Did a quick search of the forum and found minimal information regarding the effectiveness of systems like the Lab Society ASRS. Bumping this up to see if anyone’s used them in the space and can provide some pros/cons.
Thank you!
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Is that a pro or a con?
Or, “yeah, they work great, and you can get something very similar for way less money if you don’t need a UL listed device”?
Not trying to put words in your mouth. Have found paraphrasing effective for disambiguation 
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Just bringing to light that it’s just a rebadged solvent recycling system. Can be bought in China for 5-10% of the cost even ul listed or here in America without the cannabis tax for probably 25-50% of the cost
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I am curios too , if anybody have some hands on experience with ASRS
Any thoughts on the effectiveness of this method? Regardless of vendor?
Just an evaporator & a condenser.
We’ve been doing it for hundreds of years.
Not impossible to get wrong, but hard enough that nobody is likely to be marketing one that doesn’t work…
The question is more one of scale & budget. With a sprinkling of regulatory compliance and safety.
If the object of the game is to remove solvent from plant resins, using something designed with “product” removal in mind can make a huge difference in usability.
Solvent recyclers are generally designed with “clean solvent” as the product.
Leaving your resin where?
The product all collects in the boiling tank which has a tap on the bottom usually. I actually think that could be really useful because you can decarb in the same unit.
Very true. Right now I find myself struggling to find a solution for something in between a 10L rotovap and a FFE. With rotos typically running 1-2gph, and a smaller FFE at 15gph, my phase 1 design calls for 5-6 gph. Primary goal is to minimize operator intervention, secondary goal is keeping costs reasonable. I don’t want 2-3 rotovaps but also not ready to spend $150K on a FFE. So far, my lead options seem to be systems like the ASRS (or maratek)… and potentially one of the larger models by Ecochyll.
Would love to hear some input regarding other options that I could be missing?
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Are you referring specifically to the @LabSociety units?
Why would a solvent recovery unit designed for other industries provide good access to the boiling flask?
“Product” for a “solvent recovery machine” is distilled solvent. Not the cannabinoids left behind in the evaporator.
Not having used the maratek, I am just working from first principles. It is entirely possible that maratek has made boiler clean out trivial. Even if they consider the stuff left in there to be the waste…
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I’m basing this on first hand knowledge that the maratek units have a tap on the bottom and furthermore are easy to clean. I haven’t used a lab society one but I guessed that the design would is similar.
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Thank you!
Having so many sharp minds on this makes short work of the search space…
Thank you for the insights. Do you use a maratek on a regular basis? How are you finding your throughputs vs. their claims? Any other issues you’re experiencing?
that’s common sense for ya
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So i’m guessing from skepticism, until someone uses one of those machines to attempt to make crude and gives a finished product/result pic and lab test of the crude made from one of those units the rotovaps are the way to go.
On that note, has anyone actually made crude using one of those “solvent recovery” machines?
My interpretation of @Alchemist’s comments is that they have made crude in one, and found it worked well.
But you’re right, I might be reading a hair too much into it.
I haven’t made crude in one. I’ve just seen the units and they provide easy access to the tank so whatever problems you may have, cleaning isn’t one. They’re on a pneumatic crank system that can rotate the entire boiling vessel however you want. I think they’ve looked promising but i haven’t used one in this specific application just saw the demo.
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I remember hearing about an ASRS previously, but never looked into it before now. Those of you using systems like these, are you doing so in place of a rotovap to separate ethanol/solvents from your oil? Could it be used to help bring a lower proof ethanol up closer to 190? I’m currently sourcing a larger rotovap, but if an ASRS gives me the same function with a potential bonus of refining ethanol post-chromatography then It seems like a big win-win.