Tek Vacuum purge sans pump

[Deleted Member 1643]

Purged QWET four times with good results. Instead of vacuum pump, used faucet aspirator. Seems reasonable for infrequent use. Self-taught, so any advice appreciated.

Our starting material. Delicious La Diva, autoflowering, freeze-dried (doesn't it look fresh?).

The faucet aspirator. Simple, inexpensive vacuum created by water rushing past small opening.

The FoodSaver Quick Marinator, an inexpensive yet delightfully functional vacuum chamber.

Silicone heating pad.

The faucet aspirator in action. Backflow requires some attention. If pressure in the chamber is lower than pressure at the opening, water is drawn into chamber. Easy to avoid. Even if it happens, it's not a disaster.

Backflow usually occurs when water pressure is released. The Quick Marinator vacuum chamber can be sealed while vacuum is being pulled, preventing backflow into the chamber.

Purging.

The result. Budder? Started clear, as above. Flavor is outstanding. Rose petals.

Last time, with identical starting material, got taffy. Earlier, with different starting material, got glass. What produces one or the other? What are their pros and cons? This one is easiest to dab. It doesn't pull into thin strands or shatter into tiny shards.

 

[Puffers]

I find a lot of variables contribute to different concentrate consistency. Moisture both ambient and in your flowers, Terp content (higher terp contents seem to auto budder on me later), heat in chamber, and last but certainly not least the amount we disturb the concentrate while purging. Whipping, mixing, flipping the concentrate multiple times, any of these is likely to give you wax, budder, etc IME

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

That makes sense, thanks. Kept the temp very low while evaporating QWET. May have picked up moisture. Also, more disturbed. Terps are clearly high. Why is budder undesirable? Can a strong, unregulated vacuum cause it?

 

[looney2nz]

fascinating... have you been able to measure how much of a vacuum the faucet setup can pull?
I used them on my old waterbeds (yeah, that's right) But I eventually replaced them with an electric pump, 'cause it took forever and it couldn't pull the water out of the last bit in the mattress.
Those old venturi devices had backflow protection built into them too. Still for sale online I'll wager.

 

[Puffers]

That makes sense, thanks. Kept the temp very low while evaporating QWET. May have picked up moisture. Also, more disturbed. Terps are clearly high. Why is budder undesirable?

I find harder to handle, loses flavor more quickly and can still be under purged.

With butane I shoot for about 85 degrees on my plate, although my vacuum is likely much deeper then yours. I don't disturb the concentrate except maybe breaking the vac a few times and a flip half way through.

I find normally fresher bud with high terps and moisture content (like live resin extractions) tend to turn from sap or shatter into like a sappy sugary consistency within a few days of storage at ambient temps.

You can also turn a small refrigerator compressor into a vacuum pump. Suction pipe from the chamber discharge to atmosphere.

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

have you been able to measure how much of a vacuum the faucet setup can pull?

No - what's the easiest way to measure vacuum with this set up? Results have all been good, just variable. Need to develop skills. Also had aspirator for water bed. This type reputedly pulls the strongest vacuum and has an adjustable reducer to limit backflow. Can't set it and forget it, but wouldn't want to anyway. First time, found a pool of water atop the oil. No mixing, just wicked the water off.

I find harder to handle, loses flavor more quickly and can still be under purged.

Will store in fridge under vacuum, might help. Don't want to lose this flavor.

 

[Vitolo]

The Vacu Vin wine vacuum sealer at http://www.vacuvin.com/Wine-Saver
can be used with a large variety of containers such as:
https://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-Coffee-Storage-Container/dp/B0001ZN2D6
and it provides a small scale purge that can be very complete, as long as you seal it tightly enough.
It is pretty quick also.

 

[looney2nz]

No - what's the easiest way to measure vacuum with this set up? Results have all been good, just variable. Need to develop skills. Also had aspirator for water bed. This type reputedly pulls the strongest vacuum and has an adjustable reducer to limit backflow. Can't set it and forget it, but wouldn't want to anyway. First time, found a pool of water atop the oil. No mixing, just wicked the water off.



