Solvent blend

I also prefer to have butane at the end for that reason, too.

thamn, really?! A friend who works in a lab with chem defree said pressure encourages bigger crystal formation.

I thought the pressure is maintained with a slow leak to significantly slow evaporation, and that in turn creates larger crystals.

Then again i dont have a chem degree.

Iā€™d say maintaining pressure over time the most important part is getting the thca to sink to the bottom initially. I feel if you donā€™t crash the thca you get a lot more sugar crystals

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Sounds correct, but slow evaporation just means youre trying to retain inside what is creating a high pressure environment inside.

Correct.me.if im wrong, but ideally youd want the temp to be kept just above solvent boiling point to encourage slow evaporation, yet at those temps.pressure wont be high enough and it could take months maybe a year to get a decent crystal formation(though perhaps crazy clean?). hence adding nitrogen to raise the pressure to the same.level as if the butane was raising the pressure by being at 25c plus would be needed to create ideal crystallization conditions?

sounds legit, i believe pressure keeps it tight.

do you think too much pressure would induce the entrapment of contaminants in the matrix pr just make it cleaner? or would there be a sweet spot with diminish returns thereafter?

I wont pretend to know more than your buddy but it doesnt seem that pressure is necessary for crystal formation to happen, some folks are seeing crystal formstion under vacuum. In fact some folks swear by low temps and vacuum to cause slow evaporation for crystal production.

Again tho someone with a chem degree would have a whole other level of understanding than myself.

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slow evaporation definetly plays a role in separstion of the extract, it seems that a certain level of pressure does help with size and geometry of the matrix formation.

Heck even certain monoterpenes will cause separation, im sure weve all seen it.

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Seems the two biggest factors for big crystals is the purity before crystallization and the speed of the evaporation. And the latter is influenced by the bp of the solvent your using which is why people like to use n butane or better yet n pentane, its easier to control pressure and saturation because it takes more heat to boil it than propane or isobutane.

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I gotta rethink about it in those terms, youve given me another insight thank!

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Remember that as pressure increases solvation power increases. In other words you will be increasing solubility of the crystals in the mother liquor with the increase in pressure. Ive never heard of people accidentally dissolving their crystals this way but its something to think about.

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Scooby has it nailed pretty much purity and time will get you crystals as long as the evaporation is really really slow to allow for the thc-a to come bond together precipitate from the solution. The solvents rise to the top and form the mothers liquor. Another thing pressure does Is it forces the thc-a bond together in a crystaline formation as it takes up less space in a vessel that ā€œhasā€ no space left. I forgot to mention that the pressure has the same affect on the solvents and terps. The pressure pushes these guys around to take up the most little space possible and that is why some peopleā€™s jars youā€™ll see a few different layers those are different layers of solvents and terpenes

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I can purge my oil full vac up to hr and still get crystal, sugar w no heat, and w heat actually lil diamonds
ā€¦
So ur definitely right , pressure not key but helps I think.

Otherwise you have to ramp up the temp to keep mobile, terpenes help keep mobile at lower temps also, this helps too

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Can someone tell me how much a bvv brand tank weighs EMPTY? The grill tank, USA brand

Trying to see how much I have leftā€¦ This my first tank I never had it empty, damn thing just keeps on giving

@Killa12345 @Dred_pirate. @BG305

Any yā€™all know the answer Iā€™m looking for?

On the top of the tank around the handle, there should be a bunch of stamps. One of them will say TW and 20 something lbs after. That should be the rare weight

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U the man!

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do you find the iso butane gives you lower yields

It depends on your extraction parameters, but it is a less aggressive solvent at the same temperature as n-tane.

You can use more solvent, soak longer and/or run warmer.

Iā€™m running a 50/25/25 n-propane/isobutane/n-butane blend. No need for nitrogen push, we are aiming for full spectrum CBD crude though. 2x10min soaks and a flush at the end to minimise leftover crude sticking to the socks.

Tried higher butane blends and itā€™s a pain to purge post extraction in bulk.

Also polish the crude with a hot dewax (50c then cool to room temp and filter)

Marginally lower yields but the smell of terpenes is amazing