Concentrates for Noobs - Q&A

[neogitus]

Hey fc forum. I have a few questions in regards to purging oil, as I have made a few batches and they have all gone to waste because of a disgusting taste. I have made about 4 runs so far, all different sizes, from running a qp of bud to running a half oz. I blast through a glass tube packed somewhat tight but not too tight, using london butane until there is no more golden colour dripping. I purge on low heat without vac until all bubble action stops and transfer to a piece of parchment and then throw it in the vac.

When the bho is in the vac it muffins up at first and has lots of violent bubble popping action that slows down to a crawl after a few minutes. After a few hours the bubbling seems to stop and there is no surface activity that I can notice for quite some time. The oil at this point has a nice colour and smells really nice but when burned it has a disgusting burnt plastic type smell. The BHO seems to be liquid in the vac chamber but it isn't bubbling anymore. There have been a few times I take it out of the vac and apply heavier heat with a lighter, then when I throw it back in I see small bubbles, that soon dissapear. I have had a small batch of oil in here for over 24 hours, on heat (anywhere from 100f-200f , which I know is too hot) and its not bubbling but it also tastes like complete crap.

I am at a loss of what to do. And since this isn't working I am paranoid to do a big run of oil as I don't want to waste more, already over a qp down the toilet lol.

thanks for any help and insight anyone might have to my situation.

 

[pigfoot]

Hey fc forum. I have a few questions in regards to purging oil, as I have made a few batches and they have all gone to waste because of a disgusting taste. I have made about 4 runs so far, all different sizes, from running a qp of bud to running a half oz. I blast through a glass tube packed somewhat tight but not too tight, using london butane until there is no more golden colour dripping. I purge on low heat without vac until all bubble action stops and transfer to a piece of parchment and then throw it in the vac.

When the bho is in the vac it muffins up at first and has lots of violent bubble popping action that slows down to a crawl after a few minutes. After a few hours the bubbling seems to stop and there is no surface activity that I can notice for quite some time. The oil at this point has a nice colour and smells really nice but when burned it has a disgusting burnt plastic type smell. The BHO seems to be liquid in the vac chamber but it isn't bubbling anymore. There have been a few times I take it out of the vac and apply heavier heat with a lighter, then when I throw it back in I see small bubbles, that soon dissapear. I have had a small batch of oil in here for over 24 hours, on heat (anywhere from 100f-200f , which I know is too hot) and its not bubbling but it also tastes like complete crap.

I am at a loss of what to do. And since this isn't working I am paranoid to do a big run of oil as I don't want to waste more, already over a qp down the toilet lol.

thanks for any help and insight anyone might have to my situation.

The oil makers will answer soon, but before they do, just the obvious - are you dabbing your product? What kind of nail? Do you get tasty dabs with your current technique using other concentrates?

 

[neogitus]

The oil makers will answer soon, but before they do, just the obvious - are you dabbing your product? What kind of nail? Do you get tasty dabs with your current technique using other concentrates?

Hey. I'm actually not dabbing yet. I had bought a cloud vape pen for oil, and dropped a few test hits in there and they all reek of burning plastic/tane. I just took the stuff out of vac to look at it, and went over it all with a lighter until it turned more liquid, and threw it back into the vac, and it started bubbling again.

This confuses me because it wasn't bubbling for over an hour on full vac, on a higher temp than is needed,the oil is liquid, but bubbles don't seem to want to form anymore.

I don't live anywhere where I can buy proper dabs so I invested in the equipment myself, as flowers aren't doing the trick anymore. After spending over 500 dollars on this and it still not working, now I am nervous to buy my sublimator xlr later today, I seem to have bad luck, or more likely, improper bho making skills lol. I am honestly just tired of having to smoke for over 30 mins straight to get the desired effect. I've read countless tutorials and watched vids on youtube, etc... and I was almost positive I was following directions properly, I had this bad tasting oil before I bought a vac, when I tried to heat purge. and I thought me not having a vac was the problem, but I guess not lol

 

[farscaper]

@neogitus it might be ur pen and not your concentrate at all... not saying thats the only problem but it may be contributing.

usually in the maker world one would judge by dabbing on an oil rig. pen vapes tend to a poor judge of skills... oil rigs are constaint and require little technique. so they are a better judge. also just cause it went in a vac on heat doesn't implicitly mean its done. it may take days of a qp. or oz. it takes hours for just 4g without vac. try doing very small runs to test your system and your skills. when you conquer the goal with small qt. then move to larger and much more difficult extractions.

