Hey everyone - I’ve been reading through the site but I don’t exactly know how to phrase my question in a way that the search bar will find. I’m doing a -60C to -80C extraction using bucket tek. I then take the wash and run it through a couple filter mediums. Then its off to the roto where I hit a 25C 29.5inmg run. Everything up to this point is fine - the solutions are clear as day and looking beautiful. I pour it out of the Boiling flask and onto the Parchment paper and still its clear. Then I pull vac on the vacuum oven and leave it for an hour - come back and theres black stuff that has crashed out of it. I’ll post some pictures but the adsorbents i’m using are in this order of filtration - 2um paper filter<diatomaceus earth<t41<activated hardwood carbon — when I finished filtering I saw no residual carbon so I assumed that the black stuff wasn’t carbon. Also during the process I put dry ice into my 200 proof kosher grade ethanol. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Pictures
$10 says it’s carbon.
take your filtered tincture and let it rest in a jar (60 min?) before you rotovap. if it’s carbon you should see it settle to the bottom there.
carbon!
and lots of it…
Ok so should I just run it through a 1um filter paper after the adsorbent medium?
nah, you should donate $10 to charity and do some reading based on that search query I gave you 
chances are changing the way you make your bed is the key.
and/or add one of these after your powders and before your rotovap
How well did you pack your celite cake? Seems like carbons slipping by for sure.
I didn’t pack it super well - i’m using a Buchner funnel/filtering flask set up.
You need to wet pack the cake, take ethanol and celite and make a slurry. Pour that in, then pull a vacuum on the Büchner funnel.
I’d wet pack every powder like that.
Are you running old material or new fresh material?
Ok so I did pack it then - I pull vac and get my paper filter to lay down< then I add DE and run ethanol through it - about 1.5L< then I do a light layer of t41< followed by a thick layer of AC then I rinse it with another 1.5L<RINse<repeat<3x< then I leave the vacuum on for about 45min to harden the cake.
Fresh frozen
That’s not the same as a wet pack, I don’t believe. I mix mine up in a pitcher and pour the slurry into the funnel. I turn the vacuum on once it’s all in the funnel. Then I shut off vacuum between powders so it doesn’t dry out the rest of the cake.
If running fresh frozen, and doing the extraction cold enough, I’d skip the carbon.
I only use carbon when the extract is clearly loaded with chlorophyll or for old material. That carbon could be stealing some of your terps too.
That’s only drying the cake ouT
This is the correct buchner funnel loading process from my experience, and what I’ve read. I’d add when you’re pouring a slurry on top of another cake, pour gently to not mess up the previous layer.
Yea honestly I was thinking on my next run i’d just skip the AC all together. My wash had a lemon lime Gatorade color - almost gold before ran it through the medium. I was trying to pull some of that out - I think im just gonna use a 2um paper filter<DE<T5orT41… i’ll follow up with some pics after new years.
If you’re extracting at -60 to -80C I don’t see any need to filter your extract. I have never extracted fresh frozen, we always extract dried 8-10% water. Also we extract in a column by flowing EtOH over our bud stuffed in a sock. Our EtOH temps never get below -30C and we filter through a rag to catch any plant material that may have slipped past the paper filters at the bottom of the column. If your extract doesn’t look cloudy in your collection vessel I would skip the filtration steps and just load that extract on to the roto.