Help!! Best Way To Exract Oils?? For Extractors Only

[sixshooter]

I have seen soak the herb in Veg Gly or Vodca, then wait weeks. But I also have seen some videos to steep the herb in Distilled water, then cook the water out til it becomes syrupy. What is the best way to extract the oils?

 

[DogBoy]

...that is like asking what the "best" strain is...best for what...???...

...there is no best....

...you have found a good place to do some reading...

 

[215z]

I'll let the experts chime in on "what's best", but I'm pretty sure the three methods you describe suck.

Don't waste good weed before reading up on widely-used methods. Measure twice, wash once.

 

[DogBoy]

...I feel for the sixshooter...the information here is overwhelming and not all that, ah, coherent at times...

...I am here on the same misson...

...I originally thought butane was the solvent of choice thsee days but now am am not so sure...

...it would be nice if someone could just tell us was the best way is but as I said, there are too many variables to just declare what is the best choice for you or me...

...I will concur that the methods you describe do not sound effective in production of a desireable product...

 

[DrRishi]

I am trying to work this out too. Luckly I grow my own so experiments aren't too expensive.

I have soaked ground up bud (and ABV) in PG/VG in a water bath for many hours. This gave me an e liquid I could vape in an e sig which was nice to smoke but not strong enough to get stoned from. If also produces a liquid which blocks up atomisers. Works fine on a drip atomizer but that's not for everyone.

I am now extracting the oil using Ethanol (99.9%). This give me a nice thick dark oil which vapes nicely on the oil pad you get with a Mini Vape. I have tried mixing it with PG/VG which with mixed results. Some definitely dissolves in the PG/VG but some separates out again.

I am just about to start a new run where I am freezing everything before I start. I hope to get a more amber coloured oil that will mix better with the PG/VG.

 

[DieHard]

I have seen soak the herb in Veg Gly or Vodca, then wait weeks. But I also have seen some videos to steep the herb in Distilled water, then cook the water out til it becomes syrupy. What is the best way to extract the oils?

Stop! None of those methods will provide you with a pleasureable concentrate.
There are several popular methods. The best for me is Butane extraction. Placing flowers in a tube with a filter and running butane through. Then evaporate the solvent and purge in a vac chamber.
Some are having stellar results with QWISO and QWET. (Quick Wash Isopropyl Alcohol , Quick Wash Ethanol ). In these methods the flowers are exposed to the solvent for 20 seconds then the solvent is filtered and evaporated, leaving the concentrate behind. In this method, less is more. Do not think that leaving the solvent in contact with flowers for longer time period will be better. It will not! 20 seconds.
In any of these methods SAFETY is first priority. Proper ventilation when using flammable solvents is of the utmost importance. Butane must be respected. Blast only outdoors and with proper consideration for any type of spark, including static electricity.

 

[Snappo]

I have seen soak the herb in Veg Gly or Vodca, then wait weeks. But I also have seen some videos to steep the herb in Distilled water, then cook the water out til it becomes syrupy. What is the best way to extract the oils?

Make this! It's easy and very powerful!!!
The Definitive Green Dragon (Revised)
Use Everclear 190 instead of Rum 151 if possible - Everclear works best!!!

http://boards.cannabis.com/concentrates/82380-definitive-green-dragon-revised-updated-combined.html

 

[DrRishi]

So I did another run. Got a lovely amber coloured oil. Started by mixing in a few drops of PG with the oil still in the warm water bath. The first few drops mixed in like a dream, dissolved perfectly and left me with a clear solution. I kept adding a few more drops and mixing and all was well until the solution suddenly went cloudy. No amount of mixing/heating would change things. Slowing the dreaded little black balls began to appear. I popped the mixture into the fridge for a few minutes and then used a pin to collect the "scum" which looks like a dark oil to me. Now I have an amber liquid and a dark oily substance.

With all the experimentation going on its now hard to tell if the mixture is strong enough for smoking and if the black "oil" I have removed is hash oil or just all the leftover waxes?

Any idea's?

