DIY THC Vape Juice w/ Ethanol Extraction / Winterisation / Ethanol Purging / Vape Juice Infusion

[JokerJR]

Howdy all,

Long time reader first time poster. Ok, let’s get straight to it. I’m attempting to make some THC vape juice from some dry herb on a budget, in the most efficient and safest way, in that order.

From considerable reading, I’ve come up with a step by step process, but would appreciate criticism from any and all comers. I’m hoping to refine this process with the right guidance, and identify any potential hazards or lack of efficiency or foresight I’ve had in the end product.

• Isit better to decarb before extraction? Or after? Or decarb before extraction and then decarb extract before mixing with liquidiser - heat for over an hour @ 240c to decarb extract?
• What would be more efficient for decarbing? Herb in Mason jar covered in tin foil? Herb placed uncovered on parchment paper on baking tray? Herb placed in silicone baking tray and covered with tinfoil?
• Best decarb time/heat 40 mins @ 240f ?
• As for Winterisation, is leaving the decarb herb in the ziplock bag with chilled ethanol for 3 minutes enough? Will a longer time have a better rate of extraction?
• Is .22um filter paper overkill? Should I go for .45um filter paper for first extract filter?
• Best extract to e liquid ratio ? 1g to .5ml ?

I will be sacrificing 7g of dry herb and my measurements of ethanol for extraction are approx. Ok, from my understanding this is how I will best attempt this feat;

1. Decarb dry herb

• Preheat oven to 245F / 118C.
• Lightly split herb by hand and place herb in a lightly sealed mason jar.
• Place a lightly wet kitchen towel on a baking tray, and place mason jar on the kitchen towel.
• Place in the over for 40 minutes.
• Shake mason jar every 15 mins.
• After 60 minutes remove from oven and allow to cool out of direct sunlight.

2. Winterisation

• Freeze 95% food grade ethanol at -20C / -4F (in a standard freezer) for 48 hours.
• Freeze decarbed herb in tact in a ziplock bag at -20C / -4F (in a standard freezer) 48 hours.
• Quickly, remove chilled ethanol and herb in ziplock bag from freezer and submerge the herb in ethanol.
• Ethanol / Herb Ratio I’ve seen are: 4-20ml of ethanol per g of herb (7g) = 7g / 28ml - 140ml, but up to 100-150ml per g = 700ml - 1050ml.
• Swoosh around the ethanol in the ziplock bag, ensuring penetration but careful not to destroy herb for around 30 seconds.
• Return both ethanol and ziplock back to the freezer.
• Leave ziplock bag for 3 minutes in the freezer slightly agitating every minute.
• Filter the contents of ziplock bag into a glass jar lined with .22um filter paper.
• When contents have drained, replace the ethanol saturated herb back in the ziplock bag, saturate again with measurement of chilled ethanol and return both to the freezer.
• Keep jar of filtered ethanol extract aside for next step.
• Perform a second wash, repeating step 5,6,7,8 to create a second ethanol extract.

3. Purging of Ethanol
Ethanol boiling point is 78 °C (173 °F)
THC’s boiling point is 157 °C

• Pour extract into a Pyrex tray
• Heat a hot water bath to 70-80C (158-176F) and place bottle caps inside to elevate the Pyrex tray and ensure even distribution of heat.
• Heat Pyrex tray until no more big bubbles of solvent are created.
• Draw extract through a syringe and express through a .22um syringe filter, for continued heat.
• Place back in water bath, until formation of small bubbles on edge drastically reduces.
• Allow to cool and cover with drying screen to prevent contamination and allowing ethanol to evaporate.

End result : HOPEFULLY some pretty nice THC oil.

4. Final touches

• Upon cooling at around 38- C (100-140F) add wax vapourizer /terps to extract @ a ratio of;

- 1ml per .5g extract
- .5ml per g extract
- 10ml per g extract
- 5-15% to g extract

• Gently stir until reaching the desired consistency.
• Draw the contents up into a blunt tip 1/2ml dispensing syringe while still warm.
• Attach .22um syringe filter and inject into your refillable Ccell 510 vape cartridge.

Any blatant fails? Stupid ideas? Inefficient methods used? Please do feel free to shoot holes in my plan! Hopefully together we can make it better!

