Making higher proof alcohol

[Gingerbeard]

For you folks who make extractions using alcohol, do any of you use a distiller that reclaims the alcohol rather than boiling it away? I know it can be done. Just looking for an experienced word.

[Rwise]

I dont have it yet but I want a vacuum system for recovery, it just doesn't make since to be so wasteful,,,

[oldjarhead100]

Gingerbread I am looking for the same thing the idea I have is to make a chamber that fits into my rice cooker then hook up a coil like in a still dont know if it will work ,they do sell one for around 500 ,if you look at how stills work the alcohol evaporates at 180 degrees ,the issue I see is what to make the chamber with , i thought about setting it over the rice cooker but then the heat source might be exposed so then I figured something like a cap on a moonshine still that will sit inside the rice cooker

[Gingerbeard]

This seems like something that should be done outside. What with the fumes and all. I would also be wary about hog-tying something together in my kitchen. There are plenty of 2 gallon size distillers online for under $125. They're small and seem simple.

[oldjarhead100]

they would still have to modified to fit on the heat source

[alltatup]

This machine does that. It's the Source by ExtractCraft.



Here are two topics I posted on it:

In this one, I did a QWISO and made vapeable sap:

https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum/growing-community/268943-making-cannabis-sap-from-trim

And in this one, I made vape juice cartridges with MCT as dilutor:

https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum/growing-community/205720-the-source-concentrate-extractor-i-m-improving-my-concentration

[Toker1]

How often do you need to replace the ice on a standard run?
Will 1 tray do it, or are you consistently refilling the ice for cooling the re-collect?

[Gingerbeard]

Not things I can even consider. But super cool. Just the sort of extraction I was looking for. What booze did you start with? Have you used the reclaimed booze? All this might be in the two posts you provided links for but that would require way too much couch time and my chair is uncomfortable. Two word answers are fine.
This is more the setup I remember seeing that was feasible for limited storage, ease of use, and what seems pretty safe. Run the booze through the machine a couple times beforehand and get super high grade booze to soak your dope in.

I do not suggest using the mini clear clearing agent or the yeast that is included in

this

setup.

[alltatup]

Gingerbeard that's messed up. I wouldn't want to use 151 proof because the extraction won't be near as efficient with all that water. Can't you order ethanol online?

[Gingerbeard]

Were I to do so I would have to pay taxes and have the bottle sent to another liquor store for me to pick up. Way too much hassle and added expenses. I would only have use for it at the end of harvest, and then only a little bit. If I could distill a liter to a half gallon, that would be enough.

[alltatup]

Gingerbeard I guess I didn't realize that you could take 151 proof and get the water out.... That is a really good idea. 200 proof rum would make a delightful tincture.

[gbauto]

The big brother is another option.

[alltatup]

Is that Big Brother watching over on the right side of the pic?

[gbauto]

Nah, just some anonymous dude passin' thru......

[Farmall]

Alltatup sold me on the source last spring. It has performed flawlessly and it works as they say....nearly all of the Everclear is returned to the bottle...CRYSTAL CLEAR. I have re-used that same bottle for over 12 uses. Due to its fluidity, everclear pours badly. So easy to spill so use the right bowls to collect and pour it back with glass funnels etc.

gbauto looking like another mad scientists lab....

I have even used the Source to make orange peel oil for the amazing fragrance it has and THC topicals from concentrate oil. I believe we should start an extraction thread and post a few do’s, dont’ s, and discoveries.

[alltatup]

Farmall Re: butane: I'm convinced that it's one of the chemicals not properly purged from final product that has contributed to the deaths/illnesses caused by vaping cartridges.

[oldjarhead100]

bho is fairly easy our set up is Back Deck, glass tube ,electric griddle ,8.5 x 11 or 9x15 glass baking pan , small a metal risers for the glass pan .with the glass pan sitting on risers on griddle ,run your weed ,we run ours until it runs clear ,then empty the glass tube and set weed aside, after all your weed is run do it again , when you get the bho oil boiled down to almost thick oil ,put it in a vacuum container on a sheet of parchment paper and as the butane is sucked out it will turn to wax ,this wax is so much easier than oil to handle ,measure ,and cook with , I usually eat a piece at night for sleeping , PM me if you want a better explanation with pictures

[Gingerbeard]

alltatup How's your day? I like your shirt!
I'm going to disagree strongly with you about butane causing the illnesses. The process of making THC e-liquid goes through more refinement and treatment than shatter. In fact e-liquids pretty much start as a shatter. Every step after making the shatter raises it's temperature, releasing more butane, alcohol, and moisture. The final process is (fractional) distillation where the temperature is taken well above the boiling point of butane, alcohol, and moisture. Unfortunately, all that work is shot to shit when penile hash masters drop in flavorings and all the other crap. If butane were the culprit shatter, wax, crumble, etc. would be more dangerous than vape liquid.
There has been such a sudden glut of companies making liquids there are no regulations about ingredients. For all we know the companies use mice on sticks dipped in acetone to clean their equipment.
I never got into e-liquids only because they burn and make me hack more than dabbing bad shatter.

