100% Decarb With The NOVA
- Thread starter Ganja O
- Start date
-
- Tags
- decarboxylation
I got one of the new units about a week ago.
I put a thermocouple in to check the temperature it runs at. It took about 20 mins to get up to 118C, then stayed around 115C(between 113C and 118C) for 1 hour, then a 15-20 minute cool down before the green LED lit up. The cool down period isn't in this graph.
There is only one screw holding the bottom assembly on, so I decided to open it up.
The board seems to be glued down. There is an exposed UART, but I haven't tried to connect to it yet.
The microcontroller is a msp430g2553
Temperature control is done with two resistance temperature detectors (RTDs). You can see one at the bottom of the heating chamber. I think the other one is on the heating element, which I believe is a silicone rubber heating blanket.
I use a Volcano set to 402F. I had my ABV tested, and it came back at 6% THC.
GreenHopper
20 going on 60
I got one of the new units about a week ago.
I put a thermocouple in to check the temperature it runs at. It took about 20 mins to get up to 118C, then stayed around 115C(between 113C and 118C) for 1 hour, then a 15-20 minute cool down before the green LED lit up. The cool down period isn't in this graph.
There is only one screw holding the bottom assembly on, so I decided to open it up.
The board seems to be glued down. There is an exposed UART, but I haven't tried to connect to it yet.
The microcontroller is a msp430g2553
Temperature control is done with two resistance temperature detectors (RTDs). You can see one at the bottom of the heating chamber. I think the other one is on the heating element, which I believe is a silicone rubber heating blanket.
I use a Volcano set to 402F. I had my ABV tested, and it came back at 6% THC.
Nice teardown, interesting to see the consistent temp. I thought it might fluctuate a bit more, maybe finish with a temp bump.
Any chance of seeing the cool down section of the graph, just want to see if there is a controlled cooldown or if the unit just stops heating and the cooldown is unassisted?
Sure. Pretty sure the heater just stops. I think the cool down period is probably for safety reason.
GreenHopper
20 going on 60
Sure. Pretty sure the heater just stops. I think the cool down period is probably for safety reason.
Thanks buddy, I agree - this looks like the heater is off and the device is just cooling down unassisted.
So I guess my next question would be, is 113°c-113°c a constant or does this change depending upon amounts placed in the chamber. I don't expect you to answer this by the way, I'm just thinking out loud.
Again thanks for taking the time to capture some really useful data and for posting the teardown.
Great couple of posts fella
MinnBobber
Well-Known Member
.......................................................
For us Yanks:
118 C = 244.4 F
115 C = 239 F
113 C = 235.4 F
Thanks for the valuable info on exactly what the temp profile is .
For my DIY, I go with a lower and longer profile, like 215- 220 F for 90 minutes.
What do others prefer?
I think it is pretty constant. The last graph was with almost nothing in the heating chamber. This was done with 12.5 grams in the heating chamber. 113.5C-117.25C was the range this time. Green LED came on at 75C.
The strain is CBD Critical Mass. It is almost 2:1 CBD:THC ratio, so it will be interesting to see how well it decarbed the CBDa. Test result from raw cannabis
THCa 5.4%
Δ9-THC 0.6%
THCV 1.6%
CBDa 9.6%
CBD 0.2%
CBC 0.1%
CBCa 0.1%
I just saw the two red wires coming out of a hole in the body. I'm not sure glass would work in this design. It seems like it depends on the heat transfer of the metal container. Looking at a heat transfer by conduction table, it looks like Aluminum has a thermal conductive value of 237, and glass is 1.05.
I'm not a fan of the aluminum container. Mine had aluminum dust on it, and on the lid. Not exactly food safe. I made sure to clean it really well before I used it.
Last edited:
me, too! i put the herb in a shot glass in the container
Me either, glass works great in it and when I decarb my CO I put it oven safe silicon containers, works great.
I just ran a test in with the temp sensor in a little silicone oil barrel. It was 109C after 30 mins, 112 by 1 hr. Run time was 1hr and 40 mins. Green LED came on at 85C.
This is the graph from the second run I did with the barrel, without letting the unit cool down very much. Top temp was 113C. The entire cool down period is not included.
This is the graph from the second run I did with the barrel, without letting the unit cool down very much. Top temp was 113C. The entire cool down period is not included.
HYB
Diamond Dog
Just got a response to one of my mails from Shanel. Great news everyone in the EU/AUS, 220v is coming out in a few months! Here's hoping they can cancel my existing order as I definitely want to wait for the 220v version. Shanel said that no-one's been having trouble with the 110v version but to be sure the hz should match and it also cuts down the amount of space needed when you don't need a transformer. The cs was on point this time as I got a discount code for the wait as well, so I'm definitely happy. Hopefully they'll get back to other customers soon as well.
trichome_renaissance
Well-Known Member
According to skunkpharm, yes!
https://skunkpharmresearch.com/decarboxylation/
"When we heat cannabis to convert the THCA and CBDA into THC and CBD, we are also converting THC to CBN at a faster rate. At about 70% decarboxylation, we actually start converting THC to CBN at a faster rate than we are converting THCA to THC, so as you can see by the following graph, after about 70% decarboxylation, the levels of THC actually start to fall sharply."