A couple questions, any help will be most appreciated;

• Isit better to decarb before extraction? Or after? Or decarb before extraction and then decarb extract before mixing with liquidiser - heat for over an hour @ 240c to decarb extract?
• What would be more efficient for decarbing? Herb in Mason jar covered in tin foil? Herb placed uncovered on parchment paper on baking tray? Herb placed in silicone baking tray and covered with tinfoil?
• Best decarb time/heat 40 mins @ 240f ?
• As for Winterisation, is leaving the decarb herb in the ziplock bag with chilled ethanol for 3 minutes enough? Will a longer time have a better rate of extraction?
• Is .22um filter paper overkill? Should I go for .45um filter paper for first extract filter?
• Best extract to e liquid ratio ? 1g to .5ml ?

 

[cronicoldguy]

If making/extracting oil to vape or smoke, then decarbing the shit dont matter. It decarbs when vaped or smoked.

I only want to decarb if I am going to use the extract orally or for edibles. In my experience, if you decarb the bud/flower, the extract is going to have a horrible taste/flavor. You will lose all terpenes as they are highly volatile. I have never decarbed extract. Only bud/flower.

I personally dont normally cut/thin my extract to run it in a vape cart. If I do, I use actual terpenes I purchased. It takes only a couple drops in a gram or two of oil.

As for winterization, I have tried both methods; sub zero extraction and room temp extraction with post winterization.

I find room temp extraction and post winterization easier and higher yield. Flavor was negligible between the two methods.

Winterization:
- Perform extraction at room temp. I want it all! I do as many washes as I see fit. Usually 4-5.
- Filter out all plant particulate from extraction.
- Pour extract solution into a seporatory funnel (or similar) and place inside freezer. Most consumer level freezers go down to -18C minimum. You will want at least that. The lower the better.
- Allow the solution to freeze for approx. 24 hrs. You will begin to see the fats, lipids, and waxed start to separate and fall out, collecting on the bottom. Open valve on funnel to drain off the 'shit'. Let it rest a few hrs and repeat until no more visible 'shit'. I have a smaller seporatory funnel I pour the collected fats into. Then 'skim' the 'good' solution off top when settled.

Remediation:
Once I am happy with winterization, I move on to colour and chlorophyll remediation. Again simple.
- For every OZ of bud/flower used for extraction, I use 2g Activated Charcoal.
- Add the carbon to the solution and either mix with a stirrer, or shake the shit out of it for about 3 mins.
- Filter immediately thru a Buchner funnel using diatomaceous earth (DE, Celite 545) as a filter medium. Between the two, they will clean your extract right up.
- Try not to use too much carbon. From what I have read and understand, Activated Charcoal can actually pull THC as well.
- I use 1.5 micron filter paper in a Buchner funnel to filter out the DE.

Purging:
I usually purge the extract right inside the rotovap. This results in the oil almost being being the consistency of 'shatter'.

This method results in a naturally full flavored extract for dabbing or vape carts. Full flavor fully depends on evaporation method. The lower the evap temp, the better. That is why I do it under vacuum. I use a rotarty evaporator (rotovap) to evap/recover solvent. A Source Turbo works great as well for smaller batches.

I am no expert and dont profess to be one. Just sharing what has been working for me.

 

[JokerJR]

If making/extracting oil to vape or smoke, then decarbing the shit dont matter. It decarbs when vaped or smoked.

I only want to decarb if I am going to use the extract orally or for edibles. In my experience, if you decarb the bud/flower, the extract is going to have a horrible taste/flavor. You will lose all terpenes as they are highly volatile. I have never decarbed extract. Only bud/flower.

I personally dont normally cut/thin my extract to run it in a vape cart. If I do, I use actual terpenes I purchased. It takes only a couple drops in a gram or two of oil.

As for winterization, I have tried both methods; sub zero extraction and room temp extraction with post winterization.

I find room temp extraction and post winterization easier and higher yield. Flavor was negligible between the two methods.

Winterization:
- Perform extraction at room temp. I want it all! I do as many washes as I see fit. Usually 4-5.
- Filter out all plant particulate from extraction.
- Pour extract solution into a seporatory funnel (or similar) and place inside freezer. Most consumer level freezers go down to -18C minimum. You will want at least that. The lower the better.
- Allow the solution to freeze for approx. 24 hrs. You will begin to see the fats, lipids, and waxed start to separate and fall out, collecting on the bottom. Open valve on funnel to drain off the 'shit'. Let it rest a few hrs and repeat until no more visible 'shit'. I have a smaller seporatory funnel I pour the collected fats into. Then 'skim' the 'good' solution off top when settled.

