220F? Under vac?
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Correct.
If they can put them in smaller packages and vac seal them a little bit (not all the way snug, just barely form fitting) and then freeze it (colder, faster the better), it’ll work better. Don’t let the material defrost. At. All.
Also, how fast are you opening your liquid valve to the material? Are you just turning them and letting it rip, like a psycho? Or, are you slowly opening the valve, letting the solvent start to wet the material, then opening the valve full retard?
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Unless you have a tiny little mol sieve column. You should be able to go several days, given the type of mol sieve you’re using, before you have to regenerate them. They are actually extremely inexpensive, and a consumable. I’d just change them fresh (no regeneration) every week or two.
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I run in Missouri, so it get’s very humid, and we were having some ice buildups. So I just made it habit to change it daily since it only takes a few minutes.
In response to your other reply, I had a lot that I ran last week that frozen in the same manner as this green batch, stored the same and ran the same, that came out so light it looked like rosin. Is there a chance it could be the material? just a few bad batches. It seems like when they come out green the smell is almost kind of planty.
This has happened to a me a few times processing other people’s FF - granted I don’t do solvent based extractions but when you see people who don’t freeze their FF properly you end up getting a rotting chunk in the middle while everything else on the outside is frozen. This happens more often than not when I see people using vacuum bags to stuff their fresh frozen into - since the thickness doesn’t exactly allow the cold to come in quickly it’ll start the rotting process and since the rotting process creates heat it’ll rot longer than you think.
Usually putting it in turkey bags with a VERY small ‘breathing hole’ in the top and not stuffed to the max you’ll almost always get a good freeze. If you can pick up the bag and shake the nugs around where it’s got space in between the nugs and they can individually freeze you’re (in my opinion) right where you need to be.
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“Are my sieves working?”
Play hot potato and see…
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Yes. You get more than just green color. You get green taste too.
The folks packing your bags don’t care as much as you do. Solve that. perhaps by making them smoke green hash till they get it right…
And as far as molsieves go, their location in the system (post collection) means they can only ever stop your NEXT round from turning green.
Weighing your sieves before and after each use/regeneration is advised. Let’s you know if you’re regenerating on the correct schedule, let’s you know when you need new beads, and likely demonstrates that you pick more water up after a “green” run (allowing you to focus on WHY).
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Not for butane. Don’t want it to be breathing, per se.
They stuff too much in like a sausage casing. Should be smaller amount that’s not very thick. Keep it flat and not round like a sausage.
Also. Are they just shoving it in bags and filling the freezer full as can be?
You want to flash freeze your material. As cold and as fast as possible.
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On the outside of your equipment? That shouldn’t matter.
On your material? That’s because it’s not being frozen correctly.
Cold butane doesn’t extract water, or ice. It shouldn’t really matter if there’s a little bit of ice present.
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Doing a hot vapor push to empty your column?
Check the temp on that vapor…likely well above the melting point of H2O. Making it a delicate balance at best.
Can’t run a “cold vapor push” without N2, but on a dedicated FF machine it may be worth the hassle…
That’s certainly my best guess on how folks who haven’t been forced to smoke the green hash would pack/freeze socks.
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I would wager that your columns are warming up after extraction. I had a new tech who is making green garbage and it was because he wasn’t getting the sock out before it defrost even with it going in at negative 80 and pumping negative 70 butane over it. Can’t let that shit defrost even a little in material column.
If you don’t chill your column though you should get a -80 freezer for the packed socks prior to extraction.
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I too would wager on some thawing post/during extraction or incomplete freezing. I believe the ice crystals in fresh frozen help rupture the cell walls, exposing lots of chlorophyll. This is fine if they remain crystallized, but if that water thaws you will have a green mess. Basically, just make sure your material is frozen quickly, completely, and stays that way until you are done with it. You could try adding a temperature probe to monitor your solution temp as it exits the material column.
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Since I started extracting to make crystals, I froze right after trimming, and cutting of the fluffy shit.
Regular plastic groccery back, not packed to the max and only gently sqeeuze some air out.
Wrap the end of the bag loosely, in another plastic bag and it goes in fridge at -40.
Only had golden color since and roughly 75/80 procent thca crashes out in a day or 5 hit or mis a few days.
My latest run is a story of : Where are my terps?
30 min soak:
Like thats all the terps+whatever, still gotta sepparate and purge.
Is there a point were there just so much thca, the solvent is saturated and wont take as much terps+?
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Run more solvent?
But no, Terps are much more soluble in butane than thca
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Yeah that what I thought, a 30 min soak, 750 ml, 50 grams-ish.
These plants are straight fire, some of these mintz like in the 27-30% range, I was thinking maybe it went past so much thca, that it just got saturated already, and couldnt catch more terps even tough terps are much more soluble.
Or does it just get to the thca first cause most of thats on the outer layer of the plant? (Edit: I wrongly tought the trichomes only had the cannabinoids soup in them😂)
Maybe these just arent that terpy😂
Wouldnt the terps get caught first anyway and running more solvent just, just catches more unwanted shit? Im at -40 till have a better freezer.
Not that I’m complaining, id rather have it crash out like this every run.
What % Thca/terps+ is average for extraction with butane/propane?
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I believed to have read somewhere thats its still a debate why butane/propane is so effective at pulling the thca because it doesnt want to stay in it when colder/room temp. Yet we blast/soak and it washes of.
edit: After reading I found out terpenes are in the trichomes:
Special cells produce secretions of terpenes and cannabinoids which are stored in the spherical resin gland in the trichome. The exact nature/ratio of the cannabinoids and terpenes secreted is determined by the genetics in the original cannabis seed, as well as the environment.
I dont think running more solvent is going to do me any good😂 thca being less soluble than terps have no meaning when extracting it seems, the glands with its content gets emptied and what you pull is what you get.
When talking about thca in its pure form vs terps the story is different yes.
Perhaps they’re ending up somewhere else?
If your collection pot is too hot, or there’s intense vacuum pulling on them, they may have ended up back in your solvent tank?
If your spent weed isn’t stinky anymore, and your collected oil isn’t either…
There’s really not many other places for them to go.
As the world’s most famous Toucan once wisely proclaimed…
“Just follow your nose!”
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Collection pot is -40, no vacuum, and filtering very basic with coffee filters.
I soak trimm and fluff 30 min and pour, and I
Evaped the 750ml outside til it fits a 250ml jar and I cap and freeze for 3 days.
Not until after that 3 day freeze I heat up til 25
What im left with smells like hay(I’m sure some could still be extracted from it along with cannabinoids), the coffee filters have no smell, extract collected smells very nice, just a smaller layer of terp sauce on top then I used too have and had seen online.
Litterally the only difference is the strains I used.
But I didnt mean to derail the thread so sorry for that😂, I just wanted to share OP how I freeze, and show how the extract turns out and on a side note point to the small terp layer wich surpised me this time😂.
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this is literally the biggest variable you will have for expected color and output.
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Maybe -25 is not freezing fast enough, I would think they need to pack less into the bags or/and maybe try and use a -40 freezer.
And any trim or fluff should be bagged asap, when I finish a plant or 2 they get bagged up and I try to do it within a half hour (ish) bigger plants get done in sections.
Depending on temp and lights hitting the material it can wilt very quick.
I notice this al the time, when defoliating the leaves they smell very nice en spicy, the longer they lay out in the open, more hay(ish) smell apears.
Also the bags should be as open as they be can to ensure airflow, at least while collecting and should not be under a lamp(or sun) or near a heat source to avoid moisture buil up between nugs or leaves.
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