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Soxhlet Extractors

Dr. Soxhlet

SOLO Vaporized Cannabis is my Best Medicine
Modnote: The following six posts were moved from the Solo thread.
Making your own medicine is tricky.
Whats nice is you control the cure to work well in the SOLO.

The better top shelf strains 4 is my level.
If my legally grown flowers vape at level 4 I believe I cured correctly. (slow cure)
I know there are many portable vaporizer that people adore. The reason I like my SOLO'S as much as I do is because I use them for reference points.
Just so happens I get medicated at the same time.

Making your own medicine is tricky

Yes it is!!!

soxhlet1.jpg


By the way, I'm a legal Washinton State Medical Marijuana Patient and only produce these extracts for my own use.
 
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Dr. Soxhlet

SOLO Vaporized Cannabis is my Best Medicine
The fuck am I looking at right now?
Two Soxhlet extractors. The way all the old pharmaceutical companies used to do extractions up until prohibition. They used to import Indian hemp, but they found out that after the extraction process even American hemp would work ; so they started growing it here. I make whole cannabis extracts out of trim, although I also run ABV through it as well. And ethanol doesn't go boom like butane.
The Solo doesn't go there, I was just havin' some fun with ya all.
 

ataxian

PALE BLUE DOT
Two Soxhlet extractors. The way all the old pharmaceutical companies used to do extractions up until prohibition. They used to import Indian hemp, but they found out that after the extraction process even American hemp would work ; so they started growing it here. I make whole cannabis extracts out of trim, although I also run ABV through it as well. And ethanol doesn't go boom like butane.
The Solo doesn't go there, I was just havin' some fun with ya all.
As long as I have flowers I can make them into concentrates. Your beyond me.
I'm very basic compared to your set up.
I built this from a bunch of used parts.

This I bought already made. (purge)
However I did modify it and make it simpler!
 
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Dr. Soxhlet

SOLO Vaporized Cannabis is my Best Medicine
Soxhlet extractors can be cheap or expensive depending on whether it is Chinese glass or not. The one on the right was only $115.00. Is the purpose of your equipment to pull the remaining bad compounds out of a butane extraction or do you use another method?
 
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ataxian

PALE BLUE DOT
Soxhlet extractors can be cheap or expensive depending on whether it is Chinese glass or not. The one on the right was only $115.00. Is the purpose of your equipment to pull the remaining bad compounds out of a butane extraction or do you use another method.
I'm doing the same thing.
Mine cost about $300 or less. (my set ups really powerful)

I just make SHATTER these day as it's pretty easy!
 

Dafni

Well-Known Member
No offence, but a narrow-necked volumetric flask?? I'm all for MacGuyvering your labware, but this picture hurts my eyes.

Whatever works for you, though. Good luck and be safe
 
Dafni,

Dr. Soxhlet

SOLO Vaporized Cannabis is my Best Medicine
No offence, but a narrow-necked volumetric flask?? I'm all for MacGuyvering your labware, but this picture hurts my eyes.

Whatever works for you, though. Good luck and be safe
MacGuyver and me are great friends. That flask seemed to work better for that part of the process, though not normally used that way. I guess safety was a great concern for me. That's why I like producing extracts this way. Ethanol doesn't normally go boom like butane used improperly, but I suppose someone careless could still manage to burn a place down. But where this is located is a danger to no one, a separate building with no close neighbors. Anyone else out there use one of these?
 

Dr. Soxhlet

SOLO Vaporized Cannabis is my Best Medicine
If you have never seen how one of these extractors work here's a gif:
Soxhlet1.gif

As the solvent in the reaction vessel boils, the vapor moves up the right hand tube here until it conacts the cold water condenser, it then condenses to liquid and drips down into the soaking chamber(filled with your herb) where it fills up with hot solvent until the top of the chamber is reached. A siphon tube then takes the solvent back to the reaction vessel full of extracted goodness. The process can be repeated until there is no longer anything left to extract. Each time through the solution gets stronger. When finished a great deal of the solvent can be recovered by removing the herb from the soaking chamber and running the process again.
Here's some links for more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soxhlet_extractor
http://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/pdf/soxhlet4dummies.pdf
http://www.chem-ilp.net/labTechniques/SoxhletExtraction.htm
 
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2clicker

Observer
@Dr. Soxhlet, what is the advantage of one of these extractors? does it retain the ethanol for future use?

i ask because i use ethanol to extract exclusively and do not use a contraption like that. there has to be something going on there that i am missing...?