Remediation:
Once I am happy with winterization, I move on to colour and chlorophyll remediation. Again simple.
- For every OZ of bud/flower used for extraction, I use 2g Activated Charcoal.
- Add the carbon to the solution and either mix with a stirrer, or shake the shit out of it for about 3 mins.
- Filter immediately thru a Buchner funnel using diatomaceous earth (DE, Celite 545) as a filter medium. Between the two, they will clean your extract right up.
- Try not to use too much carbon. From what I have read and understand, Activated Charcoal can actually pull THC as well.
- I use 1.5 micron filter paper in a Buchner funnel to filter out the DE.

Purging:
I usually purge the extract right inside the rotovap. This results in the oil almost being being the consistency of 'shatter'.

This method results in a naturally full flavored extract for dabbing or vape carts. Full flavor fully depends on evaporation method. The lower the evap temp, the better. That is why I do it under vacuum. I use a rotarty evaporator (rotovap) to evap/recover solvent. A Source Turbo works great as well for smaller batches.

I am no expert and dont profess to be one. Just sharing what has been working for me.

Thank you so much, I appreciate all the valuable work and info. Just a couple questions if you don’t mind.

When you say you do 4-5 washes? Would this be leaving the herb to do its thing in the ethanol, and for how long? Also would you re-use the same ethanol extract for another wash? Or would you end up with 4-5 different ethanol extracts? - if so do you combine these together afterwards and purge or purge the different washes separately?

As for purging, I don’t have a rovotap or a vacuum oven. Could another somewhat safe alternative be to heat in a water bath at 70-80c on a hotplate?

Thanks in advance for any comments, glad this method has been working for you well.

 

[cronicoldguy]

Hey Joker,
As I stated I am no expert. I am just posting what I know from my own research and experience. What has worked for me. I am more than happy to share what I have learned. There are a few members here leaps and bounds above me.

This is what I mean by 4-5 washes:

- Bud/flower/trim: Spread out on a sheet of parchment paper in a single layer, breaking up large buds. Allow to dry at ambient room temp/humidity over night or so.
- Typically, I do my extraction in a french coffee press.
- I add approx. a handful of bud at a time to the coffee press and bust it up fairy fine with a stainless steel kitchen whisk. I do this inside the press to minimize transfer loss.
- Pour in enough ethanol so there is about an inch of solvent above the biomass. Stir/agitate with glass stir rod somewhat, soaking for about 3-5 mins. Fill your boots and go as long as you wish. I have let the 'soaks' go for hours.
- Pour contents in a 'receiver' container/flask. Then use the screened press that comes with the coffee press to press and squeeze out all the remaining solvent you can into reciever.
- That is one wash.

I repeat this 4-5 times until I am satisfied I got all I can. A very light coloured solution is a good indicator you are done. I combine all washes. Typically with 1oz of biomass, I will end up with about 800ml-900ml solution to process and distill.

Now you can segregate each wash and process them individually as some others do. I dont. I combine all washes and have one homogeneous solution to distill.

- I then filter out all plant material down to 2.5 micron (Buchner Funnel, filter paper). Pour solution into a separatory funnel and freeze it. The fats, lipids, and waxes will fall out and collect on bottom. This gets drained off the bottom. Repeat until no more visible settling.
- When winterization complete, then I do colour and chlorophyll remediation. Important for a flavorful vape experience.
- Again, simple. Activated charcoal added to solution, stirred, and filtered thru diatomaceous earth. (Buchner Funnel, 1.5 micron filter paper).

This method goes against everything spread across the web; sub zero extraction and minimal soak time.

Regardless of what the industry 'experts' say/claim, this is how I do it. My end product is every bit as smooth and flavorful as the 'other' method. I have done both and compared results.

Ok. Now with that all said above, you are going to have a ton of shit garbage you want to get rid of if you want fine tasting extract. And that is why I say my method goes against everything else you read about ethanol extraction. I WANT IT ALL! Getting rid of the shit is very simple as well. For me it is anyways........ with the equipment I have.

