Heptane extraction for BHO?

J

JustAnotherHead

New Member
Sooooo Butane is hella expensive locally. $9.00 for the big 320ml can. I can get heptane a lot cheaper $14 for a quart. It's available at Michaels Arts and Crafts stores all throughout the country. It's sold under the name Bestine Rubber Cement Solvent.

Problem is it's no pressurized. So I put the heptane in a glass bowl with some bud/trim stirred it for about 30 seconds and poured through a coffee filter into a pyrex dish. It evaporated nearly as quickly as Butane but didn't bubble or boil off as fast. This is the part that concerns me. The oil looks the best I've ever made but I think the Heptane may be harder to remove from the final product.

Any chemists here?
 
Gastanker

Gastanker

Well-Known Member
Why not just use 99% ISO? Id assume that from an art supply store it isn't going to be all that clean. Cleaning paint brushes and making an inhalable product are fairly different.

What % is it? 100% n-Heptane? That should be great. 85% mixed with who knows what isn't so great...
 
J

JustAnotherHead

New Member
Gastanker said:
Hexane is real clean if it's pure. Vast majority of cooking oils used in the US are extracted via hexane.
Click to expand...
Hmmm. I thought heptane was cleaner, certainly easier to find. Not sure where I would even find Hexane. The heptane definitely needs more purging than Butane. It crackled when I tried to light it.
 
J

JustAnotherHead

New Member
Seems like it would work very well indeed, just not sure if it can be removed without a vacuum. Boiling point is 250 which is too high to not dmg the thc.... I think. Still researching.

http://chemkitdepot.com/n-heptane150ml.aspx

n-Heptane is the straight-chain alkane with the chemical formula H3C(CH2)5CH3 or C7H16. Heptane (and its many isomers) is widely applied in laboratories as a totally non-polar solvent. It can be used to replace hexane in some experiments since it is thought to be less dangerous.

 
W

washedmothafuka

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, found this somewhere by some banned guy named Opio. It was posted a few years ago, and I like how he just pours the solvent over the material, soaking may decrease quality...but the one dude who mentioned about it's boiling point may be on to something...though iso only boils at 82 C, and on wiki it says heptane boils at 98 C. It's pretty much the same thing as an iso.

"u can extract the thc with any type of alkane solvent, really (think octane, heptane, butane, etc.)

butane will work, but it evaporated very very quickly, and sometimes it's a pain to use, cause its packaged in those damn canisters...

i would suggest "heptane." and honestly, u can buy this (about a quart's worth for a few bucks) at any crafts, or art supply store...It's marketed under "stain remover" and "paint stain remover" reason being, heptane is a stable liquid at room temp., and it is really very good at dissolving just about any stain, from a stray pen mark, to the Mona Lisa re-painted in King permanent marker...it evaporates quickly, however, and try not to be in a closed room or whatever, b/c the fumes are poison and volatile (as with any alkane solvent) and heptane ignites easier than octane (gasoline), just keep that in mind!!

Now for the process, try to harvest the parts of the plant that u know have the highest thc content...buds would be nice, but for our purposes, focus on the mature leaves, and the planty material surrounding the seed-clumps, where the buds should be...

You will need a lot, but a few seven foot plants are more than enough...I maen, i would honestly say to start with maybe a pound, or a pound and a half...

cut up and dice the leaves and plant material really fine,, and pack it tight in some kind of container that has a couple small holes drilled on the bottom (this is used to collect the oil that comes out)

once it's packed real tight, slowly pour the heptane over the plant material, you'll see some of the stuff absorb right away into the slurry, but that's okay...

be generous w/ the heptane too...once the solvent has passed thru the plant stuff,, you'll see an amber-ish colored liquid in the collection container...this isn't pure thc, but it's the "honey" oil which is still very concentrated...

use your head too, and remember that if u pour a half quart of heptane into the mix, and u end up with close to that amount of liquid, a lot of it is un-evaporated heptane...that's fine, just be sure to give it 24hrs to evaporate completely...

when it evaps off, you'll be left with a sticky, resin-ish type material at the bottom, scrape and there you go!!

Notes: when adding the heptane, put enough in so that all the plant matter gets wet by it...also, don't let it drain out right away--> keep the hep soaking the marijuana for about a half hour or so, *before* u let it start to drain (very important); this ensures that the solvent touched most if not all of the plant matter and u'll have efficient results this way.

-- i cannot stress enough to let that shit evaporate off completely before u use the extract

-- common sense but i have to say it anyway: no smoking anywhere near this shit; as it will burst into flame...

-- wear gloves; the rubber kitchen ones are fine, but u dont want this to absorb into ur skin!

