Modifying The Harvest Right + Leybold Vac Pumps

Hello friends, long time lurker first time poster.

We all know and love the Harvest Right freeze dryer, however there is no doubt that there is a LOT of room for improvement. During the latest hash conversation on bubbleman’s channel (looks like he was hacked unfortunately) Vessel life science suggests utilizing Leybold vac pumps instead of the default/oil-free HR pumps. Supposedly, these pumps allow you to achieve a much deeper vacuum and noticeably reduce dry times and preserve terps. I was Just wondering how many people here have played around with vacuum pumps other than the default HR’s. And in addition, if anybody has played around with other interesting modifications/3rd party additions. I know there is also a lot of interest in custom software hacks as well. I personally love the idea of an open source freeze dryer, and figured this would be the spot to ask if anybody has attaempted to accomplish this.

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Haven’t tried a different pump but would love the opportunity. The current design pulls water and other debris directly into the pump, and you have to take the pump apart to clean out the gunk. Why didn’t they put an oil filter inline so catch that stuff before it hits the pump?

Leybold makes nice stuff but their customer service is terrible if you’re trying to buy direct. My lab uses 2 HP Leybold Trivac vac pumps for our solvent recovery and they do an awesome job and pull a reasonably deep vacuum with a lot of CFM. Of course I didn’t buy those direct from Leybold I got them from eBay. As a general rule oil-filled pumps will almost always pull deeper vac than comparable HP oilless ones, where oil-free pumps usually shine is when you have to run solvent or other contaminants thru them

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Get a badass coldtrap(s) and catch those terps

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Now that’s an idea! May actually try this in the near future, will definitely report back with results! However, preventing those terps from evaporating in the first place is definitely my end goal here.

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hey do you happen to recall which episode of hash church this discussion took place during?

It wasn’t a hash church, just a random zoom call with hash makers titled “Hash Conversations” or something like that. It was comprised of some of the best hash makers in the game, hope bubbleman reuploaded it after the hack. You can DM vessellifescience on instagram and he will answer any questions you have about the Leybold tech (sogevac NEOD is the model). I also saw Harvest Right came out with a new oil pump that looks badass.

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Has anyone tried the new improved Harvest right oil pump? Any thoughts on their new pump vs an aftermarket pump? looking at buying a unit… but want to make sure I have the right pump and cold trap with it so I get the most out of it.

Did you end up going one way or another on this? I’m thinking about getting one. Not quite sure if I want to spend the extra on the ‘pharmaceutical’ model.

Hoping to freeze dry fresh bud, cold trap the terpenes and extract from there.

AFAIK, the only difference with the pharmaceutical model is that the racks are more shallow so you can fit more in the unit. Effectively doubling the square feet of tray space.

Indeed. I intend to bore out the rivets, replace with bolts+nuts, cut the 2 wire heating element, bore larger holes in the back plate such that it will fit a quick disconnect connector which i will tie into each shelf.

This way i can disconnect and remove shelves to provide more flexibility in the height of the shelving

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Potguyver doing some good R&D. Post some more pics when you’re done!

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