Temperature is your enemy when distilling/purging. The lower you can keep temps for the distillation process will determine the smoothness and flavor profile of your extract. Terpenes are highly volatile. If you wish to retain them, you pretty much have to distill under vacuum. Rotary Evaporation is the most efficient at a 'consumer*' level, but can be expensive. I am doing this as a hobbie as well, so the investment I have made into my lab isnt as painful as it could be for others. *I say consumer level because if you are willing to work with 'junk', a rotovap can be had for cheap. I have a 2L RE-2000B. It is a solid entry level/semi-pro unit and can be had for approx. $3200CAD brand new. I paid $1500CAD for mine used. I would recommend nothing less for a novice as myself. The better your equipment - the better your chance of success. A true pro can wing it with anything.

There are cheaper alternatives to vacuum distillation and solvent recovery than a rotovap, but not as efficient. Such as the Source Turbo. A very simple fractional still can be used as well. The two biggest factors with vacuum distillation I see is vacuum pressure control and temperature control. Those are the two most critical aspects to a successful vacuum distillation. Either one is just as important as the other. You will pay almost as much for a quality vacuum controller as you would for a rotovap itself. I use a J-KEM Model 200 for vacuum control. The water bath temp control is very good with the RE-2000B, so I dont use a temp controller. I do however have a J-KEM Model 210 for temp control when using my fractional still and other processes.

As far as purging goes, again, the lower the temperature you do it at, the better tasting your extract will be. For that, vacuum is your friend once again.

Certainly your water bath suggestion will work better than just letting it sit at atmospheric pressure over time. But again, back to flavor. The longer your extract is exposed to air, oxidation occurs. Not good for flavor profile. That is why better to do under vacuum and then place end finished product in sealed container. Both above methods for purging work, but time is a factor.

AGAIN MY DISCLAIMER: I am no fucking expert. Just a 56 yr old Stoner in the quest of making his own premium high quality extract. (note proper pronoun) lolololol

 

[JokerJR]

Hey Joker,
As I stated I am no expert. I am just posting what I know from my own research and experience. What has worked for me. I am more than happy to share what I have learned. There are a few members here leaps and bounds above me.

This is what I mean by 4-5 washes:

- Bud/flower/trim: Spread out on a sheet of parchment paper in a single layer, breaking up large buds. Allow to dry at ambient room temp/humidity over night or so.
- Typically, I do my extraction in a french coffee press.
- I add approx. a handful of bud at a time to the coffee press and bust it up fairy fine with a stainless steel kitchen whisk. I do this inside the press to minimize transfer loss.
- Pour in enough ethanol so there is about an inch of solvent above the biomass. Stir/agitate with glass stir rod somewhat, soaking for about 3-5 mins. Fill your boots and go as long as you wish. I have let the 'soaks' go for hours.
- Pour contents in a 'receiver' container/flask. Then use the screened press that comes with the coffee press to press and squeeze out all the remaining solvent you can into reciever.
- That is one wash.

I repeat this 4-5 times until I am satisfied I got all I can. A very light coloured solution is a good indicator you are done. I combine all washes. Typically with 1oz of biomass, I will end up with about 800ml-900ml solution to process and distill.

Now you can segregate each wash and process them individually as some others do. I dont. I combine all washes and have one homogeneous solution to distill.

- I then filter out all plant material down to 2.5 micron (Buchner Funnel, filter paper). Pour solution into a separatory funnel and freeze it. The fats, lipids, and waxes will fall out and collect on bottom. This gets drained off the bottom. Repeat until no more visible settling.
- When winterization complete, then I do colour and chlorophyll remediation. Important for a flavorful vape experience.
- Again, simple. Activated charcoal added to solution, stirred, and filtered thru diatomaceous earth. (Buchner Funnel, 1.5 micron filter paper).

This method goes against everything spread across the web; sub zero extraction and minimal soak time.

Regardless of what the industry 'experts' say/claim, this is how I do it. My end product is every bit as smooth and flavorful as the 'other' method. I have done both and compared results.

Ok. Now with that all said above, you are going to have a ton of shit garbage you want to get rid of if you want fine tasting extract. And that is why I say my method goes against everything else you read about ethanol extraction. I WANT IT ALL! Getting rid of the shit is very simple as well. For me it is anyways........ with the equipment I have.

