Ethanol tincture potency?

[General Disaster]

Below is a link to the SOURCE TURBO “Manual”, if you are interested in the details.

https://extractcraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/SourceTurboManualV12_125w_ampamendment.pdf

Thanks! The interest is purely academic, it's interesting to compare the techniques I learned working in a chem lab, with the modern consumer devices to do the same job without needing all the crap.

So this thing is essentially a vacuum evaporator with a separate reservoir where the vapour condenses (to recapture it). So in fact I'll bet you could also use it to reduce the solvent off a more traditional solvent extraction! Obviously need to use a suitable solvent so it doesn't dissolve the plastics etc!
I presume you can attach a tube to the buchner funnel to vacuum filtrate? It would seem the sensible thing since the unit has a vacuum pump, but the manual didn't seem to mention it or show a take-off for a tube to connect the buchner. Or is it (buchner) gravity only? Seems odd if so, as a buchner is specifially for doing vacuum filtration.

This essentially equates to a home version of a rotary evaporator, which holds a round bottom flask half in a hot water bath, tilted at about 40 degrees from horizontal, and turning on that axis to rotate the flask in the bath. The rest of the thing is essentially a condenser and a separate round flask for capturing the condensed solvent, and has a vacuum take off to reduce the pressure and lower the solvent's B.pt.

But they should be run in a fume cupboard, and can handle larger amounts much faster than this will (but at a price! $$$). But still the same thing in essence - interesting, thanks for the url.

 

[RustyOldNail]

I presume you can attach a tube to the buchner funnel to vacuum filtrate?

EXACTLY!
I bought a decent buchner, and the various paper filters.

 

[General Disaster]

EXACTLY!
I bought a decent buchner, and the various paper filters.

Cool! That's a real handy bit of kit for anyone into extracting with organic solvents, whatever the method (freezing, steeping, etc). And having the option to vacuum filter makes a big difference! (as I'm sure you've found! ).

There is a low powered vacuum pump that's especially good for the filtration part, that just bungs on the end of a tap, and is basically a metal tube maybe 10cm long, 1cm wide, with a sidearm of same width about 5cm which is where the air is sucked in (the water flows directly through the vertical part, and an internal vortex pulls in air from the sidearm. Not nearly as strong as a proper vacuum pump, but good enough for filtration and probably for ethanol evaporation, but although cheap and simple, they're very wasteful of water if used a long time, and easy to come loose and cause flooding if unattended, etc. But is a useable solution (have to watch out for suck back too! Your lovely product flooded with water! ).

Your kit sounds far more civilised for a kitchen or the like!

 

[RustyOldNail]

It does work as intended, unfortunately I’ll probably end up selling it, as I don’t grow my own flower to make my own concentrates. I experimented with inexpensive CBD flower, and then moved on to trying to just make ethanol tinctures. You can do that with most forms of concentrates without any machines. I used some of PSams video information. I had some more questions for him, but unfortunately he passed away. I’ll eventually add more here, as I know there are a few that will perhaps understand and maybe be of help.
Appreciate your interest.

 

[General Disaster]

It does work as intended, unfortunately I’ll probably end up selling it, as I don’t grow my own flower to make my own concentrates. I experimented with inexpensive CBD flower, and then moved on to trying to just make ethanol tinctures. You can do that with most forms of concentrates without any machines. I used some of PSams video information. I had some more questions for him, but unfortunately he passed away. I’ll eventually add more here, as I know there are a few that will perhaps understand and maybe be of help.
Appreciate your interest.

Well for what it's worth, I worked about 8 years in a wet organic lab in a university, so got quite used to many of the standard techniques of doing extractions, and other preps as part of organic synthesis and suchlike. That said, this was back in the 80's, but interestingly it seems much of the equipment and methods are still in use today, but that's lab based, and no good at home unless you buy fume cupboards and drawers full of hideously expensive glassware, and the most basic hardware costing hundreds, and all the supplies needed (not to mention disposals etc).

But the idea's are still pretty much the same when they can be adapted. I'm not the most experienced at cannabis extraction specifically (did it in the labs but not much at home), and also, learning to adapt home kit to do these things is a different skill, but I know much of the practicalities about the methods, chemical and equipment and such, so be happy to give advice if able, but sometimes where someone else finds a real clever way to hack something, I'd only know to use some specific equipment to do the same, not much help always!

 

[Hippie]

Graywolfslair is another good source for info on this subject, you may find useful

9.4 Extraction Archives - GrayWolf's Lair

graywolfslair.com

15.14 DIY Vacuum chamber - GrayWolf's Lair

Not only does a vacuum chamber or vacuum oven speed things up, but there are some things that you need one to accomplish. For those […]

graywolfslair.com

I bought a temp controlled distiller for the job (like the green oil machine) - and evaporate off all the alcohol and add the resulting extract to alcohol or MCT so I know roughly how much is in the mix

 

[General Disaster]

Graywolfslair is another good source for info on this subject, you may find useful

9.4 Extraction Archives - GrayWolf's Lair

graywolfslair.com

15.14 DIY Vacuum chamber - GrayWolf's Lair

Not only does a vacuum chamber or vacuum oven speed things up, but there are some things that you need one to accomplish. For those […]

graywolfslair.com

I bought a temp controlled distiller for the job (like the green oil machine) - and evaporate off all the alcohol and add the resulting extract to alcohol or MCT so I know roughly how much is in the mix

That's not bad actually! Biggest thing I immediately spotted though was no trap between the container full of solvent/oil solution (at front of image I think), and it seemed rather full.
It looks like it could boil over and get pulled through the tubing, or if it was knocked over, similar result. But that's just from the image, could be something in place that's not obvious. But a cool site for sure!

Having an effective vacuum oven of some sort has got to be the most useful and important part of doing solvent extractions. The getting the volatile oils into the solvent is much simpler, the biggest issue is reduction of waste usually.

The third picture under the heading "Plexiglas lids" shows what I would know as a typical lab setup with a vacuum desiccator (sometimes come in thick glass) and a rotary pump, for the final effort in stripping of the last of the solvent. Again they don't seem to use a trap (or is out of sight) to protect the pump from those solvent vapours, and prevent an accident (solvent/oil mix boiling over and being pulled through the tubing into the pump).
But in terms of effectiveness it's right up there!

Oh yeah, also important to take care of those flammable vapours coming out the pump!