 

[DogBoy]

...check out "winterizing"...

...you are on the right track methinks...

... I believe the dark blobs are waxes you are trying to remove...

...understand that this post is the blind leading the blind, though...

 

[walrus]

So I did another run. Got a lovely amber coloured oil. Started by mixing in a few drops of PG with the oil still in the warm water bath. The first few drops mixed in like a dream, dissolved perfectly and left me with a clear solution. I kept adding a few more drops and mixing and all was well until the solution suddenly went cloudy. No amount of mixing/heating would change things. Slowing the dreaded little black balls began to appear. I popped the mixture into the fridge for a few minutes and then used a pin to collect the "scum" which looks like a dark oil to me. Now I have an amber liquid and a dark oily substance.

With all the experimentation going on its now hard to tell if the mixture is strong enough for smoking and if the black "oil" I have removed is hash oil or just all the leftover waxes?

Any idea's?

EJ mix.
Check out this thread: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/t...-safety-butane-extractor-mini-vaporizer.9221/
And this thread: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/best-clearo-for-pure-gold.9979/
And this thread: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/advanced-e-cig-users-and-oil-wax-how-to-one-hitter-quitter.10360/

 

[215z]

The "Green" in "Green Dragon" is chlorophyll, not cannabis

Started by mixing in a few drops of PG with the oil still in the warm water bath.... until the solution suddenly went cloudy.

Cannamagic (cannabis oleoresin) does not mix with PG. Well, it does, very slightly. A lil' more when heated. But it does not mix enough to make for a usable mixture.

With all the experimentation going on its now hard to tell if the mixture is strong enough for smoking and if the black "oil" I have removed is hash oil or just all the leftover waxes?

The black oil is oleoresin + plant waxes, the remaining liquid is PG + terpenes. I few drops of pure grain alcohol (Everclear 190) will bring it back to emulsion, but I'm not a fan of vaping alcohol. Two-pack-a-day smokers might be able to handle it.

A few drops of PEG400 will bring it back to emulsion, and the result can be vaped. EJMix has some PEG400 in it.

 

[DrRishi]

@walrus: Thanks, already checked out all those links. EJMix maybe the way to go!

@215z: Many thanks! Great info. I have been goggling for days and did not find the info about PEG400. I am going to try to get hold of some and see if my oil will dissolve in it.

OK, so I managed to find a PEG400 supplier and I have ordered 200ml to try it out.
I assume I can mix PEG400 with PG and VG? If so I will use the PEG400 just to dissolve the oil and then mix it with my usual 50/50 PG/VG mix.

 

[walrus]

You can mess with peg400/pg/vg at different ratios to try to find something that works the way you want it to, or you could just use ejmix. Ejmix is a bit more expensive but honestly, a 30 ml bottle lasts for ages and works perfectly every time. Once mixed it never seperates, and it always performs flawlessly in my experience. The ease of use justifies the price to me, you never have to waste time experimenting and you never lose any precious concentrate by fucking up a batch if your experimenting fails.

 

[DrRishi]

You can mess with peg400/pg/vg at different ratios to try to find something that works the way you want it to, or you could just use ejmix. Ejmix is a bit more expensive but honestly, a 30 ml bottle lasts for ages and works perfectly every time. Once mixed it never seperates, and it always performs flawlessly in my experience. The ease of use justifies the price to me, you never have to waste time experimenting and you never lose any precious concentrate by fucking up a batch if your experimenting fails.

Thanks. I can't find any distributer in Europe and when I try to order in the US by Liquidiser they don't seem to ship to NL. I have left them a message asking if they have any EU distributors or if there is any way to order from the US.
They now have 50ml bottles which would keep me going for a while!

 

[SSVUN~YAH]

The "Green" in "Green Dragon" is chlorophyll, not cannabis

If you do it correctly it should be a golden color... Think proper decarb....

Paging @2clicker & @herbivore21 assistance needed in here...

 

[calimed]

EJMix is extremely expensive for what it is. You could get 3 big bottles of each of the ingredients for just a pinch more than what comes in that little bottle.

