Dabpress Rosin Plates

[MinnBobber]

@Blargas541
Some flowers are just not juicers.
At one time I used the Rosin Tech hand press, no pump.
While in Vegas for the Champs show, got some expensive dispensary buds and brought it to the Rosin Tech booth.
Had them press it in their hand press and nothing….
Then had them do some in a commercial big press and about as close to nothing as you can get….
Moral of the story: some flower just doesn’t yield

Best test would be if you could run some of your bud thru a press with a gauge to make sure you have buds that do yield.

 

[JCat]

@Blargas541
Some flowers are just not juicers.
At one time I used the Rosin Tech hand press, no pump.
While in Vegas for the Champs show, got some expensive dispensary buds and brought it to the Rosin Tech booth.
Had them press it in their hand press and nothing….
Then had them do some in a commercial big press and about as close to nothing as you can get….
Moral of the story: some flower just doesn’t yield

Best test would be if you could run some of your bud thru a press with a gauge to make sure you have buds that do yield.

I agree with this. Some bud vapes fine, and looks really nice, but when pressed, just doesn't yield (ie. 5-12%); and other bud, although it doesn't look great, produces great yields!

Moisture content, age of material, and of course temperature and pressure all play a part, but in my experience the biggest factor is always the bud (not to say that the bud isn't any good, but just not good for pressing)

 

[invertedisdead]

I think you may be right.....
I've decided to go one further though and covert all to bubble and then press 25. But we will see how long this lasts..... And I have a load of 90 bags....

That’s the way to go, May the force be with you!!

I came across an article in the last week about a top commercial rosineer that only uses 37μ for flower. That seemed odd to me, only because I had not come across that opinion before but, if you're behind using 37μ I'll have to give it a try. Do you use various packing methods or just bottle tech? If you already answered I can dig.

My mixed packs (37μ, 90μ, 120μ and 160μ) arrived today so I'll have to do some comparisons.

My buddy Psychonaut (Dabpress rep) sent me an article years back, when we were beta testing and developing the layout of these presses. I think around ~2017 when rosin was really breaking out, the article mentioned a group who won the California Cannabis Cup by pressing flower in a 37u hash bag.

Intrigued with the idea of filtration, after trying it I noticed the flower rosin even looked more like a higher grade hash press. Dabpress even sold their own 37u bags for a while which were the first ones I tried as a product tester.

One thing to note is at this porosity the bag is filtering contaminants that aren’t necessarily visible to the eye. I believe this is why this technique isn’t very popular, as people likely assume their rosin is already clean and visibly free of contaminants; I figure there’s probably a decent amount of crushed and dried plant material fragments that end up in a typical flower press and I think the small mesh bags help filter some of that out for cleaner vaping dabs.

I’m almost exclusively a hash rosin dude these days but for flower rosin I usually do bottle tech with a light, minimal cylindrical pre-press just to allow the puck to squeeze into the plates.

I agree with this. Some bud vapes fine, and looks really nice, but when pressed, just doesn't yield (ie. 5-12%); and other bud, although it doesn't look great, produces great yields!

Moisture content, age of material, and of course temperature and pressure all play a part, but in my experience the biggest factor is always the bud (not to say that the bud isn't any good, but just not good for pressing)

Totally agree!

In my desktop sapphire ball vape thread I mention in the very first post about how I wanted to build a flower vape that matched the purity of my dab setup, and that’s the exact reason why, some flower - even quality flower - is really just not worth pressing.


Pressing an 8th that would put out literally 35x 100mg bowls, versus yielding two dabs is definitely a problem and one worth saving for a convection device. Realistically this is where the top tier flower vapes come in, to perform a prerequisite test on the vapor output/density. That should tell you right away whether the herb is just not right for pressing, or whether it’s just plain not right!

 

[Blargas541]

Thanks again for the tips, all. My legal stuff came in, the quality doesn't look any better than what I was buying before though. And it's a lot more dry and old looking, so I don't think the quality of the stuff I was using is the problem (though it could be the strains). My pre-press came today and I tried to make a 3.5g puck and press it without a bag, but the puck expanded to the full diameter of my bottle jack and hardly any oil came out. Not sure what would cause that, it's hard to describe but it's like the puck expands outward instead of straight down.

