Hey guys! Stoked to finally post on here. 
Firstly, you guys are awesome. The community behind this forum has singlehandedly taught me more information than I have ever found otherwise… And more than I could have ever expected. I am stoked beyond words be part of the team. I am really hoping your collective skills and expertise might be able to shed some light on my situation. 
So let’s get right to it.
I have been consistently running into problems with the texture of my end product. It always comes out like sap, no matter what starting material I use. We’re talking super sticky. Not even close to a snap n pull like texture. Looks more like distillate with a bunch of terps and a great smell.
I am running a Bhogart Horizontal BHO CLS w/ 2 LB material tubes (Looks just like this one https://bhogart.com/product/bhogart-6-horiztonal-extraction-kit/ ). Trs21 recovery pump. Using a pond pump and a Polyscience LXC to maintain water temp of 80F that flows outside the horizontal evaporation chamber to help with solvent recovery.
MY GHETTO CRC:
I have been using CRC medias. I just load the medias first at the bottom of the column and the material on top. I wanted to replicate a CRC without purchasing additional columns, so I beefed up filters at the bottom of the material column. This has worked successfully to consistently produce a lighter colored end product from material that otherwise produces a far less satisfactory coloration without using the ghetto CRC.
These are the CRC medias that I am using from the bottom up: 100g Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth (Harris brand from hardware store), 200g T-5 Bentonite Clay (from Carbon Chemistry), 100g 60A Silica Gel 200x400 mesh, and 100g Activated Alumina (from Carbon Chemistry). In the past, I had also used 100g of Food Grade Activated Charcoal on top of the alumina. However, after finding that it could adsorb THC, I decided to stop using it in hopes for even slightly better better potency and/or yield.
I am running a CRC to utilize about 300 lbs of old material that is otherwise useless to me. Times are tough for me financially, so obtaining more fresher material is not an option until I process this material.
SOLVENT:
Due to tough financial times and the increasing difficulty in sourcing solvent tanks, I have resorted to purchasing large 750ml butane cans from a local smoke shop and using a can cracker to load them into a 20 lb propane tank sized tank. From there, I distill the solvent to remove any contaminants in the butane (such as the famous “mystery oil”). I pull it through my molecular sieve as well to eliminate any moisture. Then it runs through the condenser coil (on ice to keep pressures low) and into my main solvent tank that holds about 24 lbs of solvent when full.
I run my solvent at room temp. I know some people swear by running cold solvent, but I don’t have another condenser coil to run dry ice before the material column. Also, if i were to run super cold tane it would likely clog up my filters at the bottom of my tube even more than the CRC medias, slowing solvent flow even more. That might make things difficult. But in the past I have had no problems running room temp tane and getting stable shatter/honeycomb. It really comes down to the quality of your material at that point.
MOLECULAR SIEVE:
The sieve that I am using is the one that comes stock on the Bhogart linked above. Essentially a 2 inch spool that is 12 inches long, full of 3a Molecular Sieve Beads (from Xtractor Depot). I have made sure to change the beads each run to maintain consistent moisture removal. I was worried that the moisture might have been a factor in the runny consistency of the end product after researching the topic on this forum. Additionally, before running my material, I spread it out on a tarp in a small sealed room and run a dehumidifier overnight. This is to help remove any additional moisture from the material before extraction, thus further minimizing moisture content inside the machine.
PROCESS:
When I run the machine, I dump the solvent through the material tube. The CRC medias at the bottom of the tube slow solvent flow significantly, so it takes around 30 minutes for most of the solvent to run through. After that 30+ minutes, I fire up the recovery pump and run it until most of the solvent is recovered. The solution at this point has only a couple lbs of butane left in it. Then I move it to my honeypot and recover more of the solvent. Then I get the PSI down to a little over zero so I can pull the lid off and scrape it out and on to parchment paper with a silicone spatula thingy. Patties are then loaded into a 1.9 cubic foot vacuum oven, heated to 90F, and left overnight for purging. I have a Robinair 6cfm vacuum pump running the whole time. The next morning I open up the ovens, throw the patties in the fridge to get them more stable, flip them, and then throw them back in the oven. After the 48 hour purging process, I remove the vacuum and let the patties sit for an hour at temp to get the patties looking all sexy and uniform. Afterwards, patties are removed from the oven to get them to room temp.
