RSO help loosing my booze!

tommyinajar

tommyinajar

Well-Known Member
I'm making RSO ,(hash oil) whatever, and using Everclear for the solvent. After I mix it for 5 minutes and filter it I reclaim it in a water distiller. I'm losing like a quart every run out of a gallon, is that right, or is the evaporator too hot or what?
 
JoeBlow5823

JoeBlow5823

Well-Known Member
tommyinajar said:
I'm making RSO ,(hash oil) whatever, and using Everclear for the solvent. After I mix it for 5 minutes and filter it I reclaim it in a water distiller. I'm losing like a quart every run out of a gallon, is that right, or is the evaporator too hot or what?
Click to expand...
just boil off the alcohol. u r making an easy process difficult.

and do it outdoors. boiling alcohol is a fire hazard.
 
quirk

quirk

Well-Known Member
Or you could reclaim with a Source Turbo Extractor. I make a lot of oil and tincture using Everclear and got tired of evaporating off dollars
and I'm to old to be messing with explosive fumes.
 
Fadedawg

Fadedawg

Well-Known Member
tommyinajar said:
I'm making RSO ,(hash oil) whatever, and using Everclear for the solvent. After I mix it for 5 minutes and filter it I reclaim it in a water distiller. I'm losing like a quart every run out of a gallon, is that right, or is the evaporator too hot or what?
Click to expand...
You can't heat the alcohol mixture hotter than its boiling point, but you can boil faster than the heat exchanger condensing it back to a liquid can keep up. How many watt is your still?

Megahome makes both countertop water and alcohol stills, as do others, and you might look at vacuum stills. For instance, I get back pretty much what I put in using a Extract Craft Turbo or their EtOH Pro vacuum stills. Here is my article regarding texting their Turbo, and I will be publishing one soon about my current tests with their EtOH.

https://graywolfslair.com/index.php/16-commercial-equipment/16-2-equipment-tests/16-2-1-extract-craft-source-turbo

I also get close to 100% using my DYI still with ice water condenser. Here is how I made it:

graywolfslair.com

15.7 Pot still - GrayWolf's Lair

The simple pot still comes to us from simple roots buried in antiquity, but consists of a vessel that you can boil liquid in, and […]
graywolfslair.com graywolfslair.com
 
tommyinajar

tommyinajar

Well-Known Member
750 watts supposedly- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079L5D5VJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks, you seem like you kind of know wtf you are doing (unlike me) Every RSO video uses a distiller that I saw, I don't recall anyone loosing that much, it seemed like a lot to me.

I was wondering if I add like a fan speed controller to it, if it would work if I turned down the temp with it, or if it wouldn't turn on at all.

I just dropped $$ on a new light and would like to use the distiller that's here if possible, but I probably spent more than an alcohol still would have cost in vodka...
 
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Fadedawg

Fadedawg

Well-Known Member
The distiller has two electrical things going on inside. One is resistance heat and the other is the fan motor.

You desire to reduce the heat or speed up the motor. If you change line input, you affect both up or down.

Good fan speed controllers are for motor loads and are variable frequency vis a vis variable voltage. You might be able to speed up the motor by increasing the line frequency above its current 60 cycles. That would add more cooling and might work.

Fan laws say that the fans output is directly proportional to its RPM so if you sped it up something greater than 20%, it might make up for the 20% boiling point differences between water and ethanol.

Fan laws also say a 20% increase in rpm requires the square of the increase in electrical energy. Without increasing the port sizes, it would also increase system static pressure, which requires the cube of the increase in horsepower/electrical energy.

Better to reduce the heat, which a variable frequency drive won’t affect. A variable voltage transformer like a Variac would work to lower the heat, but would also slow down the fan motor.

The best solution would be to replace the system thermostat with one closer to 176F. Can you open the case and get a brand and part number off it?

Yet another thought, is that you could put a secondary external heat exchanger between your still and the collection vessel. Perhaps run cold tap water through it or use an aquarium pump and use ice water in a bucket.
 
tommyinajar

tommyinajar

Well-Known Member
I'm going to open it this weekend. I don't notice a difference in fan speed ever, maybe I'm kinda deaf.

