the bubbles you are razing have butane in them or not. flareups are butane bubbles, and more purging is required. 4-5 cycles of purging at this point usually gets the oil to a point where no more bubbles appear under 25mmHg of vac and heat. then let the oil cool to room temp, ideally over-night. you will see some really fine bubbles on the surface in the morning, which can be razed with the small torch again.

hope this helps to take some of the guess work out of your upcoming run!
 
Hashmasta-Kut

Hashmasta-Kut

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you say a lot of stuff thats unecessary and not quite right. im not sure why you felt the need to make such a huge post, it didnt really answer the posters simple questions.

for a tube that large, i would say its too large really. 2 inches diameter is inefficient, it would take a lot of tane to fully leach your material. i recommend closer to one inch in diameter. to clean a glass tube easily, do it immediately after you use it, it comes out quite clean then. its probably not a great idea to use hose clamps on glass tubes. i broke one once, i use zip ties on them.
 
Splifferous

Splifferous

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sorry, didn't mean to offend.

the OP stated that they were "totally new to BHO", and as so I opted to not be stingy with sharing some of the ways that i get things done as well as some often skipped safety pointers. i wasn't professing to have the perfect tek, just trying to reflect on what he said that he has and not assume that he was beyond reading someone else's input.

i agree that hose clamps arent ideal, but then as far as i'm concerned, it's not ideal to use glass tubes period; and zip ties are terrible at holding the filter as securely as a hose clamp would. i totally endorse the smaller diameter tube as you do, tho, as alluded to by my stated preference for SSTB/steel mesh/hose clamp.

cleaning is simple. wash it out with alcohol. iso = topical or filter & evap and dab as you would reclaim, or use ethanol for some wash you can mix with and drink.
 
M

marauder

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Thanks a lot to both of you. I got the picture while doing a test run that the tube would be inefficient due to it's size. During my test run I felt like I lost a lot on the inside of the tube. Spliff, what do you mean by pre-tipping the cans? Thanks.
 
Splifferous

Splifferous

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if you gotta do a run so large that you are going to need more than one can of butane, i suggest that you prep each can by putting a tip on it so that its ready. this is presuming that you have a hole in the cap that requires an adapter tip rather than accepting the nozzle directly. if you do have to use the adapter tips, i suggest cutting off the endmost bit that as you look at the tip you can see would restrict the butane flow.
 
M

marauder

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Thanks Spliff and HMK. One last question: My friend has a tube about an inch and a half in diameter and about 17 inches long. What do you guys think about a tube that size? Still too large? Thank you guys for your time and advice, really invaluable to me.
 
Splifferous

Splifferous

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experience is the best teacher. has your friend used that tube before? any input on that particular tube from them? whats it made out of?

as far as im concerned, large tubes are for trim runs while small tubes are for nug, kief, or hash runs. i totally agree with HMK that smaller diameter is better, as you will get much better penetration/saturation/extraction from the butane. 1 inch is a pretty ideal diameter. if you simply cant get a thinner tube, go with what you have, but understand that the run won't be as efficient. if you are running small amounts of quality material, then you might really want to look into a stainless steel turkey baster. bed bath & beyond has them cheap. this way, you get a thin tube perfect for nug runs; its short for like 7g or so (doesnt take alot of butane like a 2"x24" or 1.5"x17" would); wont chip, crack, or break under normal wear; is excellently compatible with the butane; can take hose clamps and not crack; stores easier; etc, etc, etc. the benefits of these go on!

so what that you cant see thru it; ive never had an extractor tube that i could see thru, and im honestly fine without the worries of a glass tube shattering while in use.

if you have alot of trim to process, maybe kief it out, and blast on the kief? youtube for dry ice hash. ive done that before to take 80g of trim down to the kiefy goodness, and then sorted that all into a few SSTB runs parsed with clean cotton balls (i was afraid that issues would arise from packin the SSTB straight full with kief - best to err on the side of caution.) and scored a huge yield of oil without having to pass butane over all 80g of trim.
 
Hashmasta-Kut

Hashmasta-Kut

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i agree that hose clamps arent ideal, but then as far as i'm concerned, it's not ideal to use glass tubes period; and zip ties are terrible at holding the filter as securely as a hose clamp would.

cleaning is simple. wash it out with alcohol. iso = topical or filter & evap and dab as you would reclaim, or use ethanol for some wash you can mix with and drink.

zip ties work great, never had a zip tie failure. as far as glass tubes not idea, it makes very little difference. i used steel for years, and now glass for years as well.

you dont need to use and solvent to clean a glass tube as i mentioned you just need to empty it right after using, and it remains almost perfectly clean. i never clean my tube, and there is no cross batch contamination.
 