Also, I took a vid the last time I tried bottle-tek method, this is using the more moist stuff I had with a 62% humidity pack for a while. I didn't have the pre-press yet when I took this vid but I packed the bag tightly. Hopefully you guys can get a better idea of how much pressure I put, please let me know what you think if you have a chance to take a look. Let me know if it looks like enough pressure is going or not or what else I can easily improve

 

[Chicken No Name]

@Blargas541
Was thinking about this issue you have been experiencing.

As @MinnBobber said,some buds just don't flow/produce. They may be pucker buds,just won't give up their goods.

So just thinking aloud here. If a flower variety fails to flow, how about thinking about running a small amount as bho or qwiso. Just a few grams perhaps to determine if it holds much cannabinoids.

I'm assuming that solvents will strip all cannabinoids off regardless of flower humidity etc etc. If it fails to produce with a solvent wash then you know the buds are poor quality. If it does produce, then you have narrowed your issues to user error (which I'm sure can be addressed) or the buds just don't like to produce rosin. In which case little you can do cept change variety.

You could do this with only a few grams and would perhaps at least indicate what's going on.

I'm no advocate of qwiso or bho. Horrid stuff compared to rosin when i make it, but I'm wondering if this might give some clarity with your issue.....

Hopefully one of the experts will add to this as it might be a crap idea. Like I said, just thinking aloud and wondering if my rambles might be helpful.....

 

[LesPlenty]

@Blargas541 your pressure looks good but the temperature looks low...that second press puck at 220f should be almost too hot to touch yet you have your thumb on it straight off the plates for quite a while...did you get a cheap IR thermometer yet?

 

[invertedisdead]

Unfortunately it looks like low resin content flowers.

When expressed oil just sits on the plates like that, without enough oil to get a flow going, that’s generally a sign of low resin content inside the trichomes.

 

[WelshBrok]

I agree with @LesPlenty that I thought the plates would be too hot to touch that much at those temps (google says human tissue is destroyed on contact at 162f) but IME the rosin consistency/colour tends to be more opaque/sugary/waxy at lower temps (that could be material specific though tbf)

So I think it must be the flower. I’m no expert but these are my sort of checks for will it yield well:

My best yield flower was about 24%

- if you break a bit off a nug and press finger on the previously internal part of nug, is it sticky? If so how sticky? If you were to break up 7g of nugs into smaller nugs would your fingers stick together?

If no then that yield drops to max 15% IME

- if you press the nug between finger and thumb, is it for want if a better word crispy or spongy?
pseudoscience but I feel crispy on the outside of the bud (but sticky on the inside) maintains its structure better as the pressure is applied, keeping channels more open for the rosin to flow out of. If it’s spongy those channels close together and the rosin gets trapped or absorbed

How dense is it?
Again IMO but if the nugs are like boulders, can the rosin escape it or will compacting trap it

How loud does it smell?
If it’s got a really strong smell, must mean greater concentration of terpenes. More terpenes = greater rosin mobility and better end result. If those terpenes have evaporated from the trichomes, then there is a higher ratio of plant material to yield. More plant = more oil lost to the puck. Another big plus to hash rosin

If the flower doesn’t do well on the above checks then I don’t think it’s worth pressing directly so have now got a tumbler so I can sift/tumble it and press the kief/dry sift

edit: much more succinctly put by @invertedisdead

 

[Chicken No Name]

@WelshBrok
Agree with all except the smell factor - always someone with an exception to the rule!
My c99 gives me 25% all day but the herb smell is muted (disappointingly). The bubble rosin I like for it's subtlety but it hasn't the strong terps that it used to have (I preferred by original c99. Their latest version is a bit meh). Hence I've dropped this mum.

I always find a vape test to be quite accurate. If I can get loads of draws then it's stronger. E.g my c99 gives me 3 good draws on my b1. One of my more milder autos will give one and maybe a second draw for the same amount....

 

[high247]

I agree with @LesPlenty that I thought the plates would be too hot to touch that much at those temps (google says human tissue is destroyed on contact at 162f) but IME the rosin consistency/colour tends to be more opaque/sugary/waxy at lower temps (that could be material specific though tbf)

So I think it must be the flower. I’m no expert but these are my sort of checks for will it yield well:

My best yield flower was about 24%

- if you break a bit off a nug and press finger on the previously internal part of nug, is it sticky? If so how sticky? If you were to break up 7g of nugs into smaller nugs would your fingers stick together?