 

[215z]

EJMix costs ten times more than its constituent elements, purchased from a med/lab supply store.
But store-bought concentrate costs fifty times more than EJMix, so I totally understands folks paying the premium for the assurance it will work.

The easy way out is to use only PEG400, but many people want to minimize their PEG400 intake, so the unanswered question is "how little PEG400 can I use, how much PG can I get away with?". Liquidizer has already figured that out.

Yeah, I can run a bunch of batches (different ratios of PEG400G:BHO), publish the numbers here, and put Liquidizer out of business... but I can't be bothered. So far, nobody with the time and concentrate to experiment with has bothered either.

 

[2clicker]

If you do it correctly it should be a golden color... Think proper decarb....

Paging @2clicker & @herbivore21 assistance needed in here...

i dont have much experience with tinctures really. i have attempted green dragon... it was ok.

i have also heard if golden dragon... so maybe the decarbed version is called golden dragon and the other is green dragon.

did i reply to my page correctly?

 

[SSVUN~YAH]

This thread started off a different course than it seems to be headed. I thought @DieHard summed it up well. I know you have extensive knowledge of QWET as well as herbivore21. Thanks for commenting!

 

[DrRishi]

Since I don't seem to be able to purchase EJMix here in NL I will have to experiment. As long as my QWISO dissolves into the PEG400 I will be a happy camper. The rest I can work out. Luckily I grow my own so the experiments are not too painful.

 

[herbivore21]

Stop! None of those methods will provide you with a pleasureable concentrate.
There are several popular methods. The best for me is Butane extraction. Placing flowers in a tube with a filter and running butane through. Then evaporate the solvent and purge in a vac chamber.
Some are having stellar results with QWISO and QWET. (Quick Wash Isopropyl Alcohol , Quick Wash Ethanol ). In these methods the flowers are exposed to the solvent for 20 seconds then the solvent is filtered and evaporated, leaving the concentrate behind. In this method, less is more. Do not think that leaving the solvent in contact with flowers for longer time period will be better. It will not! 20 seconds.
In any of these methods SAFETY is first priority. Proper ventilation when using flammable solvents is of the utmost importance. Butane must be respected. Blast only outdoors and with proper consideration for any type of spark, including static electricity.

Thankyou, Diehard. Further to your safety warning here, PG/PEG/VG all produce polyaromatic hydrocarbons when vaporized (ie: the same carcinogens as in cigarettes up to and including nicotine if you use it).

Please everybody, stay away from ejuice wherever possible, especially for mmj purposes. Ejuice (especially with nicotine) is ONLY appropriate as a smoking cessation aide, and only under strict supervision by a doctor. It does contain less polyaromatic hydrocarbons than combusting, but still, why put carcinogens into your body when you don't need to?

Now to the OP.

Welcome to the world of concentrates. You are about to realise that you, like all of us, knew nothing about weed until you opened Pandora's concentrate-filled box.

Here is the skinny.

QWET is the easiest, most forgiving, safest way to make shatter. The heat used in the purge determines the consistency of the final product (from oil to wax to shatter). However, I prefer QWISO to QWET and especially BHO because you can't possibly leave any ISO in your concentrates without it tasting/smelling obvious. Remember, Ethanol is flammable, as is ISO. Ventilation is crucial, keep any heat source or source of ignition/spark away from your solvents!

BHO is the most commonly travelled route for making concentrates. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF BABY JESUS, DO NOT DO ANY PART OF THE PROCESS INVOLVING BUTANE INDOORS. YOUR LIFE/HOUSE IS NOT WORTH IT! You can get great results with this, but will need to spend more money on equipment. It is pretty much impossible to get the best BHO without a vacuum chamber and various other slightly expensive bits of equipment than QWISO based concentrates require.

Whether QWET is a good approach for you depends very heavily on how much you can buy everclear/spyrytus for.

Hope this is helps you to start out

Do your homework. Don't waste good buds.

 

[DogBoy]

...and don't waste your time with bad buds...