Gear The Source by Extract Craft - a closed loop system for alcohol extractions

Monsoon

Monsoon

Well-Known Member

http://www.extractcraft.com/
https://theherbalcompanion.com/

I've had my eye on this since it was announced last year and am about to place my order for one. The Source is a sealed countertop unit that uses a built in vacuum pump and heater to evaporate the ethanol from your quick wash extraction and then allow you to reclaim the alcohol for later re-use. The unit uses a Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE) smartphone app to control it and adjust settings including time and temperature. This means you save on solvent costs, eliminate fumes in the air and drastically cut evaporation time. I believe it only holds 250ml but you can top it off over time if you have more to process. For making shatter as I plan to do, you would leave enough alcohol so that it's still pourable and then transfer to your pyrex or silicone dish for the last bit of evaporation before heat or vac purging. I don't believe it's suitable for normal vac purging though.

For me I usually use about 500ml of ethanol per run which takes about 24-36 hours to fully evaporate off under light heat and a fan. With The Source I figure it'll be less than 8 hours. While the unit is a bit pricey I should be able to break even after about 15 runs or so which is less than a year.

It's currently available for $400 plus shipping for USA or Canada from The Herbal Companion. They claim to be shipping in less than 2 weeks, we'll see if that holds true but they use Paypal so at least you have protection.

Any thoughts before I pull the trigger on it? I've been on the lookout for alternatives but I've yet to see anything else out there like it at that price range.
 
poonman

poonman

Well-Known Member
I like the reasonable price for this extraction machine .
Plus the fact that you can reclaim the same alcohol for
re-use . A built in vacuum/heat purge for newbies like me .

My question would be ,
does the reclaim alcohol have ' any ' extracts left
in it for the next wash ?

This is more palatable than a $ 400 Rosin tech press .
 
Monsoon

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
poonman said:
I like the reasonable price for this extraction machine .
Plus the fact that you can reclaim the same alcohol for
re-use . A built in vacuum/heat purge for newbies like me .

My question would be ,
does the reclaim alcohol have ' any ' extracts left
in it for the next wash ?
Click to expand...
I have a feeling it might pull some of the more volatile terps out but it shouldn't touch cannabinoids much at those temps. I wouldn't use it to replace the last purging step, thin purging for a couple days can't be replicated effectively by the machine and I don't think it pulls a full vacuum either.

seaofgreens said:
Curious device. I am wondering how it is reclaiming the alcohol? That part doesn't seem very clear. Maybe in some pouch below?
Click to expand...
The alcohol evaporates and condenses on the top and sides and then drips to collect around the outside of the steel vessel. A bit crude but it seems to work.
 
Monsoon

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
After some contemplation I just pulled the trigger on it. What sealed the deal was the new $42 coupon for 420 on The Herbal Companion site main page. Apparently how they're doing the pricing is it's $400 now and every month they'll increase it by $50 until it reaches the full retail price of $600. If anyone is thinking about it but is on the fence, I should have an initial review by the end of April or early May depending on when I get it.
 
Monsoon

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
PPN said:
Let us to know how it work!

It could be a completly doable DIY project , isn't it?
Click to expand...
I'm thinking you could do a simple setup with a vacuum chamber, cold trap and pump. Aside from the engineering and design, it's basically a heated vacuum chamber with a mini vac pump and I'm guessing something like an arduino to control it. If I can open it without voiding the warranty I'll try to get pics of the inside.
 
covercash

covercash

Cloud EVO + MFLBPA
Has anyone received one yet? They say shipping in March on the website...
 
covercash,
djelibebbi

djelibebbi

AKA djelimon, but lost the email
Sorry I'm late to the party but it sounds like a similar product I have heard of called the Green Oil Machine, which is cheaper. I intend to buy it with my tax refund, as an adjunct to my MBB.
 
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Monsoon

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
djelibebbi said:
Sorry I'm late to the party but it sounds like a similar product I have heard of called the Green Oil Machine, which is cheaper. I intend to buy it with my tax refund, as an adjunct to my MBB.
Click to expand...
It depends what you're using the end product for. If you're doing it for edibles, topicals or e-cig juice then the Green Oil Machine is fine, if you want to make shatter for dabbing then you should spend more on The Source. The GOM I believe requires a much higher temp to evaporate promptly, The Source can do it at a lower temp much faster thanks to the vacuum pump. For oil for dabbing you want to try to keep the temps below 100F ideally to preserve terpenes.
 
djelibebbi

djelibebbi

AKA djelimon, but lost the email
Monsoon said:
It depends what you're using the end product for. If you're doing it for edibles, topicals or e-cig juice then the Green Oil Machine is fine, if you want to make shatter for dabbing then you should spend more on The Source. The GOM I believe requires a much higher temp to evaporate promptly, The Source can do it at a lower temp much faster thanks to the vacuum pump. For oil for dabbing you want to try to keep the temps below 100F ideally to preserve terpenes.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that solid information Monsoon, I've been scouring the internet for some on either device. I guess it works fine for edibles too, since we're talki g a broader spectrum FECO. You've given me something to ponder there and no mistake
 
djelibebbi,
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covercash

covercash

Cloud EVO + MFLBPA
Monsoon said:
It depends what you're using the end product for. If you're doing it for edibles, topicals or e-cig juice then the Green Oil Machine is fine, if you want to make shatter for dabbing then you should spend more on The Source. The GOM I believe requires a much higher temp to evaporate promptly, The Source can do it at a lower temp much faster thanks to the vacuum pump. For oil for dabbing you want to try to keep the temps below 100F ideally to preserve terpenes.
Click to expand...
Well when you get yours, full review please! (Pics and video would be pretty awesome too)
 
JCat

JCat

Well-Known Member
Accessory Maker
seaofgreens said:
Curious device. I am wondering how it is reclaiming the alcohol? That part doesn't seem very clear. Maybe in some pouch below?
Click to expand...
It's distilling it.

If you check this link, http://alcoholextracts.weebly.com/, you'll see that you can actually start with 150 proof Everclear and run it through the device on it's own and the recovered alcohol will be 190+ proof (what will be left in the extract pan will be water)
 
FlyingLow

FlyingLow

Team NO SLEEP!
subd! Looking forward to Monsoon's review:D



Not sure about price bumps every month, but it is already listed at $499...
 
FlyingLow,
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djelibebbi

djelibebbi

AKA djelimon, but lost the email
One problem for me with this product...

"Currently, we are only shipping to the United States. If you live outside the US and would like to purchase the Source, please click the button and enter your information and we will be in contact when we expand shipping. "

I live in Canada. GOM ships here. But, doesn't mean it's not in the cards
 
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Monsoon

Monsoon

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FlyingLow said:
Not sure about price bumps every month, but it is already listed at $499...
Click to expand...
djelibebbi said:
One problem for me with this product...

"Currently, we are only shipping to the United States. If you live outside the US and would like to purchase the Source, please click the button and enter your information and we will be in contact when we expand shipping. "

I live in Canada. GOM ships here. But, doesn't mean it's not in the cards
Click to expand...

There's two options to buy one right now, directly from ExtractCraft or through The Herbal Companion. The latter ships to Canada now and is still priced at $399.
 
Monsoon,
Monsoon

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
I'm in the middle of doing a QWET extraction with 1000ml of ethanol, after 48 hours it's still evaporating and probably needs at least another 12 hours. If this thing can really reduce that down to around 6-8 hours that would be a godsend.
 
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