Just got my new 60L Centrifuge and have so many questions!

[therealganjfather]

No more bucket tek and pandas for me!

This is a major upgrade and I’m super stoked, but a few challenges have arisen.

Right now I’m trying to find a good source for larger 3/4 inch (19mm) vacuum line along with 1-1/2 inch (38mm) solvent intake and exhaust line as well as a pump to transfer the tincture from the exhaust port to my holding tank.

Is there anywhere to get this quickly that you guys know about?

Also I do have some program questions from those of you guys that are operating centrifuges.

What run cycles have worked best for you?

Here’s what abilities I have.

For Extraction:

Forward run time (___ seconds) Forward run RPM (300 max)
Reverse run time (___ seconds) Reverse run RPM (300 max)
Cycles (___) *how many times back and forth between forward and reverse

For Dehydration:

Ramps up to 1500 rpm (max). How long are you guys dehydrating at max rpms for?

My parameters per batch are going to be around

• 25ish #'s T biomass (8-12% depending on the trim)
• 25 gallons Ethanol at -40c to -50c

I know the Cup centrifuge says you can do like 400-600 #'s a day which seems crazy. I’m used to soaking for like 40 minutes at a time but there’s no way I could soak that long to achieve anywhere near those numbers. I’m very interested to hear some input!

Also last thing I’ve seen some differing opinions on is how many times you would use a tincture to soak fresh biomass?

I’ve been doing single soak extractions for 40 minutes, then from filtering straight to solvent recovery. But if I could get like 2 or 3 soaks out of the same 25 gallons of ethanol that would rock my socks off.

I do have a fraction finder that I want to try and implement eventually, but as of now I just want to get running and then begin to fine tune as I get the process dialed

Thanks in advance guys!

Heres some pics of my progress!

[tweedledew]

Soak bad spray good.

[tweedledew]

It washes the cannabis and then it washes the cannabis some more

Have you heard? It is possible to get damn near perfect crude at -20°C in ethanol. No winterization required, little to no chlorophyll or other gunk that makes your life hard. I saw this: Here: @CollectiveObjective is 100% correct. Reducing your opex in a commodities market is mandatory, not optional. Otherwise you get crushed. It reminded me that I’ve been planning on making a post on this topic for a while now. So here it is. @MagisterChemist managed to produce this with a spray was…

[therealganjfather]

@tweedledew

Soak bad spray good.

Lol

Soak works pretty well - spray is better tho yes hahahahaha

[thesk8nmidget]

@therealganjfather

Soak works pretty well

if you want to pick up more impurities, yes.

[tweedledew]

Buy a nozzle, befriend a welder, change your life for the better.

[therealganjfather]

That all sounds great, once I comprehend the concepts of what I’m currently venturing into.

I’m a one man show and already spent a fortune on this piece of equipment. Right now I’m looking for specific advice to help get operational, I can’t afford the time to go down an entirely new rabbit hole right now.

[tweedledew]

I’d argue you can’t afford not to.

But…

I find about 2.5-3L of solvent per kg of decent quality biomass will get you to a saturation level.

Test your starting and ending biomass often and you’ll get a feel for saturation levels.

You’ll also be wasting a ton of extra time winterizing and post processing, while creating a worse color and poorer quality extract.

But do what thou wilt; keep your expectations aligned as such.

[cyclopath]

@tweedledew

I’d argue you can’t afford not to.

I recommend @therealganjfather have me out for a site visit…I mean who else has managed to make these things go WOOF and kept at it?

How do you make a centrifuge go WOOF?

once upon a time, @anon16547145 warned us about the problem… but when pressed for more detail, didn’t have anything he could share. …other than it was from our silenced @spdking. I had one of the fuges in my whirled go WOOF! today, and I figured it was worth mentioning. I haven’t finished dissected it yet, as I’m on my way out of town today, but it’s pretty clear from the video and the aftermath what when down. I expect to find that the shaft seal failed, followed by the lubricant being w…

[cyclopath]

@tweedledew

befriend a welder, change your life for the better.

Or at least change where the seals rubbed grooves in the drive shaft for the better…

At the machinists right now. The lathe we’ve got isn’t big enough to swallow this, so had to buy an assist

[cyclopath]

@therealganjfather

I do have a fraction finder that I want to try and implement eventually, but as of now I just want to get running and then begin to fine tune as I get the process dialed

no. you want to use the fraction finder to dial in your process WAY FASTER than can be done without it. Seriously!

@therealganjfather

I can’t afford the time to go down an entirely new rabbit hole right now.

new? it may be new to you, but imo it is proven tek at this point. Cold ethanol pumps - #11 by cyclopath
I’ve been spray washing since Dec 2018.

slightly earlier than that if you count the onsite training course I did up north.

I pitched the idea to my handlers back in 2015…(they would’t throw $3k at a prototype).

[Filterman9]

Hello therealganjfather, we are a filter company but we can supply pumps as well. We like pumps that are variable speed and that can supply a constant flow (selected) and pressure for filtration. Let us know what size pump you might be looking for. Thank you, Greg

[cyclopath]

@therealganjfather

What run cycles have worked best for you?

Here’s what abilities I have.

For Extraction:

Forward run time (___ seconds) Forward run RPM (300 max)
Reverse run time (___ seconds) Reverse run RPM (300 max)
Cycles (___) *how many times back and forth between forward and reverse

just ignore those…

pretending your centrifuge is a washing machine is not good practice…they are designed to SPIN, not agitate.

unlike your washing machine, the rotors in these things are MASSIVE (much mass), so switching directions takes real work…

You’re using a TEFC motor, but if you run those below their rated RPM the fans ALSO runs slow…

I’ve heard tell of motors getting hot enough that they were approaching the auto-ignition temperature of ethanol…because they were being “agitated” at 3 hz.

edit: the guys I’m currently working with have a pile of OEM Chinese motors that they managed to overheat playing this game. The company they had in to fix them actually made the problem worse by changing the gearing when they swapped motors.

I get that you’ve done skinned this cat before…AND the data suggests that one can get boneless, skinless cats in less time, with less solvent, less chiller, AND less unwanteds if you run your centrifuge correctly.