there are people selling these ‘modified’ to run cooler for essential oil extraction. some people are using potentiometers like router and inline fan speed controllers to control the bottom unit and plugging the top unit into the wall directly to keep the fan speed up.that at a 300 degree cutoff made me figure it was probably a good idea to turn the temp down in some way,.
I think when @SkyHighLer posted his findings with these; He might have been going for yield as well as high potency.
I can’t see these getting much higher than 190f which is plenty low enough for cannabis is the final destination is distillation. I mean I see @Beaker taking iso and setting it on fire. Lol.
Personally I’m about to go down the same road as you but I’m also trying to make my ethanol.
I’m interested as much as you are now. Haha. I was literally gonna use one of these this week to try and recover. Now I might just wait a bit.
Where did you see the operating temp was 300f. That would be way high. I don’t think that temperature is needed to distill water nor ethanol. Let me look at the one I have in my living room.
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Ya see now you got me curious. Mine is adjustable on the temperature not only that. The gauge only goes up to 100c or 212f. Not 300f. And it even says that you need to turn it down for alcohol in the instructions provided.
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I was even thinking about doing a 1000ml beaker or mason jar inside of it to recover the alcohol so the concentrate stayed in a mobile container easy to transfer from. I’ve got a 1lb closed loop extractor so i’m never dealing with more than around 100g of wax at a time so a 1000ml beaker would work perfect for a 10:1. I’m not making distillate as a end product but I do get a good deal of lower quality starting material I’ll strip through carbons, clays, water washes etc and add back terps as needed but i’d like to refrain from destroying any more terps than needed and damn sure dont want a red end product.
can you tell me the brand of your wine distiller? I’ve yet to find one with adjustable heat!
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Oh course man. This was the exact one I purchased. I think there are ones that are cheaper. But this was a top rated seller. I got mine inside of 5 days.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F153129758442
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I use one. Only for small batch runs. Works great
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Good video and good pics of the variable temp distiller, thanks!
The K thermocouple I have attached at the center of the bottom of the distiller vessel reads from 192F to about 217F during distillation. I limit that to 205F, then 202F, then 200F, and then 198F during the final distillations.
In the instructions it becomes clear what’s going on with their controller, it doesn’t limit wattage, it limits at a set temperature. So, the full 750 watts is applied to the heater element, the solution heats up to the set limit, and the power cuts off, the temp drops below the set limit and the power turns back on, over and over. The result is described as the flow of alcohol stopping and starting with a higher temp set point. Even with the temp set point set lower, what’s going on with the boil in the pot is a variable distillation temp, up and down, over and over as the thermostat clicks the full 750 watts on and off to maintain the set temp.
What I’ve done and have suggested is dialing down the heater wattage so you have a steady boil that isn’t excessive and is steady. And then if you want you can limit the set point.
Here’s the other thread I posted in about using a water distiller for alcohol distillation,
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Technically I perform pyrolysis on a test compound, which by the way is not a violation of my apartment lease… the other way said probably is…
It’s all about phrases and the way they are said that puts the poo into the bull.
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I know what you do is extremely well thought out. I was just bringing it up to show a point that I’m fairly certain it gets above 190f.
I really appreciate your dummying down for me and others. Before I came to this forum, I thought if my oil went above 120f that is was degrading the thc which I practically know is not true now. After watching your videos, I realize it’s all the other stuff I’m degrading or loosing at even temps above 80f. But the thc is still there!
I use to baby everything. Now I know there is more than one way to get to clear delta 9. Your techniques and insight give such a fresh look on this compound; I’m just happy to pick up a small fraction of the tricks your teaching.
Thanks always. And I meant nothing negative with the post above. Just that the compound can tolerate much higher temps than this tabletop distiller.
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lol I posted in jest only. Just practicing for when anyone would ever ask me at the apartment and the line of BS would be roughly what I said hehe. I operate from a belief that truth is best but the angle on the truth can persuade if the right words are used.
Without any doubt THC is fairly stable under heat so long as precautions are taken to limit the oxygen exposure and time held at temp. I used to take a torch on really old vids I did and thankfully lost and torch a petri dish with cleaned up extract in it to show a torch does not even produce smoke until it gets butane torch hot and then you have to hold the flame to it. Pretty neat as a demo but of course this test does degrade the stuff albeit at 1000°C + temp a butane torch puts out but overall the THC oil is pretty resiliant and endures short periods pretty well.
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Yes indeed. Thanks. I thought it was gonna take a lot longer to recovery. This thing is recovering about 800ml an hour.
This was a perfect application for my mini lab. Thanks again 
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Now how do i get rid of the smell of chronic in my alcohol? Holy cow there are a good amount of terps in my recovered liquor. It straight smells like weed alcohol.
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Terp-shine is what we call it.
Lol
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Terpeni. Stirred, not shaken.
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That’s a decent drip rate, looks to be about two drops per second. I go for between a drop per second to two drops per second with the power dialed way down on my modified countertop water distiller. A 750 watt water distiller with no temperature control other than the shut off function will stream ethanol out the spout, way too harsh a boil imo, and it makes it hard to find the end point.
Congrats!!
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With a keg, some 2" copper pipe, a tri-clamp, a seal, stainless pot scrubbers, and some 1/4" copper tubing (the soft refrigerator type is easiest for coiling and cheapest) you can make a liquid-managed reflux column that will allow you to produce 95.6% ethanol pretty easily once you get over the learning curve. Mine cost about $300-400 to build and allows me to produce azeo at 2l/hour, though mine is about 2/3 2" pipe and 1/3 3" pipe. Here is a good build tech. I would definitely go with the Dimroth condenser shown first.
https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=36050
Also, instead of buying that expensive threaded adapter shown, I’d opt for a simple ferrule to solder onto the column and allow you to use a tri-clamp to attach it to the boiler.
Also, here is a simple tek on how to wind that coil. I used 20’ of tubing and it was more than enough. I also opted for compression fittings to attach my water-in/water-out lines.
https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=11554
Let me know if you have any questions if you decide to build this. I’d be happy to share pics of my setup as well. Oh, and before I forget, here is also a link for operating instructions. Like I said, there is a bit of a learning curve to figure out your specific still, but generally you want to keep the water coming out of the condenser as hot as you can without any vapor escaping during your spirit run. Make sure to allow the column to vent out the top though, or you’ll face some pretty tragic consequences when you inevitably forget to turn on the water or run the burner a bit too hot for the condenser.
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now i can see why you are trying to turn down the heat…yeah this had no problem like that…it probably due to this is made to counter top distill alcohol not water. I imagine the difference in BP is the reason the water one is getting hotter than the alcohol one running at 100% power like the video is showing. thanks @SkyHighLer
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So I’ve been using a similar countertop distiller for recovery, but my oil keeps coming out really dark. Is anyone else have that problem? It’s going in as a pale yellow solution.
I have my temp ranges and collect rate by the hour for the full 7hrs it took to recover just under 1000ml before slowing to a few drops a cycle and reaching a 13°C temp range(much higher than the 3° swing it started at).
a rotovap will cook your resin less, heat and time are responsible for this.