It seems I must have read the term from @Photon_noir and not a previous post by @Beaker. My apologies. You’re both super smart guys talking about the same super cool process so I must have gotten you confused!
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@Photon_noir are you saying the “louching” (or liquid to liquid extraction… not sure what else to call it at this point) would still be possible with heptane and Ethanol instead of methanol? As I understood the process the immiscibility of the solvents is paramount. Ethanol would seem to fall short here.
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It turns out the that I am a loucher and just learned about it!
I had an early theory when I started all this that I could add water slowly to isopropyl alcohol and have the cannabinoid seperate. I disolved the extract completely in isopropyl alcohol first. It did indeed seperate as you see. It just rolled out of solution so to speak and reminded me of a worm. I was an unwitting loucher!
The problem I was faced with after the photo was just how the hell to seperate the micro emulsion worm from the rest because they did not form different layers. As I added more water it sort of got worse but at least some seperation was possible.
I was a new loucher and didn’t know what to do next… 
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@Beaker they say you always remember your first! 
I’m glad you posted this picture as it matches closely to what I was picturing in my head! I’m super excited to try this once I can get my solvents lined up.
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Full disclosure I had trouble repeating this. I had to add the water carefully to the side of the funnel. That brown “worm” is delicate to say the least. A glass stir rod dipped to pull some out simply passed through like nothing there but broke it up a bit.
As I recall freezing the louched product (frozen louch) was the best bet at the time so the milky liquid poured off but lots of loss that way too. Good luck! 
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I am new to this industry, but have you tried using a little brine (saturated NaCl in H2O) to break that emulsion up?
I have used salt in a variety of these applications. I realize that brine washes are SOP for many but for me the salt just got in the way later really. I have since gone to a full LLE type of extraction with methanol, water, and hexane. This procedure removes then the terpenes mostly and some gums and scums and there is no salt traces to cope with at all.
There are several paths towards refinement. I will always defer to the path requiring the least number of steps and least number of components. I also obviously default to more or less well established procedures. LLE is a very old procedure and the core principles involve immiscible liquid phases. You can google liquid to liquid extractions to see more about the core principles for LLE and you will see my own procedure is a copy cat from the book. Salt would not normally be an extension of LLE.
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Right on. That makes sense. Thanks for explaining your reasoning.
Can you send me info about your manifold please? Interested is seeing how it can assist us with workflow and deeper vacuums.
Cheers,
FCE
Are bellow hoses worth the upgrade?
I’ve definitely gotten lower stable vac with the bellows compared to any type of hose. That being said my laminar has gotten 88 micron mid run and my gls dipped to 99 micron but mainly at 100 micron. So until I get my pump running at factory settings I don’t have a true knowledge of boths systems full potential. I’ve seen someone post 31 micron with gls, but it didn’t say if that was on an empty system or mid run.
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I get into the 30s mid run with GLs on a second pass.
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What does gls stand for ?
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Well, it’s gl connections. I don’t know what the gl stands for. The threaded barbed connectors that are normally used with hose.
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Btw, what hose are you using and what pump?
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What’s the main benefit to this shotgun hot condenser tek compared to a typical short path setup with cow adapter? Do the head fractions separate better giving better color/clarity and smell or is it faster overall?
Does anyone have a picture of a basic setup like @anon42519203 was describing made on the cheaper side? That seems like a good idea for a wide bore cold trap, but not sure if I fully understand the order of the parts.
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The reason is it creates and environment where only distilate will condense. It works so good, but you cant use a cow. Check his page to her a general idea of what is needed to do the hot condenser tech. If tour looking for a great oil heater i suggest @usalabequipment. I have there 5l and it is perfect for what your teying to do is tbey uave tons of awesome equipment on there site. I cant recommend them enough, they have absolutely the best customer service of all the companies (and ive used them all) out there.
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2nd usalabs
Im local to them
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