The skunkpharm chart suggests about 40 minutes @ 240F for peak levels of thc and the nova is going 60 minutes @ 240F (plus heat up and cool down time). So, if skunkpharm is correct, then we all might see increased thc levels (along with thca and cbda levels) if we unplug the unit 60 minutes after turning it on (20 minutes to get up to 240F + 40 minutes @ 240F to decarb).
trichome_renaissance
Well-Known Member
Yeah it looks like the website has changed again.... it now says
"How much can it decarb at a time?
1/4 to 1 ounce of flower (depending on the density of the bud) or 3-5oz of kief."
I was looking for decarb info and there is a lot out there in the form of patents. This is for plant matter, not concentrates.
https://www.google.com/patents/US8846409
"Preferably, decarboxylation is carried out in a multi-step heating process in which the plant material is:
i) heated to a first temperature for a first (relatively short) time period to evaporate off retained water and allow for uniform heating of the plant material; and
ii) the temperature is increased to a second temperature for a second time period (typically longer than the first time period) until at least 95% conversion of the acid cannabinoids to their neutral form has occurred.
Preferably the first step is conducted at a temperature in the range of from 100° C. to 110° C. for 10-20 min. More preferably the first temperature is about 105° C. and the first time period is about 15 minutes.
Optimum times and temperatures for the second step may vary depending on the nature of the plant material, and more particularly on the cannabinoid which it is intended to isolate from the plant material, and may be easily determined by routine experiment. Suitable conditions may include, for example, a temperature in the range of from 115° C. to 125° C. for a time period in the range of from 45 to 75 minutes (typically 120° C. for 60 minutes), or a temperature in the range of from 135° C. to 145° C., for a time period in the range of from 15 to 45 minutes.
If the plant material is derived from cannabis plants having a high THC content (defined as >90% THC as a percentage of total cannabinoid content), the second temperature is preferably in the range of from 115° C. to 125° C., typically 120° C., and the second time period is preferably in the range of from 45 minutes to 75 minutes, typically about 60 minutes. More preferably the second temperature is in the range of from 100° C. to 110° C., typically 105° C., and the second time period is in the range of from 60 to 120 minutes. In another embodiment, most preferred for a mass of plant material greater than 4 kg, the second temperature is in the range of from 140° C. to 150° C., preferably 145° C., and the second time period is in the range of from 45 to 55 minutes.
Where the starting “plant material” is freshly harvested or “wet” plant material is may be subjected to a drying step to remove excess moisture prior to step (i). For convenience, decarboxylation and drying may be combined in a single heating step or in a multi-step heating process, as described above."
Just curious, was the lid on or off of the silicone barrel?I just ran a test in with the temp sensor in a little silicone oil barrel. It was 109C after 30 mins, 112 by 1 hr. Run time was 1hr and 40 mins. Green LED came on at 85C.
This is the graph from the second run I did with the barrel, without letting the unit cool down very much. Top temp was 113C. The entire cool down period is not included.
First run the lid was off, second run it was on. It didn't seem to make much of a difference. The graph is from the second run.
This is the first run with the lid off.
Didn't realize there would be that big of a difference from just using the aluminum container. I might have to start decarbing my CO directly in the container. Thanks for the experimentation.First run the lid was off, second run it was on. It didn't seem to make much of a difference. The graph is from the second run.
This is the first run with the lid off.
Different wording given on different pages of the website, lol. Anyone actively in communication might want to clue them in.
http://www.ardentcannabis.com Botton of the page:
1/4 to 1 ounce of flower (depending on the density of the bud) or 3-5oz of kief.
http://www.ardentcannabis.com/product/nova-decarboxylator
Holds up to 14g to an ounce of flower (depending on the density) or 5 ounces of kief
http://www.ardentcannabis.com Botton of the page:
1/4 to 1 ounce of flower (depending on the density of the bud) or 3-5oz of kief.
http://www.ardentcannabis.com/product/nova-decarboxylator
Holds up to 14g to an ounce of flower (depending on the density) or 5 ounces of kief
MonkeyTime
Well-Known Member
Feeling pretty good this morning, got an email from Shanel letting me know my unit is assembled and being packaged for shipment. That's a nice turn towards better vs!
Bluesky Fortune
New Member
Hi Everyone! I just got my Nova today and I'm wanting to decarb but I have a quick question. Can my flower bee too dry for the decarb process? I'm not sure if I need to rehydrate it a little? I just don't want to waste anything. THANK YOU for your Help!! (:
MonkeyTime
Well-Known Member
I'm no expert so hopefully someone with more experience chimes in, but I don't think it's a problem. If you are going to rehydrate it, I suggest using Boveda packs, I like the 62% ones.
When did you order?
Bluesky Fortune
New Member
Ok Thank You!! I didn't rehydrate it so hopefully it'll be ok. When did I order the Nova? If that is your question, I ordered it last week and it already came!! YAY!!!