3 * $10-15K still seems better than $60 - 80K for a CUP15. May be a good alternative if the machine specs are up to par with what the CUP provides. I am no expert on the specs or operation though so I couldnt speak to that. Also not sure how accurate the chinese machines are on what their rated capacities state. In other states Im sure it makes sense to spend that much on equipment, but I work in $800/liter land (OK).
Could also just use the same motor in a different room with a 20’ belt…
The Chinese vs American centrifuge argument really kinda boils down to a few things
Are you in hemp or thc? If hemp, China kinda makes more sense. The regulations are more laid back. If you’re hemp and GMP, a cup might make more sense.
If you’re thc, you’re better off buying a cup imo. 300 lbs of biomass a day is a good scale for disti on thc. Even 800 a liter still makes you several thousand a day. Then there’s the licensing. If your thc state doesn’t require asme cert, they more than likely will at some point and downtime might eat the money you saved on Chinese stuff.
As far as working on the machine or repairing it yourself, China is better if you’re knowledgeable and handy. They can send you parts and you can put them in. If you’re not, you need customer support and you won’t find someone as quality as delta in China as easily.
So really it just comes down to what you’re trying to do
Is that all a cup30 is good for? Goddamn maybe I should be selling fuges…
That’s the 15. But again, it’s certified and provides local customer support. A non stamped centrifuge the same size as cup 15 is only worth 10-15k imo
But I wouldn’t recommend selling any equipment right now. All equipment manufacturers I’ve talked to are bleeding
Cup15 is a 450mm basket? We’re doing 120 dry kg/hr through our fuge that size… And I want to hit 200kg/hr before the end of the year.
I was mostly joking about selling fuges - I have no interest in being an equipment vendor.
On thc?
Whatever cannabinoids are in it. THC, CBD, CBG.
Yeah I mean in a hemp lab with next to no regulations it doesn’t make sense to run a cup as I mentioned earlier
As with all things, it’s a tool in the toolkit, and how useful it is depends on how you use it. We’re regulated to an absurd degree up here in Canada and using China fuges… And ours works fine on hemp.
Yeah, here in the US a lot of thc states don’t allow a centrifuge that isn’t stamped. China fuge wouldn’t belong in that tool bag
Those are all great points! I am not in the extraction space currently so I dont know the ins and outs across markets but have a background in engineering so my perspective is always “Can I do this cheaper than others so it makes sense?”. So I appreciate the perspective.
I would think for most the technical side of modding extraction equipment in a compliant manner would end up being more costly in time, fabrication, and certs than just buying a CUP anyways. I do think depending on how creative one can get there may be solutions.
Yeah I mean, I’m not shitting on Chinese gear by any means and don’t mean to give that impression.
In my experience if you get a good relationship with a Chinese manufacturer it’s just as good as an American one. China doesn’t have worse quality manufacturing, they have worse quality control. They’ll ship out shit they know isn’t right and just hope for the best sometimes. You develop a relationship with a good one, especially if you’re handy in a shop, you’d hardly be able to tell the difference. Finding the right one can be difficult but there’s good ones out there.
A lot of problems from china manufacturers actually comes down to operators not understanding how to pair ancillary equipment properly so being knowledgeable, using China stuff isn’t a hinderance as long as you know what it can handle.
But yeah, as far as licensing goes, If it’s gotta be certified to be in the facility, it’s gotta be certified. Modding it technically takes it out of certification so if you mod (which I’m also not against at all) do it after your inspection 
Also worth noting, you can get any centrifuge peer reviewed (as long as it’s built properly) but peer review all said and done, about 20k
So instead of spending 15 on a Chinese unit and 20 on a peer review, buy my brand new cup for 30k 
Which is why $3k is worth looking at seriously.
You have centrifuge for 3k?
Quality control and finding the right manufacturers is absolutely key. A good sourcing agent is a great resource for those who can find them.
That pricing said though, if the original units are up to par on the actual hardware to pass a cert (or you are capable of modifying in a way that would pass), then obtaining it is a one time cost. If you are a multi-state operator, the cost of a $20K cert isnt much if your continual cost per device to set up an op in a new market is only (unit cost + (cert cost / total units)). So if you hit 5 states, that cert only adds $4K/ unit. (Assuming you are capable of getting the QC issues resolved as you stated). I think the same could be said for a multitude of extraction equipment commonly used.
Unless I am being overly optimistic about fire code and requirements across markets in extraction. Which I might be. I’m just spitballing thoughts on the matter to explore the possibilities. Already doing similar things across markets so I would love a way to roll out (even small volume) etoh extraction as well.
I think that’s mostly correct but you’d still have a $5k cost per unit for a field review, basically just the engineer showing up and verifying the machine is aligned with the blueprints. But yes, if it’s several states or even several units in one state, it could be worth it to do the peer reviews yourself