 

[pigfoot]

NO expert here - but some purge quite successfully just with heat. I would pursue your dabbing technique first, maybe your product is ok, or was ok after only heat? Get a real dab rig, or if you don't want to lay out the cash, the old school way was a hot knife w/funnel. If the knife (stainless) is the right temp, you should get tasty vapor, and at least know if you're in the ball park. I got this whole rig for about $30 (shipping is more to our friends in the great white north), and you will need a torch, but still - mighty cheap.
http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/cheap-high-quality-bubbler.5255/page-318#post-614502

 

[slvelocity]

Vaped reclaim for the first time and I had to run it through my gb186 (mobius stereo matrix knockoff) and a honeycomb ashcatcher just to stomach the taste.

Maybe it's a sign of the quality of the original concentrates I started with but my reclaim has a very chemically taste and smell. Not very pleasant.

 

[2clicker]

sounds like the oil is burning to me. what resistance coil are you running?

Vaped reclaim for the first time and I had to run it through my gb186 (mobius stereo matrix knockoff) and a honeycomb ashcatcher just to stomach the taste.

Maybe it's a sign of the quality of the original concentrates I started with but my reclaim has a very chemically taste and smell. Not very pleasant.

reclaim will never taste like the original oil, but it shouldnt taste like total shit either.

 

[neogitus]

I have tried smoking it on top of buds and it also has a terrible taste. I own a skillet but my torch is long gone. I've tested it many ways,(on top of bowl, a coin on a burner, in the vape, on a paper, and all of them still have that nasty smell and taste, and why does it bubble under vac after I run a lighter over it? it doesn't bubble under vac even if it is liquid. Really discouraging considering how amazing the bho smells when I first start lol. Thanks for the fast replies guys, hopefully I can solve this problem and be dabbing soon. I still have less than a gram sitting in vac thats been there on high heat for over 24 hours, there seems to be no bubble action but it still taste like complete ass lol. Out of vac it is a sap like consistency. ( was a lot lighter before i added more aggressive heat)

 

[DieHard]

I have tried smoking it on top of buds and it also has a terrible taste. I own a skillet but my torch is long gone. I've tested it many ways,(on top of bowl, a coin on a burner, in the vape, on a paper, and all of them still have that nasty smell and taste, and why does it bubble under vac after I run a lighter over it? it doesn't bubble under vac even if it is liquid. Really discouraging considering how amazing the bho smells when I first start lol. Thanks for the fast replies guys, hopefully I can solve this problem and be dabbing soon. I still have less than a gram sitting in vac thats been there on high heat for over 24 hours, there seems to be no bubble action but it still taste like complete ass lol. Out of vac it is a sap like consistency. ( was a lot lighter before i added more aggressive heat)

If your heat is too high during purging, you are going to cook away all of the tasty terps. How was the taste and smell of your starting material? I have had some flowers that smelled great and looked great but the oil didn't taste good to me at all (preference not off-taste). I'm sure it was based on the strain. Just based on what you said and looking at your picture, it looks like it is purged and well on the way to decarboxylation. If you can't stand the flavor vaping it you might try eating a measured amount. You have a vac so you should not need too much heat. I recently purged 3.5g for 12-13 hours at 100F. It tastes divine. How are you filtering when you blast? I also agree with the previous posters about trying different methods of vaping (not smoking) to gauge if it is the oil or the delivery system.