[Farmall]

gbauto have you used the purge feature on “big brother”? I am finding out a ton of stuff about the vac chamber, heating mat and vac pump. More than confusing

[gbauto]

Yes, in fact, I'm running a batch at the moment.
My process:
Freeze material and solvent for 24 hrs.
First wash 20 min. max-longer gets more chlorophyll.
Filter through 25 micron and winterize for at least 24 hrs.
I do two passes through my buchner- a #4 and then a #6 filter paper.
Resulting tincture goes into the ETOH to reclaim the solvent.
I use a silicone cake pan to purge the oil. It goes into the crucible on the ETOH and I use a vacuum lid/pump to finish the purge. The ETOH allows me to keep purge temps constant.

[Gingerbeard]

Farmall
I will emphasize everything you've read about BHO extractions. You might blow your face off and a 1 mile radius of ground zero, up. I never do it unless both doors are open and I have a good breeze. I also put a fan about four inches from my Pyrex catch dish. Lots of other things. Even if I went outside I would use some sort of direct fan.
That being said, it's intimidating at first with that whole face blowing up thing, but you figure something out if you follow every instruction. I use one can of super clean butane for a first blast of an ounce. Long and skinny extraction tube rather than short and fat. I scrape, push, and blow the flower out of the extraction tube onto a plate. If there is sticky-sticky inside the glass, or the blasted flower sticks together when squeezed after cooling, I blast again. The extraction does it's thing in a hot water bath and is put on a heating pad for many hours, away for many hours, scraping and mixing at interval. It can be a sticky mess but fun and magical. I like marijuana magic. For some reason I get the same smelling product no matter the flower.
I'm trying to get up the nerve to go to an air gas store to see if they can put together a CO2 tank with a nozzle for an extraction tube. Adjustable pressure and all that. They have them online for plenty of shipping.

[Farmall]

Blow your face off ??? See, that’s the kind of stuff that keeps me interested and makes me sure I am not trying that. I’ve seen a few “inexpensive” BHO columns and I would only do it outside with a big fan but still ... especially when you see some commercial extractors made of metal tubes looking like they are made to withstand a major explosion...the ones I saw were glass...way over my head to experiment without a physical mentor standing right there too! I have a small CO2 tank I use with a beer keg. So it’s a 20,lb tank and when you fill it, tell them it’s for the kegerator or maybe even a paint ball refill station

[Gingerbeard]

It depends on how much flower you have, of course. I saw a video of a guy that had a massive glass tube. This thing took four cans of butane at a time. No bloody way! If I did that quantity of bud I would go CO2 or an appropriately sized, professionally made, stainless stell setup. One can of butane, my face. Four cans, m head. My extractions are 10 or 30 grams because that's a good portion of what I have after harvest and gifting friends as 'safe' as I can keep it.
The tank would have to disperse liquid CO2. The CO2 would also need to be pressure regulated down to a can of butane or appropriate pressure for you flower chamber.

[gbauto]

I think that using CO2 for extraction requires a sealed vessel-CO2 isn't as good a solvent as hydrocarbons or alcohol. You would need to keep the CO2 liquid while washing the material and it takes MUCH longer.

[Toker1]

gbauto is correct. The co2 needs to be in a super critical state. Only achieved by temperature and pressure modification. Co2 at STP won’t do it.

[Toker1]

I don’t think proof is improved... you are still boiling and catching the h2o vapors as well.
Here is 200 proof (100%) lab grade ethanol. After delivery and fees/tax I paid $112.44 per gallon for this stuff. (Delivered to CA) Will extract and vaporize faster than any other proof out there.
https://shopbvv.com/products/bvv-lab...proof-1-gallon

[oldjarhead100]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . I made a mistake on price its not 112 its 109 lol

[Toker1]

The link does not work

[Toker1]

I really hope people are not using denatured alcohol for extraction. Sure, it’s cheaper. They also add undesirables into denatured alcohol. It’s not the best choice for extraction.

[alltatup]

Please!!!! Don't nobody blow their face off!!! Breaking baaaaaaaad!!!

[Farmall]

Yowza! That’s my fear.... ooops!, you forgot to...BAAMM!

[Toker1]

Haha. Just ask Richard Pryor.

[oldjarhead100]

alcohol boils at 182 degrees if you keep temp under 220 no water should boil off and it will increase your proof

[Toker1]

Evaporation point and boiling point are different things.
Even at 180F (if you could consistently keep that exact temp) will have water vapors in it.
If you can control your temp settings perfectly, in theory running the distill many times would lead to more purity. But running the distill many times also means you are increasing the chance for contamination. (Leaks in the pipe, oil vapors from equipment, and air born contaminants need to be controlled to reach highest purity).

[gbauto]

That's the thing about ethanol-it likes to bond with water. So much that it's impossible to separate them completely using simple distillation. The max you will see is 95.6% purity unless fractional distillation is used.

[Gingerbeard]

I am familiar with fractional distillation as it pertains to making oils. Since we're only worried about separating two things, the FD wouldn't need to be as variable as with oils. There is a step up in oil separation temperatures. With ETOH and water, there is no step up. Only buildup as the heating element gets up to speed. One it reaches 'N' degrees, there is no further adjustment. Maybe there's a difference in temperature in each successive distilling? Even a small amount of water should be left behind?
That's good info gbauto, sciency. I'm going to do a search on how liquor companies make the high-test.