Taking care of Equipment

Good Morning Guys

I have been operating my SPD equipment and my rotary evaporators and I am always careful to perform a good cleaning at the end of each batch, but I would like to know if everyone has some tips to increase the life of the equipment in general. Periodic cleaning, maintenance of some kind, or certain parts that usually wear out more than others.

For example:

Never store the pump with used oil, it can cause pitting and subsequently scratch the parts losing the vacuum capacity.
The vacuum pump technician recommends me to empty the oil from the pump once the batch is finished, turn on for two seconds and turn off, repeat this cycle 3 times and then remove the oil again.

I don’t have much experience in the operation of cannabis equipment, so I would like to hear yours.

Another trick is not to clean glass when you’re high AF. :grimacing:

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Don’t let your SPD cool down until it’s clean.

Use an addition funnel to pour warmed solvent of choice (acetone, ethanol, isopropyl, etc) into the boiling flask after a run and steam the solvent thru the system at atmospheric pressure & make sure to disconnect the pump - NEVER heat a closed system.

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Having rebuilt 1,000’s of vacuum pumps over the years, I would suggest ALWAYS change your vacuum pump oil while the pump is hot, like after you are done for the day. So many people get lazy and figure they will change the oil tomorrow / first thing in the morning. But what happens is all the contaminate that was entrained in the gas flow ends up in the pump oil. When hot and less viscose everything is fine, but once cooled, the contamination thickens and hardens. Then, the next day, you try to start your pump, which was working fine the day before, and SURPRISE, it is seized up!

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Hi Avac.

Do you think that just draining the oil while the pump is hot is enough, or should change it too?

Hi,

Always drain the oil when the pump is warmed up. You can delay refilling it until it has cooled off if you like, but then you run the risk of forgetting the pump is empty. Or someone else could come along and try to run it, not knowing it is empty.

Always feel free to call us at the shop, we will be glad to help. And for the most up to date info and deals, follow us on Instagram.

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