 

[farscaper]

I have had some flowers that smelled great and looked great but the oil didn't taste good to me at all (preference not off-taste). I'm sure it was based on the strain.

holy moly "Lucid Bolt" (a variety of humbolt) was that way. smelled good, and was sticky as fuck... but when extracted it was sooooooo skunk it tasted like skunk spray.... in the mouth!.

you cant tell me thats a contamination! but some strain just have gross terps lmao. I decarbed that shit.

 

[jdee]

The oil should be spread as thin as possible when purging. If you hold the parchment up to the light and see any cloudy spots it needs further purging. The picture you posted looks like too much heat was used and the terps are all gone. What brand of butane are you using for the extractions? some are cleaner than others. Also do you know your grower, was pesticide used, that could be in your concentrate. If the flowers are good and the oil is bad I'm gonna go ahead and say your vape pen is to blame for the off taste based on your picture that shows fully purged (partially decarbed) oil.

in summary, possible culprits of bad tasting oil
- overpurged oil/no terps
- underpurged oil/tane soup
- poor quality butane (full of contaminants)
- improperly flushed crop/pesticide ridden crop
- china made vape pen of questionable materials offgasing in the airway

"really amazing how the bho smells when I start" this is the smell of all your terpenes boiling out of your oil during purge. I vape reclaim all the time (terp free oil) and it does not taste bad. The only thing that ever gives an off taste is a dirty nail/skillet, of course with a wick/coil type pen vape you really can't clean a dirty wick.

 

[kingtut106]

Hey fc forum. I have a few questions in regards to purging oil, as I have made a few batches and they have all gone to waste because of a disgusting taste. I have made about 4 runs so far, all different sizes, from running a qp of bud to running a half oz. I blast through a glass tube packed somewhat tight but not too tight, using london butane until there is no more golden colour dripping. I purge on low heat without vac until all bubble action stops and transfer to a piece of parchment and then throw it in the vac.

When the bho is in the vac it muffins up at first and has lots of violent bubble popping action that slows down to a crawl after a few minutes. After a few hours the bubbling seems to stop and there is no surface activity that I can notice for quite some time. The oil at this point has a nice colour and smells really nice but when burned it has a disgusting burnt plastic type smell. The BHO seems to be liquid in the vac chamber but it isn't bubbling anymore. There have been a few times I take it out of the vac and apply heavier heat with a lighter, then when I throw it back in I see small bubbles, that soon dissapear. I have had a small batch of oil in here for over 24 hours, on heat (anywhere from 100f-200f , which I know is too hot) and its not bubbling but it also tastes like complete crap.

I am at a loss of what to do. And since this isn't working I am paranoid to do a big run of oil as I don't want to waste more, already over a qp down the toilet lol.

thanks for any help and insight anyone might have to my situation.

You have to flip that slab once it stops reacting and toss it back in the vac. Keep doing this until it is no longer reacting, it could take 12-48 hours from my experience.

 

[Bouldorado]

I have tried smoking it on top of buds and it also has a terrible taste. I own a skillet but my torch is long gone. I've tested it many ways,(on top of bowl, a coin on a burner, in the vape, on a paper, and all of them still have that nasty smell and taste, and why does it bubble under vac after I run a lighter over it? it doesn't bubble under vac even if it is liquid. Really discouraging considering how amazing the bho smells when I first start lol. Thanks for the fast replies guys, hopefully I can solve this problem and be dabbing soon. I still have less than a gram sitting in vac thats been there on high heat for over 24 hours, there seems to be no bubble action but it still taste like complete ass lol. Out of vac it is a sap like consistency. ( was a lot lighter before i added more aggressive heat)

I agree with @jdee and @DieHard

Sap like consistency from a nug-run means you probably decarbed it. Even without a vac it's easy to boil off terpenes. Decarbed oil in my experience doesn't necessarily taste bad, just neutral. Burnt oil tastes pretty bad though. Any idea how hot your purge temps were?

If you used high heat + a vac your oil has very little butane remaining. The plastic taste could possibly come from butane contaminants or vacuum oil (does your chamber have a fresh air intake?)

