85%+ CBD Distillate that is not re-crystallizing??

How’d you manage that? I suppose that because I’ve only distilled CBD from 1:1 flower extracts that there’s something I’m unaware of. If you used chromatography that’s not distillation, so, that wouldn’t count.

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By putting not fully decarbed crude into a WF. No chromatography.

I don’t totally understand how that’s possible, but, ok. Suppose I should do a bit of research and asking around.

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CBDa (and I imagine other cannabinoid acids) CAN be distilled. The reason it works well with a WF vs ‘SPD’ is short residence time reducing the amount that decarbs during the process. Continuous (short residence time) vs batch (MUCH longer residence time at high heat).

An open mind goes a long way. :slight_smile:

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After some reading I can understand this now, seems everything I had read in reference to distilling CBD was in reference to shortpath.

You must be doing it pretty fast (low residence time) to avoid it. Makes me think my inkling that crystal resistant distillate utilizes CBDA to make it that way was correct.

Edit: How much does this affect residual cannabinoids in your waste fraction? I’m inclined to think that even running low vac you would miss a large portion on that first pass. I’d guess you’d do multiple passes and combine them to ensure you’re not tossing product.

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Yeah in my op I had said it was distillate but after talking to this guy some more he told me it actually was not distillate… He claims it was never distilled so CBDA could very well be possible, yeah?

But are you then saying the heat of the cartridge would be enough to decarb and cause nucleation?

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it is certainly why I can’t see THCA on my GC

you’re saying you can distil THCA?

edit: no you’re not. @ORHemp is.

I too have assumed all distillate was completely decarbed
(my GC never argued either :wink: ).

It makes total sense for WFE, just like it makes no sense for SPD.

…and THAT means I’ve learned something and can go home now…

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Ive seen this but from a different angle GUARANTEED to have nothing to do with CBDa.

Know a guy that distilled his cbd oil at least 8x (sitting in mid-70s the whole time) thinking that each distillation makes product purer regardless of technique. Another friend came by to see if he could crystallize it and the shit just wouldn’t lock up.

Can cannabinoids polymerize in extreme conditions? I feel like this stuff had become a polymer chain or some other situation keeping it in glass phase.

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I have been using not decarbed oil in vape pens without any problems with potency. So the vape pens are actually decarbing while using them (from the first puff on) → Tested with several differnt carts, actually ccell original

Interesting thought.
The guy that dropped off the cart in the original post to us claims this oil in the cart was never distilled…

is there any health concerns when doing this ?


CBDA doesnt crystallize?
Also who is spreading this myth about vape pens not decarbing? Vaporization temperature is higher than decarb temperature… that should be all you need to know.

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To anyone that cares, and because this was the thread that got me to try, it IS possible to distill acidic cannabinoids. Got my test results today.

Out of 43% THCa I managed to distill a batch at 4.5% THCa and 69% THC.

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Yes, I have received a COA from an ORELAP Testing Lab showing small concentrations of thca (5.39 mg / g) along with 80.5% d9-thc for distillate. Was very surprised by this as I assumed virtually complete decarboxylation occurs.

Vape pen definately decarbs thca. For a while I didn’t decarb my vape pen oil. Energy required for the phase transition of solid to vape is far higher than the energy needed to remove carboxyalte group from thc.

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My understanding is that it doesn’t crystallize as easily as CBD and when blended in higher amounts, it will disrupt crystallization by acting like an impurity. So if I wanted a vape cart without a carrier oil, I could blend high CBD distillate (> 70% CBD) and a highly polished CBDA dominant crude and it’d be less prone to crystallization than just a straight CBD distillate cart. Upon vaporization, the majority of the CBDa should decarb to CBD. I’m experimenting with this now.

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What is your process for high polish cbda?

I’ve got some stuff like that on my shelf now, 74% and it wouldn’t crystallize. Difference is it’s made in a wiped film. I think I know why it’s not crystallizing, gonna figure it out in the next couple weeks.

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Im not really debating how it would help stop the crystallization of distillate in carts, Im just presenting evidence that moderatly polished (cold butane extraction with no dewax or additional filtering) CBDa can crystallize. Also I’ve been trying to find out why so many people are under the impression that CBDa is difficult to crystallize when I did it accidently.

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CBDa is more difficult to crystallize. CBD will generally crystallize spontaneously in high enough concentration. CBDa generally does not spontaneously crystallize.

Because lots of people have tried to do it intentionally and were unsuccessful. Just because you had a fluke doesn’t imply that it’s easy. Come up with an SOP that allows one to do what you did reliably with accuracy and give it to the community, I’m sure lots of people here would appreciate it.

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