If no then that yield drops to max 15% IME

- if you press the nug between finger and thumb, is it for want if a better word crispy or spongy?
pseudoscience but I feel crispy on the outside of the bud (but sticky on the inside) maintains its structure better as the pressure is applied, keeping channels more open for the rosin to flow out of. If it’s spongy those channels close together and the rosin gets trapped or absorbed

How dense is it?
Again IMO but if the nugs are like boulders, can the rosin escape it or will compacting trap it

How loud does it smell?
If it’s got a really strong smell, must mean greater concentration of terpenes. More terpenes = greater rosin mobility and better end result. If those terpenes have evaporated from the trichomes, then there is a higher ratio of plant material to yield. More plant = more oil lost to the puck. Another big plus to hash rosin

If the flower doesn’t do well on the above checks then I don’t think it’s worth pressing directly so have now got a tumbler so I can sift/tumble it and press the kief/dry sift

edit: much more succinctly put by @invertedisdead

That's some good yield there. What's the micron rating of the press bag that you use? (i.e. flower yield at 24%)

 

[Blargas541]

Hey folks, thanks again for all of your help to diagnose my issues. I'm happy to report the last couple presses yielded much better - 20 and 23 percent, with some excellent tasty rosin as a result. Despite so many frustrating presses, these couple of small successes have really inspired me to keep going.

I'm still narrowing down a few factors to determine the main influence on the better results. I used different flower this time which came from a dispensary, but it had a harvest date of over 6 months ago on the label and was quite dry, the quality didn't look better than what I usually get. I also didn't double parchment this time, lately I had been doing that because I saw some oil bleed through occasionally but based on the comments here about the plates not seeming hot enough I figured that could be a factor. I do have an infrared thermometer so the plates seem accurate enough in that respect. I feel honestly the biggest difference is that I put the press on my table instead of the floor and applied less pressure, much more gradually. More calculated like the process of making an espresso than any kind of hard physical labor like I was trying before. I kind of expected it to be a process of pressure + heat x time = rosin but it's a bit more nuanced than that, at least with a bottle jack without pressure gauges anyway. Additionally I used a 2'' bag for bottle tek instead of 2.5'' and packed it a bit tighter than last time since some posters mentioned the bag looked loose and large surface area wise. Load wise, I only packed 3.5g compared to many of my earlier presses which were 5-10g. I will update when I get things really dialed in, to share what fixed my problems for other beginners.

Here is the ice cream cake which yielded 20%, a nice badder consistency on the press. The flower has a really citrusy scent which isn't totally characteristic of the strain for me, but the rosin had a nice creamy flavor come out. The cured result a day later was really brittle and hard to break apart, but maybe that's because I put it in the freezer briefly after the press to aid in collection. Next time i'll try without and maybe at a temp lower than 190.

https://imgur.com/VBtt9Ha

 

[high247]

Hey folks, thanks again for all of your help to diagnose my issues. I'm happy to report the last couple presses yielded much better - 20 and 23 percent, with some excellent tasty rosin as a result. Despite so many frustrating presses, these couple of small successes have really inspired me to keep going.

I'm still narrowing down a few factors to determine the main influence on the better results. I used different flower this time which came from a dispensary, but it had a harvest date of over 6 months ago on the label and was quite dry, the quality didn't look better than what I usually get. I also didn't double parchment this time, lately I had been doing that because I saw some oil bleed through occasionally but based on the comments here about the plates not seeming hot enough I figured that could be a factor. I do have an infrared thermometer so the plates seem accurate enough in that respect. I feel honestly the biggest difference is that I put the press on my table instead of the floor and applied less pressure, much more gradually. More calculated like the process of making an espresso than any kind of hard physical labor like I was trying before. I kind of expected it to be a process of pressure + heat x time = rosin but it's a bit more nuanced than that, at least with a bottle jack without pressure gauges anyway. Additionally I used a 2'' bag for bottle tek instead of 2.5'' and packed it a bit tighter than last time since some posters mentioned the bag looked loose and large surface area wise. Load wise, I only packed 3.5g compared to many of my earlier presses which were 5-10g. I will update when I get things really dialed in, to share what fixed my problems for other beginners.

