I would ditch the DOW vacuum grease and try some Apiezon grease instead.
It makes difference only on surfaces that get very hot such as the ground joint between the boiling flask and head and possibly the ground joint between the condenser and cow/swingarm (also if you have a ground joint on top of your head for the thermowell). Save your money do not use it anywhere else, you will not see much of a benefit if any.
(PTFE joint sleeves with a very thin layer of grease will save you a lot of headache and as long as you are gentle with them they will last for a very long time)
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Search on “devol” it’s not just about decarb.
“150C lake” might also yield valuable insights.
If you haven’t read I make terrible distillate....why? I suggest you start there.
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There is a decent SOP on extractorsolutions.com in the sop section.
might be helpful in your situation.
Success!
A few insights:
Underloading seems to have been the culprit here. I stuck with the current pump since the recommended pumps seemed to have similar flow and ultimate vacuum ratings. Came over at 240 microns, 170c at the head. Last and probably most importantly, we added a heat tape set gradually higher and higher, wrapped around the column of the SPD to help along the enthalpy of the system as much as possible.
I put it in a cart, color and clarity are wildly nicer than my expectations, as is the very neutral flavor. Sent out for potency testing just now.
I’m positive there’s gains to be made in vacuum apparatus efficiency. I’m going to try PTFE sleeves and nicer grease (thanks for the suggestions).
@cyclopath I’m reading up on devol thanks for the info. I’m also reading into best practices for setup of a panda, should have one by next week.
Again thank you everyone for your input, which has been incredibly valuable in this process.
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Great! Glad you were able to get some oil made.
Be ready for it to oxidize. It’s possible that you’ll be fine but in general oil made this way will quickly look like it’s bruising. It won’t harm the potency at all but the color is likely going to change. Maybe not though!
170C at the head is fine. What was the boiling flask temp?
Oh, good call. I have a big tank of food grade nitrogen I use to store volatile chemicals under inert atmosphere, I’ll get this in a more convient container and hit it with that.
Flask was at about 200.
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cheap upgrade: use oven rope wrapped around exposed flask instead of tinfoil. I think it insulates better.
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