Temperature is your enemy when distilling/purging. The lower you can keep temps for the distillation process will determine the smoothness and flavor profile of your extract. Terpenes are highly volatile. If you wish to retain them, you pretty much have to distill under vacuum. Rotary Evaporation is the most efficient at a 'consumer*' level, but can be expensive. I am doing this as a hobbie as well, so the investment I have made into my lab isnt as painful as it could be for others. *I say consumer level because if you are willing to work with 'junk', a rotovap can be had for cheap. I have a 2L RE-2000B. It is a solid entry level/semi-pro unit and can be had for approx. $3200CAD brand new. I paid $1500CAD for mine used. I would recommend nothing less for a novice as myself. The better your equipment - the better your chance of success. A true pro can wing it with anything.

There are cheaper alternatives to vacuum distillation and solvent recovery than a rotovap, but not as efficient. Such as the Source Turbo. A very simple fractional still can be used as well. The two biggest factors with vacuum distillation I see is vacuum pressure control and temperature control. Those are the two most critical aspects to a successful vacuum distillation. Either one is just as important as the other. You will pay almost as much for a quality vacuum controller as you would for a rotovap itself. I use a J-KEM Model 200 for vacuum control. The water bath temp control is very good with the RE-2000B, so I dont use a temp controller. I do however have a J-KEM Model 210 for temp control when using my fractional still and other processes.

As far as purging goes, again, the lower the temperature you do it at, the better tasting your extract will be. For that, vacuum is your friend once again.

Certainly your water bath suggestion will work better than just letting it sit at atmospheric pressure over time. But again, back to flavor. The longer your extract is exposed to air, oxidation occurs. Not good for flavor profile. That is why better to do under vacuum and then place end finished product in sealed container. Both above methods for purging work, but time is a factor.

AGAIN MY DISCLAIMER: I am no fucking expert. Just a 56 yr old Stoner in the quest of making his own premium high quality extract. (note proper pronoun) lolololol

No dude, thank you so much, I’m soaking all this information up.

So I’m guessing that if I don’t do the activated charcoal and DE filter, I’ll end up with a type of dark RSO after purging? With a load of unwanted gunk in there.

If the activated charcoal may pull the THC, would it not be better to miss the charcoal altogether? Or would this risk the end product being tarnished so to speak.

As for purging under vacuum, I think this is something I’m going to find difficult with the limited funds I posses. I have seen a product, POT by NOID which allegedly extracts ethanol from a wash, although not under vacuum.

I’m torn between the source turbo which I’ve read mixed reviews about and the noid pot, that offers some cool features like decarb/ethanol extraction/infusion. However there is not much in the way of making vape carts with them, but there are official instructions online. How good these instructions and results will be though are anyone’s guess. Do you have any advice on this front? I’m at a bit of an ends of deciding on how to purge my extract on a budget.

I think my decision is between:

- a below par vacuum extraction (source turbo)
- an ethanol extraction not under vacuum (pot by noid)

As I’ll be primarily using my extract for vaping, could you possibly give me a nudge in the right direction of which one would produce a better yield / quality of a yield?

Thanks again in advance

 

[cronicoldguy]

No dude, thank you so much, I’m soaking all this information up.

So I’m guessing that if I don’t do the activated charcoal and DE filter, I’ll end up with a type of dark RSO after purging? With a load of unwanted gunk in there.

If the activated charcoal may pull the THC, would it not be better to miss the charcoal altogether? Or would this risk the end product being tarnished so to speak.

As for purging under vacuum, I think this is something I’m going to find difficult with the limited funds I posses. I have seen a product, POT by NOID which allegedly extracts ethanol from a wash, although not under vacuum.

I’m torn between the source turbo which I’ve read mixed reviews about and the noid pot, that offers some cool features like decarb/ethanol extraction/infusion. However there is not much in the way of making vape carts with them, but there are official instructions online. How good these instructions and results will be though are anyone’s guess. Do you have any advice on this front? I’m at a bit of an ends of deciding on how to purge my extract on a budget.

I think my decision is between:

- a below par vacuum extraction (source turbo)
- an ethanol extraction not under vacuum (pot by noid)

As I’ll be primarily using my extract for vaping, could you possibly give me a nudge in the right direction of which one would produce a better yield / quality of a yield?

