Hey guys. Im venturing into extracting commercially on a small boutique scale. I have a 2.5 lb cls coming this week. Very excited to get familiarized with her and start blasting. This will be my first experience with active cls. ive been using 2 (1/2lb) tamisium for years but they are too small, too slow, and un certifiable. Im confident in my abilities with my experience to run fire but im concerned im overlooking things that i dont even realize might be or will become issues. So i wanted to reach out the community to see if you had any advice for a guy in my shoes. Thanks for reading and really appreciate any advice.
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Get aquainted with crc tech
Have prv s on your rig
Good biomass in is fire products out
Be safe
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Number 1 mistake in the past was taking on partners. That would be the first thing id prevent. Do it all by yourself.
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make sure you have an actual supply of biomass that is good.
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buying unnecessary equipment
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listening to people who think they have my best interest at heart
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rushing shit…good things take time
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Just like every industry, safety first. Wear the appropriate PPE whenever necessary. Also utilize tools for safety such as VOC and LPG sensors.
Patience in everything you do, always try to learn and never cut corners.
Give a shit, youd be surprised how many people in the industry dont.
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trying to save money by doing things the hard way eg brewing and distilling ethanol from scratch instead of buying the damn drums.
Also hiring an alcoholic to run said ethanol production… that was a nightmare.
Not having a garunteed income in the form of finished product sales or a contract with a buyer… also hard to get a contract when you have never done the work…
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Know your worth. And if you build something, get it peer reviewed and certified immediately if possible.
I built one of the biggest single column hydrocarbon extractors (at the time, setup ran 150# of biomass, with a 900# solvent recovery) and it has since been stolen from me and moved out of state. I’m pretty sure it’s in storage in Eugene, OR somewhere because nobody has the balls to put it back together. I was the only person able to put it together and make it work.
Moral of the story is, stand up for yourself, don’t let people who have no clue about this game try to tell you how to extract.
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Never listen to the custy
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distil your gas
have ventilation
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Life is about people. It’s all about relationships.
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Thank you. i did buy the inline crc attachment. im hoping i dont need to use it. do you have any pointers on crc? the one thing i do like about it is its ability to filter pesticides. i know a lot of people here use things like botaniguard max ( pyrethrins) and mercenary which is all essential oils and other oil. not sure how those will impact testing. i know they are both things you can use same day as harvest for food products but i understand everything changes when ignition is part of the deal. my issue with crc is i hear it absorbs lots of terps too and we are trying to make terp sauce.also i read that the filter media are toxic if it gets in the product so thats something that leads me to caution when considering crc
-We have been going it alone. i went broke building out because my plan was based on leasing but we ended up buying. i had to make a ton of upgrades. We started talking to different investors and it turns out they are really emotional people lol. im over that shit and we are boot strapping this bitch. shit man i started my delivery service in Cali with $200 and 2 half lbs of weed that i grew. im in the same position now and its forced me to make some serious moves that are already looking really promising. ill build this business with my wifes help and some serious hustle, same as my delivery service ( mojave med if youve looked for bud in joshua tree). Im actually relieved i didnt give up 35% of my company. i know i can do it with out them i just need to start small, again. lol.
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lots of local interest from growers wanting to team up. already got 150 lbs of stemless trim. its greenhouse and only yields about 6-7% but its terpy and i can work with it. but im already making the switch over to exclusively indoor trim and popcorn.
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yeah my first bids had every bell and whistle. i was looking at top of the line extractors and getting bids around $80,000+. i did a lot of research and started learn how to replace equipment with practices and figured out i didnt need the top of the line for my first venture. i got everying i need to do what i want to do, with a certified machine with compression fittings that can handle propane for under $10,000. i personally already owned a 1.9 vac oven and pump so that was taken care of. im clearly going to need more ovens tho.
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no body has our best interests but our fams.
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slow and low homie!
Thanks for the advice im definitely there
Thank you. i just ordered some Ln2 gloves. we like the lab coat look 
- we are required to have those sensors. i still need to buy a HAL or something similar. was thinking about getting the kit and a paint booth but then id have to get it engineered and stampes so F that noise. just break out the platinum card and go lol i suppose.
-couldnt agree more. we care alot about the end product. hence our hesitation for crc. - ive been in the industry my entire. i know exactly how many dont. its gross. we care a lot. thats why my delivery service was so successful .
hahah ive been there. one of my drivers was a mess. great dude but hed come back from lunch with alcohol on his breath. a driver. lol. i leveled with him and he stopped during work. he was actually a bad ass but had a problem. i never had to fire him over it. but yeah we all got problems and we cant let those problems manifest at work.
love it. totally. sorry about your loss. i always try to run my operations fully dependent on myself till i cant any longer. then i hire solely based on trustworthiness and passion for the plant. thats worked well.
lol. its certainly the opposite advice when dealing in retail. but i get you when it comes to extraction.
DEF!
Could not agree more.Thank you
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Don’t take short cuts. If someone experienced says to do something it’s probably because it’s important.
Storing finished product properly: I like to vacume seal and store in a wine fridge.
Change your desiccant beads every time.
Where a mask when cleaning w alchohol. Those fumes will get to your head.
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Thank you. I agree with no short cuts. we take our time. im always looking for advice (hence the thread lol)
Thank you for the storage tips. i know to avoid light and heat. wine fridge sounds smart.
Where are you using desiccant beads? we got a molecular sieve that we can bake the beads and reuse. im thinking youre talking about using a desiccant for something else? or is it to recover water from you solvent?
- big 10-4 on the mask with alcohol.
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Thank you guys for all the awesome advice!
I have a 5 gallon bucket of beads and go thru all of them, changing them every run. Then I have a bake day. Repeat process 3 times then dispose. Mabey you can bake them more times, I’ve never experimented or read anything on it, just seemed like a good amount of use to me
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Once the Beads had there third ride
Dry em out fill a plastic coffee cup with
1/8 " of water
Drop one tablespoon of beads in the water wait a few minites the cup should feel warm to hot beads are still good
Mol sieves can pick up 20% of H2O
By weight
If you weigh the sieves before Placing them in the cls
Do a run and weight them again you get a good estimate of How long they can be used 
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Make sure people you hire both give a shit and have a big attention to detail. You don’t want people putting good shit on the trash
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Glad to hear about the cryo gloves. Cryogenic burns are no joke, I burned the insides of my hands on a -80c steel pot, I was rushing and forgot I wasn’t wearing my cryo gloves and picked it up and started pouring. My hands started to swell almost instantly. Luckily the burns were not severe enough to keep me from working but it was enough to scare me into wearing ppe with cryo always.
When working with LN2 you should also use a full faceshield, at least safety glasses, but you can deal with burned arms better than your face or eyes. Also be very aware of your feet, when pouring into dewars and such it’s possible to spill and pool LN2 in your footwear, try to keep your feet and body slightly back and lean slightly forward when pouring.
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Also, fuck the police
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Bro it sounds like it’s time to flip that city on its head
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