Ok so I’ve recently started switching my runs from flower/trim to dry sift hash & dry ice hash. Now my reasons for doin this is to increase my work load. Now to explain a little of what I’ve tried so far,
I’ve started by using the follow in this order material column with 3 filter plates to make sure none of the material gets thru, to dewax with filter flare with a 10micron screen, to a CRC then to my collection vessel which is at 45-50F on collection then about 80f for recover.
Solvent I’m Running is N-Butane 70%-30% (butane-propane)
The CRC measurements for powders I’m using @Dred_pirate procedures
Now to the tricky part so my very very first run I did was without the CRC with 2lbs of material in my column and I was able to get about 9.5lbs of solvent in my system and it reached roughly 65-70psi. This was with regular dry ice in the dewax sleeve. At the end of the run I yielded roughly 410 grams on the first pull which was amazing don’t get me wrong looked like shit but straight up impressed my yield. Then when I tried to recreate the same things I did for my previous run nothing would give. Pressure never got back to 65-70psi aswell as now my solvent intake won’t go passed 5lbs.
Things I’ve tried-
5 parts acetone to 1 part dry ice in dewax sleeve to drop temp
removing filter plates on material column
checked for leaks
-chilled solvent tank before use
-froze material before use
froze column before use
Only thing I haven’t tried is warming solvent tank to forces the gases out which I don’t know if it’s a good idea
Only good part so far about it is if the hash is good enough it pulls clear wen u pour and well if I could recreate my first run then yield would too.
Some questions
Should I try running straight Butane since the boiling point is 30f and there is more condensed liquid passing thru the material?
Warm solvent tank?
Freeze material and column together?
-Try IsoButane?
-Glass beads or stabiles steel sponges for buffers between material?
I would use the dewax as a second vessel or wait to add the dry ice til you know its all dissolved so you dont get clogs or mix with material and avoid all that
Dry ice hash will literally crush your trichs and can cause a lot greener extract, I feel like you already figured this out but its worth mentioning. I try to to steer people away from dry ice hash if they are going for quality. As for quantity, go for it
As for operation if you’re looking for high pressure I’d say 70/30 blend or nitrogen assist. Can’t say for sure why your first run had higher psi, maybe you lost butane in your first run so you didn’t even have enough butane to get to 60psi in your second. There’s about a 5-10% butane loss per run.
What kind of solvent tank are you using? Does it have a dip tube or are you going through vapor port? I’m only running 1lb system, but I send 3lb solvent over then open my bottom valve to crc then to collection. And then let 5lb flush through system
My collection is also on dry ice to avoid vapor lock. I never see past 20 psi in any part of system.
I’m actually having clogging issues. I’ve had awesome crc runs that were done in 2hours but this last week I’ve been dealing with clogging in my CRC. The run will start out great but within 5min it starts to slow down considerably. Today I noticed it was happening when I turned on my recovery pump.
I use dry ice and iso to freeze my de wax column. I use 400g of T41 and 125 of silica gel for 4pounds of biomass(shake) mixed with kief.
I’ve actually solved the issue two days ago. I think it was a combination of things. Back pressure I think was playing a part. Also the multiple recovery pumps. I’m now utilizing a certain tool and I can now get my dewaxing column as cold as possible with no worries of freezing up the CRC. I’ve now got a run down to about 2 hours.
