Why won't my dewaxed bho slabs stabilize?

[Fadedawg]

The small bubbles that you continue to see are CO2 bubbles from decarboxylation. Try stopping once the big solvent bubbles stop.

 

[FlowerPower88]

The small bubbles that you continue to see are CO2 bubbles from decarboxylation. Try stopping once the big solvent bubbles stop.

The thing is that I didn’t notice any change in size with the bubbles, when vacuum was first pulled, within the first minute, the bubbles as the formed closer to the center of the extract would start small, but by the time the rose to the surface the were between pea and dime sized

 

[Fadedawg]

The thing is that I didn’t notice any change in size with the bubbles, when vacuum was first pulled, within the first minute, the bubbles as the formed closer to the center of the extract would start small, but by the time the rose to the surface the were between pea and dime sized

I would have to see it to comment, but the solvent leaves relatively fast, so doesn't require hours/days.

You might try raising your temperature some to speed it up. I typically stay under 115F.

 

[FlowerPower88]

I would have to see it to comment, but the solvent leaves relatively fast, so doesn't require hours/days.

You might try raising your temperature some to speed it up. I typically stay under 115F.

really! I was under the impression that at low temp you could expect 72-96 hours, that with my shitty little chamber set up was my window, but using a nice oven for the first time I was expecting it to be quicker for sure, but in hours! Or did I misread? How long do you purge generally for a small run? Is it dependent on batch size in your experience or does it take the same amount of time for a little glob as it does a full sheet?

 

[lusidghost]

I usually leave my slabs in the vac oven for a few days. It's set to 92 degrees. Sometimes they do purge really fast, but I've never understood why. Sometimes the slab will lay flat without much bubble action after the initial muffin, so I take it out, fold the slab over on itself and press it. Then I put it back in the vac oven and it always bubbles up nicely after that. BHO is mystical. Moisture in the material or from condensation causes a lot of problems.

 

[lusidghost]

this was outdoor nug run, but it was very potent smelling, the bud was probably 5-6 months old though.

I put that in a warm water bath while my vacuum oven gets to temp.

Old material never turns out as nice as fresher stuff. It's much more likely to be soft, but also a darker color.

Don't use warm water. The butane is super cold, so the temp of even cold water is much warmer. Warm water will cause condensation, and if you let it run too long can "cook" the goop unto instability. I discovered that this winter. It wasn't coming out very nice after two runs with warm water, so I used cold water and it came out perfect.

 

[FlowerPower88]

That makes sense, the best consistency run, or I guess a better way to put it is the closest to what I intended for was a run I did with no water bath, I just let it sit on the counter until it got above freezing, then I put it in the purging vessel, and put that in the chamber with no heat until it got into the upper 50’s F then I turned the heat on to 85f at first, and when the extract got up to that temp I started pulling vac. I guess in all that I failed to see how that dramatic temperature difference could create issue in the moment, or that the time it turned out the way I wanted that it was not having that that could have been the secret. Gonna be running some fresh frozen in a few weeks, so here’s to hoping I can work out one more kink…only to find 2 more beneath it lol

 

[FlowerPower88]

I usually leave my slabs in the vac oven for a few days. It's set to 92 degrees. Sometimes they do purge really fast, but I've never understood why. Sometimes the slab will lay flat without much bubble action after the initial muffin, so I take it out, fold the slab over on itself and press it. Then I put it back in the vac oven and it always bubbles up nicely after that. BHO is mystical. Moisture in the material or from condensation causes a lot of problems.

I have had this experience, and I tell myself the viscosity of each strain will be noticeably different and even within a strain from batch to batch to a degree, so the bubbles just must have a harder time penetrating some than others. But yeah, once it goes flat after the initial purge, I will put it in the freezer, it usually takes a couple minutes at least to get it solid enough to flip this soon, and that contradicts my earlier thought of the extract being too thick for the butane to move through freely. But regardless, once I flip it and put it back in, give it 30-45 minutes to get back up to temp, then pull vacuum, it’s active as ever again, but fizzles out soon, then after repeating this for the first 36 hours or so, it starts to behave as I feel it should lol. But I 100% agree, it is a very mysterious substance, that doesn’t seem to follow exactly the same path twice, I’ve only done 10 or so runs though so, I’ve got much to learn.

 

[lusidghost]

I have had this experience, and I tell myself the viscosity of each strain will be noticeably different and even within a strain from batch to batch to a degree, so the bubbles just must have a harder time penetrating some than others. But yeah, once it goes flat after the initial purge, I will put it in the freezer, it usually takes a couple minutes at least to get it solid enough to flip this soon, and that contradicts my earlier thought of the extract being too thick for the butane to move through freely. But regardless, once I flip it and put it back in, give it 30-45 minutes to get back up to temp, then pull vacuum, it’s active as ever again, but fizzles out soon, then after repeating this for the first 36 hours or so, it starts to behave as I feel it should lol. But I 100% agree, it is a very mysterious substance, that doesn’t seem to follow exactly the same path twice, I’ve only done 10 or so runs though so, I’ve got much to learn.

I wouldn't put it in the freezer. Just let it cool down to room temperature. If it's too sticky to flip then put it back into the chamber.

 

[Fadedawg]

really! I was under the impression that at low temp you could expect 72-96 hours, that with my shitty little chamber set up was my window, but using a nice oven for the first time I was expecting it to be quicker for sure, but in hours! Or did I misread? How long do you purge generally for a small run? Is it dependent on batch size in your experience or does it take the same amount of time for a little glob as it does a full sheet?

We typically purged in less than 4 hours at 115F.