This method used to work flawlessly for me in the past, and I was able to produce shatter or snap n pull reliably with a 48 hour purge at about 90F. However, my process was different. This was back in the day when I used to open blast (with distilled butane) into a pyrex dish, scrape onto parchment, and throw in the oven with the process mentioned above. But running the CLS, it seems that no matter what, after the patties are pulled from the oven and get to room temp… They are still sticky. Really sticky.
I also recently tried to make crumble. This was attempted by whipping the shit out of a run and putting it on heat at 110F overnight with no vac. Came back and the consistency is pretty much identical to the patties purged for 48 hours at 90F. Not even much if any nucleation. WTF, right?
I have even attempted to use a heat gun on the patties. They don’t turn any more shattery. It blows my mind. Everything I have tried that has worked for me in the past has seemingly been rendered useless. It has proven to be very frustrating. I am hoping that this is where you guys come in.
After eliminating moisture with fresh sieve beads and using a dehumidifier on the material pre process, I figured that the CRC medias are most likely one of the factors causing the sappy texture.
POST CRC SOLUTION PH REMEDIATION:
After reading for countless hours, I have learned that CRC medias can change the PH of the solution. Solutions that are too alkaline inhibit crystal formation. This would likely pose a problem for those trying to make stable shatter or honeycomb like I am, as well as problems for crystal formation making sauce. Many of the CRC medias that I am using are alkaline, so I figured that PH might be a factor. This is another reason that I stopped using the activated charcoal that I have. The charcoal that I was using was 20x50 mesh and was made from coconut shell with a PH between 7 and 9. If the PH is the issue and if I were to continue using charcoal, I should have used hardwood charcoal, considering the PH is between 4 and 5.5. But either way, it still adsorbs THC, so I’ll likely scrap that all together for now.
With these seemingly countless sticky patties, I was considering making sauce with it. People tend to like it, and it seems like a much more viable product than this stick sap. I have never made sauce before, and was hoping to get some more equipment so I don’t use my oven space for extended periods of time. Nor can I afford a cryofreezer at the moment. So it would be in my best interest to figure this out before spending my limited resources on something that seems shaky at best. And if the PH is an issue, I might run into problems getting crystals to form altogether. Definitely don’t want to end up out of resources and with equipment I can’t use effectively.
To counteract PH issues, and without purchasing different CRC medias, I came up with an idea. I was considering loading some food grade citric acid on top of my medias before the material. This would effectively lower the PH of my solution. I found this information on a thread where people were talking about remediating the PH of distillate. However, they waterwashed the distillate after using the citric acid. Citric acid is harmless when ingested, but is it safe to use in the CRC? Is it safe to smoke minute amounts? How soluble is it in butane? How acidic is too acidic? If safe, how much should be used? Endless questions! I would definitely like to avoid having to purchase more CRC medias, as my budget is really tight. Since the pandemic, I have had almost no legitimate income… So exploring this citric acid possibility might just be the thing that saves my ass. Whether or not I might have to bite the bullet and buy different CRC medias, this option seems worthy of interest.
QUESTIONS REGARDING SAP CONSISTENCY:
Is my warm water too warm at 80F?
Is canned butane really just butane? Or am I unknowingly running a mix of solvents?
Is the butane really too warm at room temp?
Is the butane in contact with the material for too long and extracting undesirables that make sappy product?
If the product is dissolved in solvent for multiple hours, could it denature it enough to produce a sappy product? (slow recovery pump)
Are the CRC medias to blame?
Am I using too much media?
Is it changing PH drastically and inhibiting product stability?
Should or could I make sauce successfully instead?
Can I use Citric acid without washing it out of the end product?
Is it safe? How much to use? Soluble in butane?
CONCLUSION:
Any worthwhile information I receive will be utilized through trial and error. I plan to do experimental runs and document them on this thread with photos and thorough descriptions of my processes. Feel free to DM me if you feel inclined to do so. All assistance and wisdom is highly appreciated. I look forward to not only perfect my process, but learn anything related to the chemistry of these processes as well.
Thanks for everything, guys and gals.
Tried my best to be thorough in a rush!