Ive put together a 250ml spd setup to make some personal disty a few times a year. I put it together with a lot of reading on here and a mix of cheap glass and used equipment from ebay. I make crude using room temp ethanol and AC/B80/Celite with my larf and trim from my personal grow. Distilled in an AirStill.
I was hoping due to the small amount im running that I could skirt by with this crappy 4.5cfm amazon pump… but its not cutting it. (as most of you said it wouldnt lol)
Any suggestions on a cheap, reliable pump? I’m super small-time personal grower and I will never go over a 250ml flask (took 2 harvests to get this much crude lol) so I dont need anything high end at all. Just something thats going to get me where I want to go a couple times a year I do this. Not concerned with min/maxing my setup or really even the potency of my disty…If I can hit 80 Id be real happy. (considering disty in my area is $60 for a half gram…medical. No joke)
Any help would be super appreciated. Thanks!
Look around for deals, try to get the most pump you can in your price range. If it were me I’d search for an Edwards E2M2 or Alcatel 2004.
Buy a pallet of used Edwards and hope one works well enough lol
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Do you think I need to be worried about breaking my cheap Stony glass with a legit pump that’s probably way more than I need?
I totally get that im running kind of a ghetto tek here but its really just for me to pull an ounce of passable distillate (hopefully) a couple times a year… and after what ive already spent on the spd, the tent setup, (the rosin press I never use lol)… wifey would really appreciate me spending as little as possible.
I was really expecting with this small of a setup to be able to get away with a sub $150 pump max…not so much?
Your glass will be safe, I use lots of cheap china glass. The biggest issue tends to be that the tapers aren’t perfect and you end up with either a leak or glassware stuck together. Make sure you use a good vacuum grease like apiezon 501.
Regarding the pump, deep vacuum = good distillate. You don’t need hardly any CFM, so a small pump is OK, but I really wouldn’t go too cheap. No-name harbor freight pumps are not going to be sufficient for this, you might get a couple runs out of them but I really would suggest you spend around $200 on a higher quality used 2-stage rotary vane.
A couple examples:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255531346836
https://www.ebay.com/itm/334481156595
Get a decent vacuum gauge too, this is the most affordable one I know of:
https://www.amazon.com/NAVAC-NMV1-Micron-Vacuum-Gauge/dp/B07L772PKW
A Welch Duo Seal could be a good pump option as well.
Well… I was kinda hoping not to have to admit I wasnt planning on using a gauge 
I know, I know…Ive read enough that I know im trying to cheap out…looks like ive hit the bottom of the “minimum specs” lol.
Ill save my crude and my pennies for a bit for a 2 stage and gauge and maybe see if I can find a wax head that wants this press lol. Thank ya friend!
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If you really wanted a new el cheapo pump, this is the best one I’ve found so far:
I still recommend saving your cash and investing in some slightly better stuff if you plan on doing this more than a handful of times.