I have a small rotovap that I use for ethanol extractions for personal use, but after removing 95% of the ethanol, I then remove it from the rotovap flask and put it into a glass beaker where I use light heat and agitation to remove most of the ethanol unit its turned into oil. The problem I have doing this way is I can over cook the oil and it will also sometimes change the color of the oil if done at to high of a temp. Anyways. I want to get a heated vacuum oven like the pros have but a much small scale of course. So I have been researching options to buy a unit and I have came across this one online and I wanted to know if it was good or bad/will it work for a personal setup. I would love to hear what you have to say! Cheers
Before I had a vacuum oven I used a bvv vacuum chamber with a heat pad to purge my oil. It was smaller than a .9 CFL oven but much cheaper for me at the time and worked well for personal use. I have an oven now…and this vacuum chamber just sits around collecting dust…
I have an across international. 9 oven I bought used. I had to fix a few minor things, but it works well and was cheap. On these chinese ovens…its obvious they are cheaply made…or my AI is anyway. That might be ok for you if your occasionally producing personal stash, as your goal is applying heat and vacuum in a controlled manner. If you had to use that oven every day, I’m sure you’d want to throw it out the window and upgrade. You get what you pay for…and a $100 vacuum oven sounds like a nightmare.
1 Like
I agree with @TwistedStill, that looks way too good to be true and is a nightmare just waiting to happen. I just looked into a vac oven myself, and at minimum they’re 450, and that is the cheap ebay ones. I saw some on alibaba that were 300 or so, but I figured by the time you add shipping, it’s not much cheaper, but I could be wrong.
Depending on the size of your runs and if you’re looking to save money, I’d look into the chamber and heatpad setup personally.
With whatever route you go, remember that a vacuum pump is another item that needs to be purchased.
Good luck!
Just grab one off ebay or craigslist. Alibaba will be same price with shipping. Plus the wait on it will be a while.
If your using a stock pot sryle. Make sure the bottom is flat