What if I just hard wire the fan and then reduce the V+ w/ a speed controller..

It has to be evaporating more than it's condensing. That was the only reason I bought a distiller....RSO
Water is .99 cents per gal, IDK I bet this thing cost 2$ it takes 4 hours.

The last batch I wasted almost 2 quarts and burnt up the RSO because I wasn't watching it.

I am thinking about just charging an actual alcohol still. I tried it once back in high school with a pressure cooker, if I remember got sick as hell! :D
I can make my own Everclear, but IDK if the one I was looking t will proof it out that high.
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
A lot of your loss is in the pot you filter out. Save that in a sealed jar and toss that in the still when you're done reclaiming the stuff from the oil.

I just got one of those countertop distillers for that shit. Mine has a temp control on it so it won't get as hot as one without that is made for water only really. Still have to watch that it doesn't cook down to nothing and bake the oil. Tried it with naphtha but the gasket absorbed it and broke the seal. Naphtha running down the side creates a bit of a fire hazard so lucky I tried the first run outside on a steel table. No fire tho. Stuck using my DIY still for the naphtha. :(

:peace:
 
OldMedUser

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
tommyinajar said:
I am thinking about just charging an actual alcohol still. I tried it once back in high school with a pressure cooker, if I remember got sick as hell! :D
I can make my own Everclear, but IDK if the one I was looking t will proof it out that high.
https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Moonshine-Still-Stainless-Thermometer/dp/B082GNHW3D/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=still&qid=1613782581&sr=8-1
Click to expand...
That's pretty big to hold 38L. Could get one for half that then make your own booze with a simple sugar mash in a 5gal wine kit using turbo yeast. You'll end up with over a gallon of everclear grade booze for each 5gal batch. Even a simple pot still will make high grade alcohol bu it might take 3 passes thru depending on what grade feed stock you start with.

I made a sugar mash then siphoned it off into clean milk jugs then froze them. Turned them upside down to let all the alcohol drain out and leave the snow in the jugs to start with about 30% that I ran thru my still twice and it was close to everclear strength by then.

Got to reclaim that booze then when you run out of pot to process you still got alcohol for the party! :D

:peace:
 
Fadedawg

Fadedawg

Well-Known Member
tommyinajar said:
I'm going to open it this weekend. I don't notice a difference in fan speed ever, maybe I'm kinda deaf.

What if I just hard wire the fan and then reduce the V+ w/ a speed controller..

Good idea! If you disconnect the fan from the heater, you can simply wire the fan direct and add a variable transformer to the heat.

You could also leave the fan connected and control the heat separately.

It has to be evaporating more than it's condensing. That was the only reason I bought a distiller....RSO
Water is .99 cents per gal, IDK I bet this thing cost 2$ it takes 4 hours.

The Specific Heat of water is around 40% higher that ethanol (1 btu/lb versus 0.614 btu/lb) and the heat of vaporization is about 62% higher (970 btu/lb versus 364 btu/lb). Your condenser should be plenty big enough for ethanol, if you control the heat, but you can always cheaply add a Allihn water cooled condenser to your current discharge.

The last batch I wasted almost 2 quarts and burnt up the RSO because I wasn't watching it.

I am thinking about just charging an actual alcohol still. I tried it once back in high school with a pressure cooker, if I remember got sick as hell! :D
I can make my own Everclear, but IDK if the one I was looking t will proof it out that high.
Click to expand...
You need a refluxing or a vacuum still to reach azeotropic purity of 95.6%. The simple pot still you linked will produce around 120 proof on the first pass.

graywolfslair.com

15.8 Ethanol fractionating still - GrayWolf's Lair

Ethanol is hygroscopic, so picks up water in the extraction process, and there are limits to how concentrated a pot still can keep keep the […]
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You can bump it up higher with multiple passes and you can add a dessicant like Drierite to remove the balance.
 
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tommyinajar

tommyinajar

Well-Known Member
Yea I knew I wasn't getting rocket fuel on the 1st pass. Hopefully the shine won't end up costing me thousands as my "weed plantation" did.