EDIT* i just realized that you explained the advantage in you earlier post. reading is fundamental!
 
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Dr. Soxhlet

SOLO Vaporized Cannabis is my Best Medicine
@Dr. Soxhlet, what is the advantage of one of these extractors? does it retain the ethanol for future use?

i ask because i use ethanol to extract exclusively and do not use a contraption like that. there has to be something going on there that i am missing...?
Yes, you can recover a great deal of the ethanol by taking what you are extracting out of the soaking chamber and running the process again. I don't know if you use Everclear, but the savings can really add up.
A big advantage is it is a closed system. If all openings are plugged with cotton, so no little critters can get inside. It also has the advantage of being able to see when the process is done. When there is oil in there, the soaked material in the siphon tube looks black, when the oil is gone, it is a light color.
This the way it was done by all the big drug companies before prohibition, of couse their stuff would be scaled up in size, but the idea is the same.
 
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Dr. Soxhlet

SOLO Vaporized Cannabis is my Best Medicine
Perhaps the moderator could correct the spelling in the title? ........ Extractor ..........

Thanks if you see this......
 
Dr. Soxhlet,
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Dr. Soxhlet

SOLO Vaporized Cannabis is my Best Medicine
@Dr. Soxhlet, what is the advantage of one of these extractors? does it retain the ethanol for future use?

i ask because i use ethanol to extract exclusively and do not use a contraption like that. there has to be something going on there that i am missing...?

EDIT* i just realized that you explained the advantage in you earlier post. reading is fundamental!

How do you use your extract? Are you injesting it in food and drink? I see you do vape the oil. You seem to swear by the Thermo Vape. It looked top of the line, but expensive, but I'm always short on funds. I got a Persei that I feel with all the upgrades available and different ways to configure the beast make it a good choice. I'm sure there are plenty of people would say it is the best.
You make whole cannabis extract with ethanol. Do you refine it in any way or do you use it "as is"? Do you remove most of the remaining liquid to make more of a paste type consistency so as to not cause leaks? I'm asking because I have never owned one of these "vape pens" before.
 
Dr. Soxhlet,
  • Like
Reactions: ataxian

2clicker

Observer
How do you use your extract? Are you injesting it in food and drink? I see you do vape the oil. You seem to swear by the Thermo Vape. It looked top of the line, but expensive, but I'm always short on funds. I got a Persei that I feel with all the upgrades available and different ways to configure the beast make it a good choice. I'm sure there are plenty of people would say it is the best.
You make whole cannabis extract with ethanol. Do you refine it in any way or do you use it "as is"? Do you remove most of the remaining liquid to make more of a paste type consistency so as to not cause leaks? I'm asking because I have never owned one of these "vape pens" before.

i havent used my TV stuff in months. in fact i have sold it all. at the moment i am using ecig RDAs and building my own coils. i wouldnt even mess with any of the vape pens available. they are too costly to keep up with. buying new $10-$25 coils each time they die...? no thanks. i can now build my own coils for pennies.

as for the oil itself. i do nug runs with ethanol. with my tech i produce shatter of which is the hard ambler stuff that breaks like glass. my favorite of all the oil consistencies. the only liquid in it is ethanol and water. this all gets evaporated and the shatter is left over. after a short purge its ready to use as-is. for super stealth public medicating tho i use ejmix to dilute the shatter into a liquid. i use this liquid i. standard ol ecig tanks like the kanger protank stuff.
 

Herr_Dampf

Well-Known Member
Complete Soxhlet sets (as far as I can tell). 120 dollar min. order for free shipping, but EMS would be 18 bucks to my place so that seems reasonable.