Here is the ice cream cake which yielded 20%, a nice badder consistency on the press. The flower has a really citrusy scent which isn't totally characteristic of the strain for me, but the rosin had a nice creamy flavor come out. The cured result a day later was really brittle and hard to break apart, but maybe that's because I put it in the freezer briefly after the press to aid in collection. Next time i'll try without and maybe at a temp lower than 190.

https://imgur.com/VBtt9Ha

Nicely done, your formula is correct; pressure + heat x time = rosin.


Overpacking and a quick build up pressure just leads to blowouts. Try 100 C next time, can't wait to see the yeild result

 

[The Stray Fox]

I went to press the other day and was thinking about plate temps and decided to check mine out. I’ve read that the point and shoot thermometers aren’t all that good at reading temps on things like dab dishes. Awhile back I purchased a Digital K type thermocouple with the appropriate sensor to read surface temps. I use it to learn the delta relationship between my PID set temp and the actual temp of my dabbing surface. I’m using the same principle here.

My set temp was 185 and both my plates were reading about 7 degrees off. I just left it and made a note that 185 is actually 180. Keep in mind as you change your temperature your delta will change and won’t hold to the 7 degrees off rule. My point and shoot thermometer wasn’t even close.

Anyhow, I’m sure most of you know this stuff.

7g of my homegrown Motor Breath went in for 3.5 minutes bottle tech in a 120 bag. 1.4g came out at a 20% return. I’m starting to understand what y’all mean by “you can feel it”.

 

[LesPlenty]

I also found the simple wire type of k-type probe less than perfect so I got one of these,

Industrial Surface Temperature Probe Black Plastic Handle Resister Temperature | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Industrial Surface Temperature Probe Black Plastic Handle Resister Temperature at the best online prices at eBay!

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I should have got a bent neck version as I can only read the temp on the front of the plates but that should be similar once heat soaked.

 

[The Stray Fox]

I should have got a bent neck version

Ha, I have the same prob as you and thought the same, remembering the bent version. I also played around with the standard wire prob and an oven mitt. I got similar results.

I have this thermometer…..for anyone following along who might be curious. It’s been well worth the $25.

Digital Thermocouple

 

[SquirrelMaster]

I pressed a mixed puck (Aphgani, Gorilla Glue, Tangie Borealis and Super Skunk) of hash I had this morning with a 50% return. I used the 30mm DabPress pre-press and cranked it down the best I could in my vise that isn't mounted. I believe I was at 160°F for both plates (the subsequent dabs have muddled that part) drip tech, in a 37µ bag.

Next, I turned the temp up to 190°F and pre-pressed 7g of Aphgani that I harvested months ago. I used the remaining 37µ and had just enough for a bottle tech press. I did not expect a good yield on this as it isn't coated in trichromes and vapes much faster than my other strains and I came away with a 9% return. The flavour is amazing though! I'll try pressing it in a higher micron bag too see the difference but I would go 37µ again.

Next up will be some Super Lemon Haze, Slurricane #7 and Purple Punch.

 

[bkkbob]

I cannot get my hydraulic pump to hold pressure, also when I use the release valve to release air it doesn't move the plates only the main bleeding valve works to lower the plates. I have tried all the troubleshooting for bleeding and changing the ball bearing, any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Southeastern]

I want an extra set of heating rods for my 6ton press, but they are sold out on the dabpress sight.

Has anyone sourced them for another supplier?

 

[FlyingLow]

what is the second set for? did your originals fail?

 

[Southeastern]

They are working fine. I just like to have spares.

 

[LesPlenty]

I cannot get my hydraulic pump to hold pressure

Did you find a fix?

 

[Southeastern]

Has anyone tried the 2T LukPress?

 

[FlyingLow]

I am moving and curious if any of you have suggestions for transport/storage.
Have any of you found a container/case/bag that loads all the components well?

Looking for something that will accommodate the 10T, pump/gauge, and the controller.

 

[elmomuzz]

Cardboard box?

 

[pxl_jockey]

I am moving and curious if any of you have suggestions for transport/storage.
Have any of you found a container/case/bag that loads all the components well?

Looking for something that will accommodate the 10T, pump/gauge, and the controller.

For a one-off move & store until your new space is ready, I’d look for a rubbermaid-type tub and use cardboard (or extra bedding that’s also being moved) to secure the items within.