I'm scared to add it up honestly, including all the liquid fertilizer I used for the first year, junk I bought that I didn't need, just insane.
 
manfredo

manfredo

Well-Known Member
quirk said:
Or you could reclaim with a Source Turbo Extractor. I make a lot of oil and tincture using Everclear and got tired of evaporating off dollars
and I'm to old to be messing with explosive fumes.
Click to expand...
How do you like your Source Turbo? And how's the end product? I'm not sure it would be large enough but they have the larger one, the Etoh pro or whatever it's called for $2,000. Or then there's a steam distillation kit like this, for $750.

Steam Distillation Kit

Steam distillation produces organic, solvent-free products. Shop this large capacity Steam Distillation Kit online at BVV!
shopbvv.com shopbvv.com


I just did my 1st small test batch of oil with a dry ice QWET...and I have a LOT to learn. Plus now I'm starting to learn about butane extraction and debating which route I want to go...or maybe both.

So much to learn and it fascinates me...plus I love vaping oil and I hate buying cartridge's that I have no clue what is really in there, with the fake flavorings and all!
 
manfredo

manfredo

Well-Known Member
tommyinajar said:
I'm making RSO ,(hash oil) whatever, and using Everclear for the solvent. After I mix it for 5 minutes and filter it I reclaim it in a water distiller. I'm losing like a quart every run out of a gallon, is that right, or is the evaporator too hot or what?
Click to expand...
Are you using this style distiller ?

Steam Distillation Kit

Steam distillation produces organic, solvent-free products. Shop this large capacity Steam Distillation Kit online at BVV!
shopbvv.com shopbvv.com
 
Fadedawg

Fadedawg

Well-Known Member
manfredo said:
How do you like your Source Turbo? And how's the end product? I'm not sure it would be large enough but they have the larger one, the Etoh pro or whatever it's called for $2,000. Or then there's a steam distillation kit like this, for $750.
Click to expand...
We tested the Extract Craft Turbo and liked it enough that I use one for personal use.

I'm currently testing the EtOH Pro and am similarly pleased. So far I've run 14 half gallon batches through it to test recovery and am waiting for the auxiliary lid to test it as a vacuum purge chamber.

graywolfslair.com

16.2.1 Extract Craft Source Turbo - GrayWolf's Lair

It’s good to be us when people send us peachy keen equipment to test, and we were recently smiled on by Extract Craft, who submitted […]
graywolfslair.com graywolfslair.com

EtOH Pro.JPG
 
manfredo

manfredo

Well-Known Member
Fadedawg said:
We tested the Extract Craft Turbo and liked it enough that I use one for personal use.

I'm currently testing the EtOH Pro and am similarly pleased. So far I've run 14 half gallon batches through it to test recovery and am waiting for the auxiliary lid to test it as a vacuum purge chamber.

graywolfslair.com

16.2.1 Extract Craft Source Turbo - GrayWolf's Lair

It’s good to be us when people send us peachy keen equipment to test, and we were recently smiled on by Extract Craft, who submitted […]
graywolfslair.com graywolfslair.com

View attachment 4833754
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response. I'll have to watch a few videos on the EtOH Pro. It seems running through a vacuum purge would be smart, even with the alcohol extractions...but 2k seems like a lot for it.

How much finished product do you wind up with typically with the EtOH Pro.... assume you mean a half gallon of wash?

I'm torn between butane, alcohol, or low heat pressing extractions. My goal is to make high quality vaping oil, and I'd like to not spend more than about 1k, but I would spend more for the right setup. It seems like alcohol recovery extraction systems are the most expensive setups to buy.

I've been reading everything I can on the subjects, and I know there is lots of real talent on this site!!
 
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Fadedawg

Fadedawg

Well-Known Member
manfredo said:
Thanks for the response. I'll have to watch a few videos on the EtOH Pro. It seems running through a vacuum purge would be smart, even with the alcohol extractions...but 2k seems like a lot for it.

How much finished product do you wind up with typically with the EtOH Pro.... assume you mean a half gallon of wash?

