How do your store filled cartridges?

Hash and Stuff Vape Carts
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Sorry for what is seemingly a dumb question. I filled a bunch of carts last week, 2nd pass distillate with 5% by weight added terps. After mixing in the terms I stupidly vac sealed the jar which led to this:

So now I figure, it’s not wise to store the carts under vacuum which was my plan. Figured they need to be stored under inert atmosphere and all I could come up with with what I had on hand was storing them in a plastic container with a gasket and spraying in a good bit of this (mix of nitrogen, CO2, argon for preserving opened bottles of wine):

https://www.amazon.com/Private-Preserve-Wine-Preservation-Spray/dp/B0000DCS18

Well, that container was surely not air tight and today I noticed the dreaded red ring on the top of the cartridge:

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So my question(s):

How do you store filled carts? I imagine it’s best to store them upright? So no just throwing them in a mason jar and filling with inert gas. What kind of container / solution do you have for this problem? I’m thinking some kind of air tight chamber with a port for gas attachment. Just wondering if anyone had any good over the counter solutions so that I don’t have to reinvent the wheel here.

Am I wrong that they shouldn’t be stored under vac? I fear the added terps will cold boil and I’ll end up with a shit ton of bubbles. Tomorrow I plan to put a couple carts under vac to check, but in the mean time, any advice?

Also, should I expect the red color to get worse? Kind of freaking out. These are the 2nd batch of carts I’ve made so I’m quite new to this. The first ones were d8 carts that I made accidentally by either improperly filtering AC scrubbed 1st pass distillate or not adjusting the pH of the ethanol/oleoresin solution. For some reason the distillate after 2nd pass never oxidized/turned red. Subsequent batches of d8 did, so not sure what was up with that one.

Would you consider these carts (the ones in pic) sellable? Is this common enough to be expected by retailers? Kind of stressing out about them.

And no, this material was not degummed. I did a test reaction after acquiring some degumming enzyme which is waiting to be distilled again. I put a pause on degumming until I could figure out if it can be done in ethanol, as mixing with just hot water was a royal pain. From what some very informed and highly respected people told me, it is possible to degum in ethanol without significant denaturation of the enzyme, so I’ll be doing that on future batches. Really really hoping that solves the red / oxidation issue. But even if it does…how best to store carts under an inert atmosphere, while keeping them up right?

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Use fire ass first pass thats already got some color in large batches… mixed out its light yellow

Then just toss them in a box and dont worry about that ever again :man_shrugging:

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Thanks for the post, I had read that a while back but after this incident:

I figured vacuum was a no go with terpenes. I’ll vac seal a few carts tomorrow and see what happens.

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I just meant to share the thread not that specific post sorry. At the end the guy said he started capping them faster and the problem went away. might be related to the bubbles

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You also don’t want to vacuum as it can cause carts to leak. If you really need to store them for whatever reason, sealed no vacuum in a refrigerator. I have r n d carts from 2 years ago that look the same as they started.

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Air tight and cold or with nitro flood

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What kind of container?

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I used to have this problem. Hot condensing and filling/capping really fast fixed my problems. I found a cart in storage that had been sitting for a few months and hasn’t changed color.

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Order 32oz plastic jars off of amazon. Put carts in bags in one direction 25 each bag straight. You can stack them upright 2 times. Holds just over 100 ,so make 100ct jars. DM if you need pic. They stay secure, the jar is airtight, and it’s a very convenient vessel for storage

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Well turns out even my disty turns red. Took about 3 months. Some carts I started then never finished when testing flavors

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does d8 get the “red ring of death”?

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Yes when exposed to fresh air

Pink

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I’ve seen pink stuff on the shelves, w a hue darker at the top. Might be the d9 tho lol

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I’ve spoken with a bioscience professor at UBC and he’s told me there’s a few papers being released soon™, commissioned by private LP’s, who agreed to allow publication of results.

The TL;DR is that he has a long line of vials full of different stuff sitting in open sunlight and they all change. The color changing is a degradation. What is it changing into? He either didn’t know or wouldn’t tell me.

But I’m not a scientist and this meeting was months ago and I don’t take notes, I was there for other reasons this was just something I was curious about.

We recommend to store carts upside down and in a dark place.

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@FTLD-X

Why upside down?

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Put them in the refrigerator. The bigger the air bubble the more oxygen = more oxidation
But keeping them cold slows the oxidation to a minimum

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Because some cartridge sellers created a guidline since some of the cartridges leak, but thats from filling to hot or too much terps or shitty cartridges, not from how they are stored.

They claim that storing them upside down prevents leakage, they also say they need to be capped within 2 minutes of filling, which I also find to be false, the way I fill them at least.

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It stops the oil from absorbing into the ceramic. If you store them right side up, after a few weeks it will appear underfilled

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Long overdue reply.

Upside down prevents leaks during transportation. Changes in air pressure and temperature cause pressure shifts which push the oil around in the cart. In the worst case scenarios, this can cause leaking or minor clogging. Upside down prevents that.

Also, no tank is a perfect vacuum. Imagine your thumb over a straw filled with water. Would you keep the open side facing down, or up?

It’s not rocket science, it’s just simple logic. Leave a cartridge long enough standing straight up and unless the contents are a solid, they will eventually leak. Maybe months, maybe years. Upside down, this basically cannot happen, or if it does, far less frequently or with less intensity and not in a way that majorly disrupts user experience.

The 2m recommended capping guideline came from preliminary work done with large processors who have developed internal best practices. The biggest companies practices tend to be come standards over time so we just simply adopted their policies.

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