So whats a better option?
or
1 Like
Not sure if this has been answered in the thread, but I have a question on extraction parameters for a 45L centrifuge. I assume a higher rpm with agitation (forward/backward cycle) is essential for a proper extraction. I am just unsure about how long the cycle times should be per cycle. Cycle: forward and backwards = 1 cycle (T time= forward +backwards duration). After in house testing I am seeing biomass coming back with <2% potency. What parameters should I focus on manipulating; increase/decrease cycle times and/or more forward/backward spins.
I know parameters are up to the controller so Im not looking for an exact number of cycles and time per spin, but just a E.g about 10 minutes, 15 minutes etc. soak would be proper in a centrifuge run.
Roughly running around a 10 minute extraction at cryo temps with bioM of 10-12% potency. Im filling our basket with roughly 10 lbs of biomass and extracting with 20 gallons of etoh. I know the ratio of solvent:biomass is off, but any less solvent and we are minimizing the contact of solvent to biomass within the basket. To make up for it, im running an additional 10lbs of biomass with the same under-saturated, re-chilled solvent:extract solution. Im in the process of seeing if we are over saturating our extract and leaving behind any desired material in our second run. I have a strong feeling 20 lbs with 20 gallons may be pushing it. Though, i was told material of >20% requires a gallon per pound and since we are running about half that potency, we are assuming .5 gallons etoh per pound. Tho, looking/feeling the spent material- its looking pretty sticky still 
Any advice will help immensely ; grazie tutti!
show us your bags.
my first guess is they are not particularly permeable to ethanol at -40C. (what temp are you actually running?)
using a washing machine as a 'fuge works, pretending a 'fuge as a washing machine is silly imo.
Sorry Just to be clear, the analyzed material of <2% was post-run biomass from run #1. Our second run material what was coming back suspiciously fragrant and somewhat sticky. Im in the process of checking that for its potency of leftover compounds. Ill have the bag specs as soon as I find our technician who purchased them. As far as I know, virgin chilled solvent has never had any real issues with extracting the first 10 lbs of biomass. The spent material has consistently been coming back bone dry. The issue comes from the second run of material.
I know I missing some key info, but our freezers are running at -80C and our solvent has been sitting for +24hrs. It may be unnecessary to be running so low (all of the crude will be SPD) , but we have the capacity to do so atm. We were under the impression that colder the temp, the less chlorophyll we were extracting.
Im working on getting the sock specs and those run-time temps. We should have been keeping track of temps but were in the early stages of proper extraction and we are just now starting to collect/record run-time specs. To this point weve been just taking qualitative data such as color and presence of waxes.
Update: 5 mins later lol , the bags are 100 micron
Assuming our solution isnt saturated enough, therefore coagulated material shouldn’t be clogging any surface area of the bag; we should be extracting 20 lbs with 20 gallons of solvent. I know a fuge isnt the same as a washer, but they both have the capability of inducing some form of agitation. We can set whatever number of forward and backward spins and at whatever length of time. Collectively we are between 10-15 mins (sorry not exact) of 20 cycles of forward and backward motions.
While I could play around with increasing times of spins or the number of intervals, I’d hope someone has RnD this before :3
100um is probably not as bad as some I’ve seen shipped for the job.
I suggest you put a 1/2 gal bottle of 190 in the freezer until it’s -80C.
then try pouring through your bag.
try the same trick at -40C and -20C.
centrifuges may be able to swish back and forth, that doesn’t mean they like it.
how much does the rotor in your fuge weigh? (the first thing I recommend with every fuge is pull the rotor and check everything below it is kosher…).
how hot does the motor get when you insist it swish?
what speed are you “agitating”?
do you have In House analytics ?
if you want to know how much you left behind, go again…it’s only an approximation, but it gives you some numbers to work with.
does this mean you haven’t read the thread? how about any of the 25+ threads linked from the first post? there’s data around here that will get you close, and the reasons others can only get you close are listed repeatedly.
if you’d like to exercise the “buy a clue” option, feel free to hit me up via DM 
4 Likes
What was the starting potency of the material that you are running? Do you happen to know your extraction rate of the cannabinoids? I’m running a similar set up but am recovering less crude than expected.
I’m trying some RND stuff I’m looking into a biodiesel centrifuge for an extraction technique. Basically centrifugal separation, I also looked at a milk cream separator. Any other ideas?
From a process standpoint, I think a washing machine is pretty comparable to most of the ethanol extraction equipment on the market. The ethanol supply could be chilled in a tank with a pump supply to the washer inlet. Why are people only using washers as centrifuges and not for extraction? I have been thinking about using a salad spinner for extractions myself.
I’m thinking… that perhaps people are away of all the electrical switches and motors and pump switches that are inside washing machines. And those things are not in a sealed area mostly. Which means they are exposed to your solvent. Using it for ice hash is one thing. Using it with flammable solvent seems to be a completely different thing.
Even salad spinners can be concerning from a safety standpoint. Please don’t blow yourself up or catch yourself on fire. <3
2 Likes
What @Cassin said.
Tear one down and look at all the bits that are incompatible with doing this safely (heptane changes some of that).
Just because this can and has been done, does not make it a good idea.
There are both operator and consumer level risks here.
Flooding with solvent is certainly going to increase the risk of ignition from the solenoids or pump. Arguably it also increases the solvent exposure levels for any incompatible materials (“rubber” hoses, pump internals?)…
I recall asking for $2k once upon a time, to buy a commercial washer to tear down, and then rebuild for just this trick (couple of years before the CUP came out too…), I was told no.
Same thing when I recommend they get a CUP as soon as they were available (Google for cannabis+centrifuge finally hit…bought up salad spinners earlier)
They did eventually get a CUP 15…but someone else had to recommend it first.
3 Likes
This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.
did you read any of this thread?
these washers are being used for ETHANOL…
which brings you very close to spam.
5 Likes
He has ethanol salad spinners too.
3 Likes
Yep…AND that’s not what he posted here.
I get it was a first post too.
Not flagged. Merely commented on.
4 Likes
it’s been going on for a few days now… shameless
1 Like
We manufacture both ethanol and solventless washers was just commenting on the basic principle of the salad spinner. They both work the same on the Same principle. If you fell this this is spam please give this to the admins to remove
You notice the sit & spin in my avatar
I do grok the similarities…
1 Like
Hi I am looking at using washing machine to wash with ethanol can you tell me what brand or kind of washing machine though use now? Also did you do any modifications to them to be able to wash cannabis material with them?
Thanks