I'm torn between butane, alcohol, or low heat pressing extractions. My goal is to make high quality vaping oil, and I'd like to not spend more than about 1k, but I would spend more for the right setup. It seems like alcohol recovery extraction systems are the most expensive setups to buy.

I've been reading everything I can on the subjects, and I know there is lots of real talent on this site!!
Click to expand...
How much finished product depends on the QWET process, not the EtOH Pro. The first washes yield more than subsequent ones, etc. The first wash can also be stretched, which I did by starting with a three minute wash and settling on an eight minute wash for first wash.

Yield is also a premature question as I haven't fully purged any of it yet and retained the older 2017 material as a roily tincture.

A Scientific Wild Ass Guess (SWAG) based on the conglomerate is that I'm yielding around 30 grams per run from first runs, after working out my process for that specific material.

We want to get as much of the good stuff as we can the first wash, but also don't want any of the non target elements, so we need to find that fine line by running samples.

Define high quality vaping oil?? $1K is not enough budget to purchase all the equipment you will need for a aromatic museum quality finished product. Besides extraction, you also have purging and finishing equipment.

One of the things that I find interesting about the EtOH, is the possibility of also using it for the heated vacuum chamber required for finishing.

Are you referring to a vape pipe or vape pen using a cart? The requirements are different.
 
manfredo

manfredo

Well-Known Member
Fadedawg said:
How much finished product depends on the QWET process, not the EtOH Pro. The first washes yield more than subsequent ones, etc. The first wash can also be stretched, which I did by starting with a three minute wash and settling on an eight minute wash for first wash.

Yield is also a premature question as I haven't fully purged any of it yet and retained the older 2017 material as a roily tincture.

A Scientific Wild Ass Guess (SWAG) based on the conglomerate is that I'm yielding around 30 grams per run from first runs, after working out my process for that specific material.

We want to get as much of the good stuff as we can the first wash, but also don't want any of the non target elements, so we need to find that fine line by running samples.

Define high quality vaping oil?? $1K is not enough budget to purchase all the equipment you will need for a aromatic museum quality finished product. Besides extraction, you also have pur

ging and finishing equipment.

One of the things that I find interesting about the EtOH, is the possibility of also using it for the heated vacuum chamber required for finishing.

Are you referring to a vape pipe or vape pen using a cart? The requirements are different.
Click to expand...
Vape pen carts is what I am mainly after at this point.

I'm not in a legal state and just found out Butane blasting is the same penalty as making meth, so that's off the table for me.

Here's what I am currently thinking...A 2 liter rotovap setup which you can do for $600 and a vacuum chamber and vacuum pump for another couple hundred, puts me under 1k and should do what I want I believe...But maybe I am wrong. Thoughts?? Anyone??
 
Fadedawg

Fadedawg

Well-Known Member
manfredo said:
Vape pen carts is what I am mainly after at this point.

I'm not in a legal state and just found out Butane blasting is the same penalty as making meth, so that's off the table for me.

Here's what I am currently thinking...A 2 liter rotovap setup which you can do for $600 and a vacuum chamber and vacuum pump for another couple hundred, puts me under 1k and should do what I want I believe...But maybe I am wrong. Thoughts?? Anyone??
Click to expand...
Yeah, when they legalized it for recreational use here, they made it a Class B felony to extract using BHO outside a permitted facility.

I can extract QWET using a fruit jar and boil off the alcohol, plus decarboxylate in an electric fondue hot oil bath to get a concentrate that will work in a cart, for under a hundred dollars, but it won't be purdy, aromatic, or tasty.

Define high quality vaping oil?? I grade mine by appearance, aroma, flavor, and effects. A major portion of the aroma, flavor, and effects are its entourage of terpenes.

If you extract with ethanol, you will need to either remove the terpenes beforehand and them back later or add terpenes from other sources post purge, for an aromatic concentrate. They typically exit with the alcohol.

I see cheap rotovapes under $600, but what chemical duty pump suitable for rotovape use have you found for a couple hundred brother?

I suggest throwing in a 2L vacuum flask and Buchner funnel.
 
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