This is killer information. Thank you.
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Question: can i use a layer of hardwood AC along with a layer of just AC(using DE as the base) also what do you suggest for color remediation, I’ve tried T5 along with AC but havent had any luck.
FYI: using -40 degree ethanol
How many times did you filter over the same bed of media and how deep was each layer of media? Did you set the puck prior to filtering? Was there channeling? What volume of tincture did you run through the puck?
I’ve never had the T5 AC combo not give me water clear tincture when following the protocol laid out in the OP.
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I use a micron disk along with filter paper, I add De and AC as the media, do cold extracts only and run them through this filter type only once, I’ve gotten decent results but im using a certain trim that comes out great in color, not gold but is decent, but when i go to purge out remainder of etho, after evap ofcourse, it tends to darken up pretty bad , I haven’t had that happen repeatedly before so im thinking its the trim im using ,its very purple In color, I’ve tried t5 a few times so im leaning towards using a different media like silica or some other media, also very minimal channeling on the run, and I run about 2 gal of extracted etho solution
What temperature is your roto/solvent removal at?
I’ve heard murmurings that under 35c is the magic number for lighter colors
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DE does not equal T5. DE does not work as well imho, so that is problem one. Problem two is not understanding that the color will darken no matter what when the solvent is removed. Water clear tincture turns into golden amber crude. Amber tincture will (generally) turn closer to brown. This is normal and to be expected. Age of biomass (how long ago was it harvested) coupled with age of biomass when harvested (how many weeks was it in flower and what color were the trichomes) can both play a big role in determining color.
The T5 AC combo works best with the cold tincture being passed over the same bed three times. You can attempt multiple passes with the DE bed, but I cannot attest to whether it will perform as well as doing the same trick as written in the OP. I know it can work, but will it work as well? Test it and let us know.
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35°c is gold 70°c for rso
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How would you change this approach to meet a DIY lean cost budget? Say you had a max budget of 2k for setup?
nothing.
$1K rotovap https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/for/7551260374.html (try lowballing them)
& $45 -$100 worth of kegs https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/for/7542537211.html
see: Optimizing your RotoVap for how/why
to run it you’ll need cold. one solution would be reconfiguring a AC unit. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/app/7545686313.html 2500k BTU for $75 is pretty hard to beat.
see: Chiller Hack (DIY) & Suggestions for diy glycol chiller fluid? amongst others.
although I’d budget at least another $2k for expert guidance.
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How would you use these kegs? Cut the top off with a metal blade saw?
Eg: Optimizing your RotoVap - #155 by cyclopath
Or
Yeah, and/or not…mostly not. Unless welding on something bigger as you scale.
You can purchase or make gaskets that will get you from a sanke keg directly to 2” tri-clamp.
Kegs are a key tool for budget ethanol extraction. So much so that delta separations still ships kegs with their centrifuges. Where else are you gonna pickup 15gal food grade stainless vessels that handle vac and pressure for $25 each?!? Well worth throwing $ at fab later on so you can perform more sophisticated tricks with them.
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Its aliveeeeee!!!
Whos still doing etho carts in 2022? 
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Thanks for your input. That makes sense, age of biomass has a lot to do with it plus the color of trichomes. Also, I have seen that amber color darken up before and have also done a few more passes on it to clean it up a bit, by doing that it has come out a little better in the oven.
I’ve done the same filtering (DE + Carbon) with this purple-colored trim that I usually do with any trim or biomass. A few days of purging in the oven, it comes out really dark, even if the solution had a great color to it initially. The only thing I’ve tried after that was the addition of T5 in the filter cake
(DE + Carbon + T5) which didn’t make much a difference.
Anyway, this time, with same purple trim, I used a thicker amount of DE + Carbon + Silica (no T5 was used). Color was lighter or about the same in solution after the one run; after a few days of purging the color stayed the same, what did remain however, were these color pigmentations (red) scattered throughout the slab (color separation?), but other than that it looks decent, much better than the very dark slab from before. Just wanted to update on what I have tried so far. Also, I’m running the rotovap at about 20c. I can try to bump it up a few degrees and see how that goes.
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Broke MF’s bringing it back in this economy.
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This was made from room temp ethanol crude and refined in butane. This method takes less energy than cold butane or ethanol extraction, but finishes like bho with 0ppm ethanol. The only chilling used is for solvent recovery.
Ethanol isn’t all that bad.
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But what about the terps???
membrane?
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Still figuring that out. The “HTE” definitely wasn’t loud, but it was very pleasant. It’s hard to find terpy crude run with ethanol. This came from a big outdoor trim batch that was destined for distillate. I need at least 500lbs to test it with biomass on the extraction system I have access to.
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Just etho here… No fancy pancy C4+ crutches here dude😜
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I have followed your work a bit…seems like you know what you are doing? You are doing ethanol correct. And you are doing dried material or fresh frozen? I really do not understand your statement about extra acid being in your extract and being a problem. Could you possibly elaborate a bit? Are you extracting preheated decarbed material?
Have you ever attempted to titrate a polar protic extract of marijuana with the material in place….the plant material (biomass) exhibits a considerable buffer capacity.
Can you pen out a little diagram of the “isomerizations”
At room temp….or provide a reference.
Best
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