ok so what has changed (besides the plant material/input)?
did you change labs?
did your lab change something? (worth an ask)
new application in grow?
See: Question on How To Properly Decarb Crude - #24 by cyclopath
when you bring crude up in ethanol, then get it cold, THAT is winterizing.
when you bring dry plant material up in cold ethanol, that’s a tincture, and your primary extraction. you then filter the plant material out. if you extracted cold, you left the fats IN the plant material. so you’re not filtering those out. there are way faster ways of filtering…get yourself a panda.
2 Likes
Sorry, the original post was another person. The live resin sugar is the product that buddered up. It was the first time it happened but it wont happen again as we will not use those products for our RSO.
Anyways, the main consistent problem is that our product is no longer fully decarbing correctly when we have had no changes to our process. We ONLY use dry plant material and ethanol. And the only change happening from each batch of RSO is simply a different plant strain.
A lot of you are focusing on my wording and vernacular. I understand it may not be correct and can confuse you all, but I simply need to know why, WITH NO CHANGES TO OUR PROCESS, what could be affecting the decarboxylation of it. The only change is the strain of plant used. We successfully decarbed hundreds of thousands of grams of RSO, and then all of a sudden the product just stopped decarbing properly.
I will be looking into the machines, but regular oil changes are done, things are cleaned and emptied etc. I will also be looking into our ethanol now. We have re-used our ethanol with no problems in the past either, and have tested the process both with new 200 proof ethanol and re-used ethanol both resulting in successful decarbs.
Are you using cold traps in line between your oven and your vacuum?
Are you checking the decarb temperature using the oven or do you have a probe inside the resin?
We do have a cold trap between the vac and oven, and the oven tells us the set temp, and the current temp of the oven. We do not use a probe inside the material.
Nope. Not even close.
It will boil at -80C at that vacuum.
See: SPD vaper getting Through the trap - #53 by cyclopath for chart.
It boils at 78C at atm.
4 Likes
If you don’t want the tools required to discuss this properly, how the fuck do we get on the same page?
When you use terms that are in general use in a non-consensus manner, you are not communicating effectively. Sorting that out first is the best way to get your issue solved.
If you don’t have a proofing gauge, you shouldn’t be reusing your solvent…because you need to understand how it differs from your fresh solvent.
I believe water is your issue. Are you conditioning your biomass on intake? Or just extracting it however it comes in the door?
Decarb under vac is really helpful when heading to distillate, but if you’re target is “Rso”, then using an open vat with overhead stirring and a temp probe (linked upthread) should be faster and more reliable than your current method.
1 Like
Thank you for the help.
@cyclopath I have to stop eating these honey sticks while driving down the road… a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but it sure is fun
2 Likes
You could use your distillation rig to prove residual solvent and or water.
So long as you have a thermometer in the head, and can actually cool your condenser (ice/ice packs in the circulator will work)
This was painful to try and follow, nice work never giving up and pushing to find the proper spoon! This guy owes a major thank you for your continued help!
3 Likes
I’m not convinced we’re there yet…but we might be getting close.
2 Likes
Yes. You do. You’re supposed to be selling them to medical dispensaries…
2 Likes
2 sticks to the wind
Before actually wandering away from this, can I get confirmation that you are NOT extracting fresh frozen material with ethanol?
While “live resin” can be made with your choice of solvent (and “live rosin“ sans solvent), the term is traditionally applied to hydrocarbon extraction on fresh frozen material.
If you are extracting wet material with ethanol, and reusing that solvent without drying it, this is your most likely source of water.
If the live resin was something you purchased, or made in house with hydrocarbons, then somebody needs to learn about Molecular sieve beads would be my best guess
Do your lab notes state if the “live resin” which buttered upon (accidental) “winterization” was bought up in fresh (200 proof) or reused solvent? This allows you to distinguish between wet solvent & wet extract…
Anyone following along should make sure they know this Tricks of the trade - #655 by CdpIchem for figuring your decarb end-point
Thanks @CdpIchem for sharing the tip!
3 Likes
Our BHO extracts sugar-up all the time (OK not ALL the time) and if its going to vape oil it is never winterized. Either way with enough heat and manual stirring (I start at 140c and move up accordingly), the shit WILL melt prior to decarb, and it WILL decarb…nature of the beast.
1 Like
BTW, never under vacuum. On a hot plate with overhead stirring (once it has melted) and plenty of headspace for outgassing.
We are not extracting from fresh frozen material with ethanol. We use dry material and ethanol. Will be looking into water as an issue though.
1 Like
Okay so here is my question:
You are having an issue with “buddering” of what you describe as sugar. Both sugar and budder involve crystalization which requires THCa.
You then talk about decarbing. In order to have sugar or budder, you must have THCa which means decarb has not been completed.
Is your goal a decarb’d (all d9) product or a product with THCa in it?
P.S. I 100% endorse @cyclopath’s recommendation of getting some bromocresol green.
1 Like