Will store in fridge under vacuum, might help. Don't want to lose this flavor.

too tired to google, but past exposure/experience was to calibrated vacuum gauges (which I'm sure are available online, probably along wit the calibration protocol). most lab supplies have this stuff.

The Vacu Vin wine vacuum sealer at http://www.vacuvin.com/Wine-Saver
can be used with a large variety of containers such as:
https://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-Coffee-Storage-Container/dp/B0001ZN2D6
and it provides a small scale purge that can be very complete, as long as you seal it tightly enough.
It is pretty quick also.

I imagine the attachment they make for the FoodSaver system would also be a candidate, now if only someone had a calibrated vacuum gauge and a burning curiosity

 

[looney2nz]

crap, tried to delete... oh well.

 

[Puffers]

You can measure vacuum in several different units but inches of mercury or microns is most commonly used ime. Microns being the most accurate. We never actually bothered to set our vac to a particular level but we use strong vac pumps (2stage 10cfm) so would just vac for a bit past where it stopped increasing visually in activity then would isolate the chamber under vaccum while still heating the plate/chamber.

Digital micron gauges can be found for under $100.

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

The Vacu Vin wine vacuum sealer at http://www.vacuvin.com/Wine-Saver
can be used with a large variety of containers such as:
https://www.amazon.com/Vacu-Vin-Coffee-Storage-Container/dp/B0001ZN2D6
and it provides a small scale purge that can be very complete, as long as you seal it tightly enough.
It is pretty quick also.

Have one - used for freeze-drying. Could also work. It can be difficult to seat the manual pump on the valve. The aspirator is much less frustrating. Also useful for filtration.

just vac for a bit past where it stopped increasing visually in activity then would isolate the chamber under vaccum while still heating the plate/chamber

Sounds like a good rule of thumb. So, is there an advantage to a vacuum gauge other than satisfying curiosity?

 

[Puffers]

Have one - used for freeze-drying. Could also work. It it can be difficult to seat the manual pump on the valve. The aspirator is much less frustrating. Also useful for filtration.



Sounds like a good rule of thumb. So, is there be an advantage to a vacuum gauge other than satisfying curiosity?

IMO Probably not at the "hobbyist" level but this would be dependent on the boiling point of your solvent and the confidence in your purging.

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

What are some techniques to minimize handling? Maybe evaporate EtOH in Pyrex then transfer ten or twenty mls to small silicone dish. Evaporate more, then flip onto pad for final purge.

 

[Puffers]

I can't speak to QWET processes too much as I haven't worked with that solvent much except for RSO and tinctures. With butane I would typically purge on a large Pyrex to maximize surface area. An average purge with the process took 24hrs in the chamber, I would flip the whole batch on the plate once at 12-18 hours. Vac, break vaccum, vac again repeat as needed then hold chamber in a vac again until done.

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

An average purge with the process took 24hrs in the chamber

Wow, that's a long time. Too impatient.

I have used one of these with mason jars and a toaster oven to heat the jars with great success.

No doubt, but too lazy. Aspirator requires no effort.

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

Finally got it down, thanks to @Puffers and @Monsoon's Advanced QWET Shatter Guide. Had no idea it takes so long!

Faucet aspirator worked fine!

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

have you been able to measure how much of a vacuum the faucet setup can pull?

Finally got a proper vacuum chamber with gauge. The faucet aspirator tops out the gauge - close to -30" Hg.

Alas, the marinators have a finite life-span at these pressures. One imploded. The others are starting to crack.

 

[Deleted Member 1643]

Forgive multiple posts, but DO NOT USE THESE MARINATORS FOR PURGING!!! A second one imploded. Fancy new vacuum chamber can't hold vacuum, so went back to marinator. Forget shatter, this concentrate was safety glass! Hopefully, recovered almost all, but it was going so well.