Copper turned my dabs black!

Growers sprayed sulphur too close to harvest. Best to just send the biomass back to the grower if you can

3 Likes

The farmer used a sulfur spray

Copper sulfide is not soluble in water. Does this mean the hexane/saline water wash wonā€™t work to capture the rust in the water layer? Do you have any suggestions on how I can remove the rust?
It appears that it is soluble in NH4OH, so I could add ammonia to the water to raise the pH and increase the solubility of copper sulfide, correct? Use a sep funnel to separate the two layers, keeping the hexane layer containing the cannabinoids and discarding the alkaline aqueous layer that should contain the copper sulfide. Please advise.

1 Like

Just seems like a lot of work in my opinion to save 1.5 oz.
Edit: Iā€™m not in your situation so thereā€™s that. But I worry about the safety of the extract too.

It does seem like a lot of work for a small amount, but now Iā€™m really curious and enjoy science experiments. A learning experience, and this probably wonā€™t be the last time I need to remediate dabs from sulfur and copper.

2 Likes

I think that after you remove it that it should be reserved to edibles, at best Doesnā€™t sound like there is an established way to do this safely

2 Likes

There is nothing wrong with R&D as long as you have the equiptment. This is the reason we have the biomass tested before we buy in Cali.

5 Likes

purge away residual hexane in a vacuum oven much like butane but at a higher temperature.

i dont see any separation, what will you use to pull the black from the tincture?

This is just a pic from Skunkpharmresearch showing how a ziplock bag can be a makeshift sep funnel. This pic is only showing one layer. Polishing extracts | Skunk Pharm Research

1 Like

Denatured ethanol may compromise the ziploc baggie.

If these are the exact scrubbers you used, you may be getting weird results due to the product just being very cheap and poorly made. The title mentions ā€œcopper coated metalā€, so I am not sure if these are 100% copper.

Also, looking at some of the reviews, many people complain of the scrubber disintegrating quickly, scratching pots more than a true copper scrubber would, stains being left quickly in their sinks and dishes, and one review even claiming the ā€˜copper colorā€™ of the scrubber is leaching out, heavily implying these are not pure metallic copper.

If that is the case, I am not sure what you have in your mixture, and therefore canā€™t think of any simple way to remeditate. Harder to fix when the contents are mostly unknown haha.

5 Likes

The copper coated scrubbers I purchased from Amazon are crap. And I failed to wash them before using them. Whatever the black stuff is (copper sulfide, rust, etc.), I just want it gone! Any advice for removing the black crap is appreciated. Thank you.

Like post before said. Its hard to remediate something if you donā€™t know exactly what it is

5 Likes

Exactly, you are basically asking us to remediate an unknown substance in your oil. As much as it hurts, you should chalk this one up to the game.

4 Likes

I donā€™t know exactly what it is. Iā€™m thinking copper sulfide or rust. Either way, Iā€™m going to keep pursuing this and try to find a solution. Itā€™s more about knowledge and fixing future batches than it is about salvaging 1.5 oz of dabs. Iā€™ll work through this mess and update my progress.

1 Like

This is why you cannot effectively remediate your concentrate. If you had the equipment I would suggest to a CRC column.
Your a mechanic with a broke down car, you donā€™t know whats wrong with the car and all you have is a Phillips screwdriver. Hope this helps explain it better.

4 Likes

Wanna fix your future batches? Use chore boy scrubbies instead of cheap fake copper. Wash them in clean solvent first

4 Likes