 

[neogitus]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I left it in vac again overnight to make this purge a full like 48 hours. I am beginning to suspect my butane might be a culprit but I've read places (including a thread here) that said it is ok. I am using london butane says zero impurities on the can. It's honestly the only thing I can think of that is wrong with my oil. It burns funny, smells terrible, tastes terrible, and before I vacced it it smelled amazing. It was in the vac around 48 hours and this isn't my first messed up run either.

I've left runs at low heat for days, left it at high heat for days and left it at the right heat for days and nothing seems to work lol. Does anybody on here have experience making bho with london butane? If the bho remained liquid the whole time while in vac it shouldn't be sparking (could just be moisture, maybe not) and it shouldn't taste and smell this bad. I am not talking a no terpene hashy taste I'm talking a straight up disgusting, burnt plastic type taste that leaves a strong unpleasant aftertaste in the mouth.

Guess its back to the drawing board, lol I hope I don't have to get rid of this case of butane I already bought LOL.

Btw I would burp the chamber every few hours to let fresh air in and then re vac the chamber.

Initially when the bho thing muffins when I first throw it in am I supposed to let air in and don't let the muffin get to big, or just let all the bubbles pop and collapse on themselves? (what I've been doing)

thanks again for the help everyone, when I finally have this figured out I am going to be one happy camper smoking bho, so sick of taking forever to get to where I want to be with buds.

 

[Bouldorado]

Never used London personally but it seems like a lot of guys on Icmag do:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=168388

 

[farscaper]

try capital. several of the members here use it.

including myself

 

[2clicker]

try ethanol and stop worry so much about purging!

 

[thisperson]

I suppose that's an advantage to a closed loop system.

You know it's done once your X amount of butane is back.

 

[Bouldorado]

I suppose that's an advantage to a closed loop system.

You know it's done once your X amount of butane is back.

How would you know that though? If your oil has 1000 ppm of butane, that means it's 99.999% clean. You would need a laboratory grade scale to detect that .001%.

Let's say you run a lb of primo nugs. A 20% yield would give you 89.6g of oil. @ 1000ppm, there is only .090g of butane left in the oil.

 

[thisperson]

Very true.

On paper it sounded fine to me but I didn't think it through...

 

[farscaper]

we should design a q&a form for people to fill out before asking questions so we can quickly get the answer without so much pointless speculation.

whan making concentrates the upmost attention to detail is required, careful planning and consistent tek to provide solid data.

1. do you know where the starting material came from? (ie homegrown, dispensery, brick shwag, exc.)
2. run tek type (blask or soak tek)
3. butane used
4. pre purge surface & final purge surface
5. vac or not (purge tek and time frames and temps)

im just tossing it out their. im sure itll get buried by bullshit and forgotten, but at least I suggested it

 

[Bouldorado]

not a bad idea. maybe a google doc or something? then we could all compare extraction notes

 

[pigfoot]

It would be great to have FAQs or stickies at the top of some of the forums, but I haven't been able to raise any interest.

 

[farscaper]

not a bad idea. maybe a google doc or something? then we could all compare extraction notes

yes! there are just to many varibles to keep track of some times for those experienced to actually help without leaving more questions than actual answers....

on the note of questions... I think it was here but @mvapes mentioned decarbing his material prior to extraction and I was reading tge other day that non polar solvents are not exceptional at extracting thca but rather best for thc. at being said I can now see why a pre decarb is best because you will limit the amout of overall terpene loss as opposed to relying on tge heat from purge to help decarb. thus also increasing ones yield.

question: what is optimal decarb time and temp prior to extraction and if uding heat what type of containment vessel?

 

[herbivore21]

I had to share this one with you guys.

QWISO shatter, so clear that you can see the colour of the oil slick container underneath it! Apologies for the light reflecting back, should not have used flash photography on a white marble benchtop lol.

1 oz run of top shelf cured THC bomb buds, straight out of the baggie. 2.1g of beautiful lemon shatter from first run.

There are LOADS of trichs left on those suckers still, can't wait to do a second run!