Cannabis Disorienter: budget version!!
I’ve been referring to salad spinners as lettuce disorienters for years…'cause lettuce is better eaten dizzy, so it doesn’t get scared and try and protect itself 
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Would a front loader be a viable option?
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What is the spin speed you have on your washers? We just got one that maxes out at 800 rpm, top loaded. When we got it we were informed that front loaded machines tend to spin faster, around 1200-1300 rpm, but also tend to walk. We opted for top loaded due to easier loading with more even distribution. So, my question is would 800 rpm be enough for > 95% solvent recovery? Or rather how much do your machines recover?
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get a BOCK. they come in a variety of sizes. including explosion proof models.
they’re not cheap. but they’ve been around for almost a century with very few design changes.
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Nice. I was actually looking for something like that, alas i could not find one and thus settled on a washer. Thanks for the link, I’ll be looking for one of these.
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understand that you’ll be looking at used machines. $6-15k for the ones worth having imo. Although I’ve heard that they’re so heavy many of them go straight to scrap rather than resale when the laundromat is done with them. So you might get lucky and find one for a couple of $k.
BOCK went out of business due to a liability suit…a kid lost an arm in a laundromat. Their designs were picked up by another firm, so you can purchase new if you’d prefer, but I don’t recall the name of the company and I’m not going digging for it right now.
Edit: I think it’s these guys https://northstarengineered.com/fp95-centrifuge
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Well, most likely upgrading to a serious system within the year. Something that meets all the safety specs. In the meantime this washer will be first try on something larger than a small dry spinner. My small one goes to 1200, so I’ll see how far 800 goes.
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it’s not the speed that matters, it’s the number of g’s. which is dependent on rotor diameter (and speed). You can also make up for lower g’s with longer spins.
I was looking at the BOCK’s to perform the actual extraction in. Now on the wait list for a CUP from Delta Separations.
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Yeah, the cup is the more serious equipment i was referring to as well. 
Thanks for the info. Got a samsung cause it was the only one that had spin only with various speeds and was in stock. Haven’t tried it out yet.
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Btw, we are looking at a new solvent mix 200 proof etho with n-heptane. Do you think that would change using the washer for recovery with heptane in the mix?
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Make sure all the plastics and hoses are rated for your solvent.
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Indeed. Heptane is more corrosive, I’ll make sure to check.
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Wait… DeltaSep aquired their design from this defunct Bock company?
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100% changes it. Heptane does not play well with certain plastics
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I’m not sure if that’s where they required it from. Their setup is very basic as an idea and exists for example as an algae separator. It’s just a centrifuge. What they’ve done is incorporate a better basket, c1d2 classification and 3rd party independent reviewers to make a safe product solely designed for our industry, as well as allow for extraction within the vessel.The bock was made to dry spin clothes.
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Yeah, at this point in the game the cosolvent isn’t gonna work for me quite yet. Just got the washer, so sticking to etho for now.
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Are you using nHeptane in the spin dryer?
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No. It would need modification to work efficiently, also I have no idea about the safety. I’m not using heptane and have not fully looked into this.
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I need suggestions for centrifuges I can use that can handle ethanol denatured with heptane. Ive heard that washing machine pumps will be damaged by heptane. Is there truth to this?
I have used a small Panda Portable Spin Dryer that spins at 3200 rpms and it works greaaatt. I don’t think I need 3200 rpms though. Downside to this is the size.
I have also bought a Hobart Salad Spinner (20 Gallon) but it only spins at 406rpm and I feel it is too slow. I only get 90% solvent revovery whereas the Panda Spinner gets me >98% solvent recovery.
I need something around 1100-1500 rpms that can hold around 20 gallons and won’t fail when ethanol filled trim is topped off.
Alternatively, does anyone here know how to change out a motor on the hobart spinner for something faster? What issues will I run into when attempting to do this? Its a $2500 machine so Id prefer not to damage it beyond repair.
I am having a huge bottleneck with this centrifuge. I have 7000lb of material to run and I can’t imagine having to use a tiny spin dryer for all of it.
Thank you in advance for any input you may have.
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Changing the motor out on the Hobart might be an option, best way to find out is to try (or at least open the thing up). I think the biggest issue you’ll run into will be that it’s not designed to handle the load once you get it spinning faster. The last thing you want is it coming apart at 1000rpm.
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