Thanks again in advance

Hey Joker,
As I said, I am no expert. Just sharing what I have learned.

Dark extract can be due to oxidation and/or heat. Either one. The less exposure to both during processing and storage, the better.

For use in a vape cart, you want to winterize and filter down as low as possible. Otherwise the carts foul and burn out quick. I use CCELL carts. Cheap and work great for thick oil. Otherwise I dab my extract in a bong. No need for me to decarb.

I have gone heavy with the Activated Charcoal in the past. It wasnt until later I read carbon can actually pull THC. I still use it, but I try to keep it minimal. With that said, I have never tested for thc/cbd, so I cant say how much of an effect. The only 'testing' done was rating a dab on how well it fucked me up. Ha ha. I cant say I have noticed any difference in potency with going heavy or lean on carbon.

As far as not using Carbon at all, in my case, YES. I will continue to use it because the pros far outweigh the cons. It cleans up your extract so nice. Takes all the chlorophyll out as well as other nasties. Resulting in clean, premium, and fine tasting oil. The fresher the bud, the better the oil will taste.

My biggest issue with using carbon is filtering out DE from the solution. For the life of me, I cant keep the shit out. I am using quality 1.5 micron filter paper. Tried using different sized glass Buchner Funnels (perforated, not fretted). Still, once I evap the solution down to where it is starting to look like oil, a shit ton of DE starts to fall out. Doesnt seem to matter how many times I filter prior to evap. Prior to evap, the solution looks pristine. Only an amber hue. Not sure if the DE is getting past the filter paper or going thru it.

From what I understand, Diatomaceous Earth's 'particle' size is at smallest, 2.5 micron. (Please somebody correct me if I am wrong!). So would 1.5 micron filter paper not be good enough to filter out all DE? I am trying to find an economical cartridge type filter safe for ethanol. I would like sub-micron if possible that I can run at least 2000ml solution thru the cartridge in one run. Any type of a suitable and economical filter system. Anything I see on the net is commercial scale.



Here is an observation I have made using carbon in my trials and tribulations. I am not a chemist by any means and very little botanical knowledge. So I cant explain this:

I have used carbon prior to winterization and after.
Prior To Winterizing
- I did initial extraction. Filter out plant material using 5 micron filter paper.
- Add carbon to solution and mix on stirrer for 2-3 mins. Long enough to prepare Buchner Funnel with a cake of DE.
- Immediately filter carbon out thru DE.
- Pour solution into a seporatory funnel and place in freezer at -18C to -20C for 24 hrs.

Activity - No visible activity at all over 48 hrs. No settling of fats, lipids, waxes.

Post Winterizing
- I did initial extraction. Filter out plant material using 5 micron filter paper.
- Pour solution into a seporatory funnel and place in freezer at -18C to -20C for 24 hrs.

Activity - Visible activity at 18 hrs. Fats and shit all collected on bottom and drained off.

So is the carbon used prior to winterization, pulling all that shit out? This is what I cant explain.

As far as evaporating goes, I am not familiar with POT by NOID. So I cant give an opinion on it. I do know the Source Turbo works well if you can afford one. I have one. Distillation doesnt get much simpler or safer than with a ST. Can be used in any room in your house. No explosive vapours. The lower the temps you can do everything at, the better tasting your product is going to be. Plus you recover your solvent.
***Dry the bud/flower at ambient room temp not in oven for best taste. High risk losing terpenes in oven.

If you like science, a simple fractional still can be setup kinda cheap (what I started with). Vacuum controller would be biggest expense. Use a Sous Vide for a water bath. You only need to maintain 40C. As I said in post above, vacuum press and temp control are critical to a successful distillation. Other than that, not complicated. Follow all lab safety rules.
I do happen to find science fun if it is something that interests me. After 30 yrs playing with PCs, I more or less walked away. Price gouging by all the component manufactures. Such as CPUs, graphics cards, and motherboards. Then not to mention vendor greed by scalping graphics cards. Its fucking ridiculous. Spending big money on shit that is obsolete the day before a person bought it. I was all-in. Hangin with the Big Boys and playing with the latest and baddest shit. Busting and leading some benchmarks.
Fuck the PC lab. It was converted into a home canna-lab. The lab equipment I have invested in doesnt become obsolete. Just wear-n-tear or I break the shit. I got no problem with that.
Hope that helps