Hashmasta-Kut

Hashmasta-Kut

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Thanks Spliff and HMK. One last question: My friend has a tube about an inch and a half in diameter and about 17 inches long. What do you guys think about a tube that size? Still too large? Thank you guys for your time and advice, really invaluable to me.


1.5 inch inner diameter, or outer?
 
M

marauder

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HMK, inner diameter. Thank you sir!

Spliff, it's a glass tube. He's never used it. Also, may I ask what your yield was when you extracted all that kief?
 
Hashmasta-Kut

Hashmasta-Kut

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it might not be terrible, but i think a one inch ID tube 25.5 inches long would be the same volume, and would extract more completely with the same amount of butane. i cant say for sure the numbers, i havent done a test and measured it.
 
Splifferous

Splifferous

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sorry, but i didn't have a scale handy at that time so i wasnt able to observe yield. if i recall, the dry ice method gave up a little over 10% after 3-4 minutes. from that, i would have to guess that the oil yield was in the ballpark of 6 grams or so. a guestimated 13ish%, but took alot less butane than 80g of leaf woulda, and i was still able to make some badass butter out of the trim post dry ice.
 
PhoebeWindle

PhoebeWindle

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I am looking to start making butane wax and I know someone who blows glass and so I get to custom my extract tube. Unfortunately I am unaware what the difference in size determines ?? Better wax, better quality or just easier handling while processing? More wax versus less wax? I want to know what someone who has been doing this for a bit longer thinks. What size extract tube would one prefer, and why?
 
Graywolf

Graywolf

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Thanks Spliff and HMK. One last question: My friend has a tube about an inch and a half in diameter and about 17 inches long. What do you guys think about a tube that size? Still too large? Thank you guys for your time and advice, really invaluable to me.

I no longer use open tubes, but when we experimented with tube size at SPR, we found that skinny tubes are more efficient than fat ones, because of a fluids tendency to flow through the center of a tube where the resistance is lowest. Anything smaller than about an inch ID gets to be a pain to load and unload as it gets longer, so we ended up standardizing on one inch tubes, which we had made to our design at a local scientific glass supply for $1 per inch, plus $10 to dome one end and flare the other, plus a full anneal.

We had them made in 12", 24", and 36". We vote with our feet, and the 36" got used the most, the 12" second, and the 24" seldom.
 
Graywolf

Graywolf

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PS: If you pack a coffee filter in the tube first, so it covers the injection port, it helps diffuse the butane over a larger area and wets the material more evenly, as well as protect the hole from particle blow backs if you release pressure.
 
Calixylon

Calixylon

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Unless you have a vac oven or purging ability, the oil most likely is gonna have residual butane. When i first started smoking concentrates solvents inside the oil was normal. I first smoked "hash oil" back in early 2000, this was ISO and it was black, tasted gross, and if i had it now i would never smoke it. Then i got "Honey Oil" a few years later around 2006 at college, this stuff was unpurged, super super sticky, got everywhere, and still didnt taste great, but got you wrecked, this oil i wouldnt smoke if i ever saw it agian, same consistency as Solventless Oil, exept it had alot of solvents.

With that whole description im trying to get to the point of, homemade oil, made by inexperienced folks is dangerous to make, and probably not very healthy to consume, especially if you have any intention of selling the oil, or giving the oil to anyone besides your self, that is if its made improperly. Without an expensive vac oven, or chamber, whihc it sounds like you dont own, the oil you produce will most likely not be that great. If your blasting super fire headie nugs then youl probably get good looking and yielding prepurge, but without a vac oven your left to do a heat purge, or just let it sit out. If you do a heat purge, those headie great nugs just got ruined, and most of the good terps will be lost from heat, if you let it sit out itl probably have quite alot of residual butane.

Then theres the whole things about "mystery oil" in canned butane, and if you dont remove that stuff, its also in your oil. I know your probaly gonna blast anyway, but once you realize the quality you produce at home is npt gpnna be great, even if you use absolute fire, it will turn to shit without proper equipment, but if your just running trim and whatnot, just make some cannabutter, or dry ice kief it, then rosin out the drysift/ kief. Your lungs will thank you, also to whomever said they used ABS or plastic, thats just gross and unhealthy.
 
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