I have noted a reduction in terps with both AC and Alumina individually. I think Alumina grabs more of the heavier polar terps and AC is just more aggressive across the board.
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I would agree with that. I put some dark terps through alumina and it came out way improved but had like 30% losses. The yield looked like the original lighter fraction from the same steam distillation.
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On the note of neutral bentonite clay. Would it also be prudent to use a neutral ac, or would doing so negate the purpose of the AC in this tek?
I’m also looking at fruit presses and salad spinners for recovering the last of my ethanol from my biomass. Can anyone explain why one would use one or the other, or their preferences in which to use?
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THANKS SO MUCH!!!
FOLLOWED YOUR instruction and fortunately did NOT come with any green. we actually used 25lbs of dry ice to 15gallons of 200 for 5lbs of premium cbd hemp. 30min soak time and 8micron… it was almost (Jesus, take me home slow) but now we are rotovapping it down in the morning. Thankfully no carbon scrubbing or cbleach I am thinking. what temps did you rotovap at?? This will definitely be getting repeated and refined and scaled. Thanks so much lostbiologist!!
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have you checked the Washing Machine "Salad Spinner" tek thread?
I feel the advantage of a fuge over a press is that a fuge does not express the cellular contents, so they don’t have to be removed as a separate step.
you really want about 1000g on your fuge to make it worth the effort.
so an actual salad spinner is not going to bring you joy.
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I was reading through the above mentioned thread and another one, that slips my mind rn, where several options were covered for fuges. I ended up settling on a Panda, hoping to run 250g through it. Is that not enough biomass for the panda either? Also picked up a 3 bag set of 5 gal All mesh bubblebagdude bubble bags for lining my bucket and for putting my biomass in and out of the panda. I really liked the data you provided in one of those posts calculating the G’s each was putting out.
I also spent spent some time researching budget ethanol recovery options and ultimately settled on an 800w 4l adjustable ss alcohol distiller similar to the one mentioned here.
I’m hoping to collect most of the ethanol back from my solution using the distiller, then do a final purge in a heated vacuum chamber since my budget definitely doesn’t allow a rotovap. I’m hoping from what I’ve been reading this will be possible without excessively darkening my oil. I’d really like to put it into carts.
I was also considering trying to do a full decarb because I experience some sort of crystallization in my carts I’m theorizing is thca after reading a few posts last night, or very fine particulate we missed by skipping syringe filter disks. It also seems like they thicken with time, so hoping a decarb will also help with that. I’d normally have good links to reference, but most of it I read in the wee hours. I know several of the points I’m trying to reference were made by you, @cyclopath, though.
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Sorry. My bad on units. 1000 times the force of gravity. Aka 1000G
250g does seem light for the panda, but if you’ve got it in two bags I don’t see an issue. I’ve had a used panda in my hands, but haven’t used one, or even flipped it over to see just how stupid the fire Marshall would consider me if I used one. They clearly work. And unlike some other tek shared on the internet don’t seem to be burning things down on any sort of scale.
An air powered motor, or stationary bike powered one would make me happy, but I’m not likely to get that built given the other toys I’ve need to get spun up at the moment. 
A full decarb will reduce viscosity and darken the oil somewhat. If you scrub as per @TheLostBiologist that slight darkening shouldn’t be problematic.
Your plan seems on target.
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I saw your reply and immediately remembered seeing this:
If you have the panda the optimum amounts are 1.75-2 lbs milled in a bubble bag 73-90 micron. The panda holds two of those for a total of 3.5-4 lbs.
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I ran 270 grams of biomass through my panda when I first got it just to see how it ran. Works fine. Make sure you split it evenly into 2 bags so they can balance each other. I made that mistake of not doing so and ended up fighting with it for long enough to warm up considerably by the time I loaded half into another bag. Glad I did such a small batch so it was a relatively cheap lesson.
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Yep. I was looking for pictures I took in Eugene of a bike powered washer mounted on a trailer.
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If I’m splitting the biomass between 2 bags and only have the 220, 73 and 25 maybe do one in the 220 inside the 25 and the other portion in the 73 alone?
Would it be a bad idea to cool my biomass in Ziploc bags and ethanol in glass bottles with a plastic lid in a solution of dry ice and isopropyl? I was thinking doing so could speed up the rate they cool at and possibly make them even colder than packed in dry ice alone.
I think I’ve gotten away with 1/2gal glass everclear bottles in a dry-ice isopropanol slurry. So long as you can afford to loose 1/2gal of ethanol into your dry ice bath.
ziplocks on the other hand get very fragile at that temp.
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I personally prefer to keep them around 1lb / bag, as it is easier for loading unloading. No reason you couldn’t put a couple bags in there at a time.
I’ve gotten away with it using 2-liter mason jars. But I really didn’t trust it, and chilled within a 5 gallon bucket in case it broke. Stainless, hell even aluminum, would probably be a better option.
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I used to do that too, until I started milling my biomass and those are the amounts that allow for me to easily put in and remove everything within seconds. We all find what works best for us.
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I found that the ice cream maker bases that you put in the freezer can handle -80C, and fit a bottle of everclear well.
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Keep them women in shape ha
In regards to your question about the bag sizes, yes you could do so. Just remember that the 25 bag retains liquid real well, so make sure to spin your bags to aid in emptying them as much as you can before putting it in to the panda.
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Hey all!
I just wanted to throw this up to calm some nerves about using AC. I know the fear of losing your oil that comes with AC, especially when you see your oil go through the cake for the first time. Check out these results from a run we did last week!
I hope that helps!
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