Hi all. I have been a long time lurker here, first time poster. I have read through the various threads on the red rings and am at a loss on what to do to prevent this. We have never had this issue until recently but it is my thoughts that since our distillate process has gotten better(THC%-wise) and our production levels have increased we are just now noticing it since product is sitting around on shelves longer. A bit about our process:
We are doing bucket tek Ethanol at -50C or below that is chilled by using dry ice directly into the buckets. We use a BVV centrifuge to agitate and spin out the solution. This is filtered through an activated carbon/silikate pulver cake and rotovapped down to a crude. The crude is then drained from the flask into a SS bucket that is heated to 110C to decarb on a hot plate with mixing. Usually takes around 1-2hrs for decarb. This is then loaded into distillation and goes through 2 passes. We typically end up in the 90-95% THC range on the distillate after 2 passes.
For producing the cartridges we pre-heat the distillate to 65C, remove it from the oven, add terpenes, and homogenize using an Omni homogenizer. We are careful with temperature levels during this and try to ensure it does not go over 60-65C during the mixing. This is then loaded into a Thompson Duke IZR and filled, capping as quickly as possible after filling. Typically carts are capped within 3-4 minutes of filling.
Our resolutions so far have involved ensuring capping happens as quickly as possible and ensuring the temperatures during mixing/heating are controlled but we are still seeing red rings occur. I’m wondering now if it has something to do with pH imbalance from chilling ethanol directly with dry ice? Or if the increased potency in our distillate is the culprit? It seems that some batches get hit with it and some don’t and it is driving me nuts trying to figure out the issue.
We have a new system almost finished with the install that will remove the dry ice variable but I was curious if anyone has any advice? Would be willing to pay for a consult if it can help us resolve this issue.
Distillate and 10% “HTE” the HTE was super thick and gummy… Used a heat gun apposed to a heat lamp over the carts, and they got left in a delivery vehicle over night… Can’t win em all. I am 100% with @Photon_noirs explanation.
i dont have the equipment to inert my jars with nitrogen or argon but i did notice that if i wait a few minutes then top off the carts with an extra little dollop then the oxidation doesn’t happen as quickly. your 1g cart now holds about 1.1 or so mL instead. basically just eliminated headspace in the hardware helps me out a lot.
this may not be your issue but if its oxidation thats a foot then try topping your carts off after the initial injections.
side note. isnt the red ring now composed of mostly CBN or just pigment change in the original THC molecule ?
The red ring is 100% only pigment change and doesn’t affect potency whatsoever. I’ve sent in multiple tests and every one came back just as potent oxidized or not.
Dark pigment only means cbn when exposed to extreme heat for too long.
Something people don’t talk about is oxidation can be a visual cue of purity and potency. The higher the potency the more likely you are going to see it. Once you break into the 95% or more club it will become more noticeable.
Also how are you storing them? Its winter time and cold temperatures speeds up the oxidation process. I keep my carts and dispos in a climate controlled room at 72 degrees and that prevents the ring from forming as quickly.
That was my understanding as well with the potency. Is this something that you educate your budtenders to explain to customers or do you pull them from the shelves? I am getting push-back from my corporate bosses to remove them from the shelves as they do not look visually appealing.
The temperature control is definitely part of our problem it sounds like. We are set up to operate out of an old garage in a warehouse district that is not ideal by any means. Thanks for the advice on that. It has also happened a few times when folks forgot to flip the heat on before leaving and we get to the lab in the morning with the temperature around 45F, then it gets back up to around 70 during the day. Likely a lot of temperature swings for sure back and forth on the recent batches. We have also only had this occur during the recent winter months.
I always try and err on the side of education vs waste, however there is a definitive line where visual appeal always wins. When it’s bad enough I’ll usually end up giving them away as freebies and promotions. No one cares when it’s free lol.
It took me a while to figure out the cold was speeding up the oxidation process but once I did it’s been the biggest relief in eliminating it. That and timing my inventory more efficiently to not be sitting on product for more than a month or so.
