New to Closed column extractor

[Jesse.stoner]

I'm new to closed column extraction, I was wondering if there's any tips you guys can help me with. I have recently bought me a 45 gram closed column extractor and vacuum pump. I was told to pack tune close top valve appt vac hose to bitten valve turn vac on, let it pull vac, close bottom valve put butane on top and release top valve tell no more butane goes in, let it soak(but don't know how long seen people say only mins and some ppl say alot longer) then open bottom valve and let solvent empty into Pyrex.? Any tips or ticks or missing steps would be much appreciated.

 

[Bmg1982]

I'm new to closed column extraction, I was wondering if there's any tips you guys can help me with. I have recently bought me a 45 gram closed column extractor and vacuum pump. I was told to pack tune close top valve appt vac hose to bitten valve turn vac on, let it pull vac, close bottom valve put butane on top and release top valve tell no more butane goes in, let it soak(but don't know how long seen people say only mins and some ppl say alot longer) then open bottom valve and let solvent empty into Pyrex.? Any tips or ticks or missing steps would be much appreciated.

I'm not a big fan of "closed column" extracting for general blasting purposes, as my guess is that you didn't go the "closed loop" route as that's quite an investment.

My favorite use of your typical closed column system are the ones with the dry ice sleeves. You fill the sleeve with dry ice pellets, and all your concentrate gets winterized in line after a two hour soak. Typically when soaking for too long without the use of dry ice, it will allow the temps of the butane to go up which allows for more chlorophyll to pass, which is not what you want.

My advice would be to just run it open. Lowest possible temps all the way through your process will yield your best results.

- freeze your product pre blast
- freeze your butane pre blast ( make sure butane is not leaking before freeze, the colder butane gets the more liquid it becomes, a leaking butane can put into a freezer could end badly if the gas doesn't have time to liquidfy and your compressor kicks on)

As far as your vac process, a lot of that will depend on the efficiency your pump and oven, they are not all created equal.

Aim for a pull of 29.5 - 29.8 hg, any more your pump will start pulling out terps, and any less you won't be able to purge properly. My oven never goes over 90f

How often you run your pump, or for how long will depend on your equipment being able to hold those parameters.

If your looking for straight shatter you will need to winterize, otherwise you will wind up with "snap and pull".

 

[Bmg1982]

Other things that will make life much easier, and help you get the most out of your equipment are the simple things. The PVC ID hoses w/ steel insert, and ball valves on my pumps are a must, especially if working w/ an oil pump.

 

[AnselAdams]

Other things that will make life much easier, and help you get the most out of your equipment are the simple things. The PVC ID hoses w/ steel insert, and ball valves on my pumps are a must, especially if working w/ an oil pump.View attachment 933813

Awesome. I have been looking for something like this. I was able to find nylon reinforced hose. Where did you find this and does it come in other diameters?

Thanks in advance

 

[Bmg1982]

I believe best value vacs stock hoses like that in a few different sizes that will work with certain ovens, you'll have make sure you use fittings with proper ID dimensions and use hose clamps to tighten down. Some pumps use 1/2 inch Acme fittings, so I use a 1/2" Acme Yellow Jacket ball valve, usually just buy them from Amazon. 3/8 and 1/4 "flared" is most common with most pumps.

I work on old industrial Yamato ovens, that utilizes 1"ID so I had to use a reducer to go from 1" ID to 1/2" ID.

Some modern ovens utilize KF25 fittings, in that case, that's the best way to go.