So were finally getting our manufacturing up and running ( small, vertical family business in vt)
The only thing in the hash process im unsure about is the freeze dryer, and of course we managed to get one that is not a Harvest Right so info online is limited.
Its a HFD - 4 series freeze dryer with little in the way of a user manual.
Ill provide some pictures of the screens in a moment,
my main question is being someone whos never used a freezer dryer in my hash adventures ( small batch @ home i was drying hash in a normal freezer being microplaning and pressing.)
How will this machine differ from info I find regarding harvest rights?
Did a small one hour test run, at the end of the run. It said done then a countdown started the after it hit 0, all the oil from the pump started like vacuuming into the freeze dryer, so think we need to open the drain valve during that countdown.
The Harvest Right recipes do things like vent - pause and tell you to open or close ports - and monitor things and send you alarms that are preset (you can unlock them and set your own).
This one looks like it might be able to do some things, but might not have the HMI prompts before something switches between activities for instance. And it might not have any alarm controls.
The recipe sheet allows you to have a slow ramp across temperature and time - but I don’t see any recipe specific things for pressure monitoring or things like that.
Doesn’t mean they don’t exist - just I don’t see them in your photos.
You might check out the literature on the LabConco freeze dryers - there’s a bit more information on recipe setup and what not than what the Harvest Right gives you - because those are a more specific to product system.
It even gives you information on selecting different types of pumps, pump settings (which it sounds like you are dealing with). And it talks about different styles of interlocks that the freeze dryer is running with.
If that’s not enough information to get you where you are going - then start looking at lyophilization literature. That’s what a freeze dryer is doing - and the tech (even the Harvest Right) is working off that science developed in the 70’s and 80’s.
If you want to chat about it hit the DMs.
And please let us know what you decide to do and how you figured it out. <3
Haven’t seen one of these before, looks like you get a decent amount of granular control. Excited to hear how this thing performs. You could probably mimic recipes from other brands based off their parameters/logs if there was something you liked. We’ll ask a few of our users if they have any recommendations
Personally I prefer the @hollandgreenscience xiros mikros over a HR all day. The only down fall I’ve had so far is the door seal from frost build up after too much use before a defrost. Which is same to a HR as well. I like the dual seals that the xiros has compared to HR single seal. Now if I could only get @SamboCreeck.com to make the perforated trays for them
ok I think I finally figured out the pages, and realize it is actually quite customizable.
within a recipe i can set 12 different temp changes/ temp curve. i can not have the pump come on until a certain stage.
I relaized its essentially a USA LAB knock off, so I found their manual which recomends.
Stage 1 - Always set this step to -35°C or lower, give the machine at least 5 hours on this step.
Stage 2 – Keep the same -35°C temperature setting with at least a 30-minute run time. This step should
be used for enabling the vacuum pump and allowing it to pull down to the required level.
[Ensure the recipe has “stage of vacuum pump startup” set to 2]
Stage 3 – Start increasing the temperature here. For normal batches increase the temperature by 5°C for
1 hour. Then program the remaining steps as desired or follow the default values below.
is this more or less on par with how i should start drying hash?
Ok Im about to bite the on a freeze dryer. My question is @SubstituteCreature and anyone else that wants to add their opinion would you buy a pharmaceutical or go with the home version again and download the firmware fix? I will be getting a small freeze dryer.
I mean i’ve heard that HR has started allowing home models to go that low but I would assume that won’t apply to backstock that’s sitting on shelves a store somewhere. I think a member recently has listed a whoooole bunch of HRs that you could likely get cheaper than a store too!
Just verify from whatever source what the final dry temps can potentially be, if for some reason you still have BS just tag me and I got you on some firmware
I have a used commercial freeze dryer (not HR) that has the firmware in the PLC but I don’t have the pc controller or the software to install to one.
I need an open source software and/or firmware controller that I can use to run this beast. Any leads?
It has rs232 serial port connector to an opto22 controller
Well I wouldn’t buy a brand new one from a hash making company…
See the thing below the “box with shelves”? That’s the part I’m talking about. You can get that and then put whatever you want on top of it.
There’s uh… 6 on ebay right now for between 2.5 and 5k. reprogrammable HMI. One with push buttons, so no HMI software to worry about.
Like I 100% appreciate what Harvest Right is going - but I started doing lyophilization with labconco bench equipment long before I started working with hash. I always feel like its more flexible, the parts are more robust, the warranty lasts longer, and the documentation is more in depth, so you can have better control. -shrug-
Lots of places use Harvest Right. And many places have knock-off brands, etc. I go with what I learned to use a long time ago. Same as working with Agilent GCMS - I started there because I ran one at the university of Missouri for like 4 years, you know?
Right on I did check out the labconco and a few others. I did purchase a HR small home version cause that’s what I can afford right now and I’m doing this for my own personal use.
I have a question for the community. I have a HR small home pro and at 30 minutes in my mTorr is 577. HR says with the new units anything under 1000 mTorr will freeze so my question is that normal?
