Should I Be Running A Dif Pump On My 10L?

look at that hodge podge of excellence… Dual chinese heads with a fraction finder…

how fast does that run??

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He’s got the Apollo and the ff! Plus summit gear crossing swords with @davids work. Elliot must be furious!!

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Yes. Diffusion doesn’t work unless you have molecular conductivity within the voids. Meaning open vacuum space. You’ll just saturate the diffusion with this setup.

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You are going to need to replace at least a few components if you want to increase your speed.

What you choose to swap out and the equipment you replace it with is going to depend entirely on your budget.

If money is not really an issue, you should definitely look into getting some Summit gear and upgrade to at least a 55/60 or flanged setup, or just upgrade to a wiper.

If you are on a tight budget, you can start with just the boiling flask and SPD head. You can get a single neck 45/50 10L flask and a basic 45/50 SPD head for around $300 from China on eBay. Definitely wont be the best quality, but you should see a noticeable increase in speed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Glass-Short-Path-Distillation-Head-5L-Vigreux-75-Degree-With-45-50-And-24-40/223474606623?hash=item34081fe21f:g:zVcAAOSwHShboLQD

Here’s the best deal you’ll get, I have a prototype model spd8. I’ll sell it to you as b stock super cheap and save the day. You’ll need to upgrade your laminar and trap if you Wana actually be distilling and not burning up minutes.

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Here is a Summit 22L setup on eBay that looks like it has everything you need for $14k OBO. Pretty sure that has been up for a while now, you can offer $7500 and see what they say.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Distillation-Unit-Summit-Research-201-Includes-brand-new-back-up-pump-worth-10K/383260598827?hash=item593c1ca22b:g:PqIAAOSwhe9dyJRO

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What kind of immersion chiller is that on the first cold trap? The tiny probe. Never seen a tiny one

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About a liter an hour on second pass, but I haven’t added the diff pump or the argon yet.

Poly sci -60 think I got it from lab society 5 years ago

What kind of diff pump are you running?

Just need to get some dif oil, didn’t realize it was so expensive

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Very nice, that thing is listed for around $9k on BVVs website, but they have no information on it at all.

Diff pump oil is definitely expensive, but you probably do not need to use Santovac 5 on that and can likely get away with a decent 704 or 705 oil.

@Conquestwest carries the 704 at a decent price, I think it is $100 for 500ml. Looks like the fluid charge on that is 600ml, they will probably throw in an extra 100ml if you buy the 500ml size and ask nicely.

https://www.vacuumpumpoil.net/product/cq-704-silicone-diffusion-pump-fluid/

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So in theory if I down size my boiling flask and mantle to a 5L (35/45 head joint) I should be able to use the rest of my gear from the head back?

Just trying to be the most cost effective right now. I’ll put the 10l on the back burner for a while if I have too.

That 34/45 head is really sized for a 2L boiling flask and mantle. You should be able to use the rest of your glass still.
Alternatively we can also swap your joints out where needed and make a larger head for you. With a 60/50 head you can hit over 1L/hr and around 800g/hr very comfortably with great separation. You should be able to do a complete distillation including setup and cleaning within an 8hr shift.

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If you’re getting vacuum below 100 microns you’re not going to gain much more speed with a larger more expensive vacuum. 40-80 microns is good vac depth. Sure it could be better but you need to solve other issues first as vacuum isn’t your bottleneck right now.
Honestly with only a new boiling flask and head you will increase your output dramatically.
After that you need to clean up your crude, your boiling flask shouldn’t look like that, you can get away with it somewhat via hot condenser tek, but cleaner crude goes way faster.
I’ve been in your shoes, bought a USA labs setup that they guaranteed would be great, only to be disappointed and have to buy all new gear pretty much out the gate.
I know there are a lot of great vendors on here that deal in glass, and if you need something quick go local. Otherwise hit up @david in China. He’ll customize you exactly what you need at an unbeatable price.

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Thanks @therealganjfather , it is what it is. They are good people there and awesome service but at the end of the day it runs like shit. What size head should I shoot for on a 10L?

Luckily you have the really expensive parts already! New glassware should cost you $1500-2000 if you go with @htking or @david. Glass always breaks and even if you get new glassware I’m sure in a jam the old one will work.

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No doubt. I sent @david a message. In the mean time I’ll probably pick up a @goldleaf_scientific 2L BF to run this head on my 2L setup.

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Prolly find the 2l cheaper on eBay @Terpdude

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