250ml Set for 50 + 18 USD EMS shipping
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...m-flasks-lab-glassware/118287_1187968298.html

1000ml Set for 115 USD (I'd still go for EMS over China Post though)
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...soxhlet-extractor-with/118287_1188000243.html

More Soxhlet sets
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/soxhlet-extractor/118287_251188867.html


The only thing that makes me kinda reluctant to order the 250ml set right away is what customs might think/do about it if the package gets opend.
 
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ataxian

PALE BLUE DOT
If you have never seen how one of these extractors work here's a gif:
Soxhlet1.gif

As the solvent in the reaction vessel boils, the vapor moves up the right hand tube here until it contacts the cold water condenser, it then condenses to liquid and drips down into the soaking chamber(filled with your herb) where it fills up with hot solvent until the top of the chamber is reached. A siphon tube then takes the solvent back to the reaction vessel full of extracted goodness. The process can be repeated until there is no longer anything left to extract. Each time through the solution gets stronger. When finished a great deal of the solvent can be recovered by removing the herb from the soaking chamber and running the process again.
Here's some links for more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soxhlet_extractor
http://www.erowid.org/archive/rhodium/pdf/soxhlet4dummies.pdf
http://www.chem-ilp.net/labTechniques/SoxhletExtraction.htm
I like this Technic!
 

ataxian

PALE BLUE DOT
How do you use your extract? Are you ingesting it in food and drink?
You make whole cannabis extract with ethanol.

I can't ingest cannabis!
Too spooky for me.

I tried extracts with ISO, EVERCLEAR, CO2!
PG and all the dilution products make me sick as well.
The headaches where too painful.
Some have no problem with them.

I use BHO for extraction then I vacuum and heat purge to make a SHATTER.
No Headaches and the FLAVOR is very nice.

Also 7.4 volts for SHATTER is like DABBING just AUTOMATED.

When I don't have time for flowers I like shatter because its fast! (FLAVOR WISE as well!)

Medicine needs to make me feel better!
I have devices that work for my medication needs!
 

Dafni

Well-Known Member
I use Soxhlets a lot, quite big ones actually. But not for cannabis, only for legal stuff.

Keep in mind this technique completly extracts all compounds that are soluble in the given solvent. A continuos, complete extraction, that's what they are meant for.

Soxhlets have their place, obviously, but with Ethanol or Isoproanol (or many other common solvents) you end up with a black sludge when you try to extract cannabis. This extract needs to be further purified if you want something halfway decent for smoking or vaping. This can be done, for example by a chromatography over silica (column) or by liquid-liquid extractions (separatory funnels)

I guess if you want to ingest the product then you are fine. For smoking/vaping I would suggest other more selective methods of extraction.

You could use Diethyl-ether in a Soxhlet for better results than any alcohol can achieve, but Ether is a huge safety risk in itself. Not suggested unless you have a proper lab at hand.

True, there were days when those black sludge oils where all there was in the cannabis world I guess, but these days are over now. People want those yellow clear extracts, no chlorophyl, no waxes and fats. There are ways to get them, as we all know, but Soxhlets are for a different kind of extraction, when you want the full yield of soluble compounds, say peanut oil out of peanuts and stuff like that.

Topicals and edibles might be a diffent story though. Probably the black heavy oils work for those.

Just for the record, I don't suggest anyone do something illegal. I have no personal experience with extracting prohibited substances, just passing on general knowledge in good faith.
 

Dafni

Well-Known Member
Hexane would be a supreme choice, assuming you know how to handle it properly and safely, and also that you have a sure fire purge method.

That's true. But the lower the boiling point, the better for Soxhlets on sensitive materials, as the extracted goodies stay in the bottom flask for the whole duration of the process, and that solution is always at the boiling point. Hence my ether suggestion.

Hexan boils at 68°C I believe, and EtOH at 78°C is even worse for sensitive compounds.

If I were to extract cannabis and want to preserve all terpenes and actives, I'd try to keep heat at a minimum.
 
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