-- be well-ventilated

-- be generous, you can never use too much heptane--worst that'll happen, you will have to wait a little longer for the excess to evaporate

that's about it; and i just want u to be safe, that's why i'm spelling it out, so to speak...:-D

that about covers it! if u cannot get the heptane, by all means follow the exact procedure with butane
 
cannabineer

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
The trouble with generally-available hydrocarbons is that there is almost always a residue. I don't know about Bestine, but Coleman Fuel can be distilled to yield a lovely heptane fraction. I use a hardware-store source of hexanes, but I have to do two things: 1) a water shake to draw out methanol, and 2) fractional distillation. There are about 5% "heavies" that smell strongly of iso-octane (bp 99.3ºC) and will leave behind some oilies.
I find hexanes superior to heptane, because I like to do a recirculating/reflux extraction at the solvent's boiling point ... it gets me exhaustive recovery of actives, but with hexanes it also gets me the waxes and a lot of yellow pigment (carotenes?) and a bit of green. I imagine heptane would be good for a "quick wash" room-temp extraction, but removing the solvent will take time. I don't heat my hexane extract and I don't currently have a vacuum capability ... so I stir the thickening syrup/paste until it's glassy ... about a week for hexanes. cn
 
Bublonichronic

Bublonichronic

Well-Known Member
Just did my first bestine run (100% n-heptane?) all I did was pack my glass BHO tube and poor the heptane over through like a QWISO wash, when it evaped it left a beautiful clear gold oil better lookin than any butane run iv done.. I'm just kinda unsure the best way to purge, I don't really wanna be smokin heptane, was thinkin a ISO and water bath b4 evaping and vac purging to make sure there is no heptane left?
 
C

chemguy1987

Member
Ok so I know I'm new to this forum but I have acquired some chloroform and methylene chloride and heptane am preparing to do soxlet with extractions and all of them excypt butane of course and will post results! by the way unless you have an aspirator pump best wayfor any novice concentratemaker is to leave ethanol in the solution as it has a higher boiling point than heptane chloroform ect before I had my aspirator to purgeI would always put her a shot of Everclear into myblasting containerI use a huge Pyrex500 milliliter grad cylender but as the butane boils offthe alcohol will be left behind keeping your solution liquidmaking sure that all the toxins have left like butane or chloroform for instance after all the other stuff has evaporated it's good to throw in a silicon drying tray ...blasting into the silicone is bad idea well tho ive seen it... by the way you have to put the ethanol in before anything dries out as it will supersaturated inbut you'll never be able to dissolve as much as you had an in that shot of Everclearif you're trying to overstep any part of that process
 
C

chemguy1987

Member
oMG as I'm doing some research it looks like heptane actually might have a higher boiling point or actually definitely has a highly boiling point than ethanol... and as I'm realizing most of you guys don't even know how to do fractional distillation I might just say the best way to purge is ethanol with butanebut will get back to the forum with a good alternative non-toxicsolvents with a higher boiling point then heptane
 
S

syn_apse

New Member
Some of this information is rather misleading, heptane is very similar to butane but with 3 more ch2 groups which would in fact increase the boiling point. Basically, it will do the same job as butane but will be a little harder to purge completely. Heptane is more stable than butane so it should be safer to work with, and most certainly cheaper. Hexane is no different than heptane except that it is slightly less stable with a slightly lower boiling point, and one less ch2 group. Using isopropyl for a quick wash would yield desirable product, although it is recommended to gently heat by double boiling or simply by spreading on a large surface area such as a pan and increasing the air flow with a few fans and whatnot. Using any type of alcohol however will certainly end up with chlorophyll contamination in the end product, resulting in a darker and less desirable wax in terms of taste. To filter out the chlorophyll, I recommend using activated carbon (activated charcoal) which can be found at Walmart in the aquarium isle. Also for clarification, it would be better to use Isopropyl alcohol (99%) over ethanol. Isopropyl is easier to evaporate, and much less expensive. Most states can only get a hold of 151 Everclear in terms of ethanol and it is pretty expensive, and it's only implication is to be used in tinctures as ethanol is digestible.
 
V

VladFromOG

Active Member
Its a toxic solvent. Do the extraction outdoors with a p99 respirator and, as always, CLEAN PLATE TEST YOUR SOLVENT, and you'll be fine. But if I were you I'd order some clean butane like Colibri online. Its pretty cheap, even with shipping. Try amazon.
 
Fadedawg

Fadedawg

Well-Known Member
syn_apse said:
Some of this information is rather misleading, heptane is very similar to butane but with 3 more ch2 groups which would in fact increase the boiling point. Basically, it will do the same job as butane but will be a little harder to purge completely. Heptane is more stable than butane so it should be safer to work with, and most certainly cheaper. Hexane is no different than heptane except that it is slightly less stable with a slightly lower boiling point, and one less ch2 group. Using isopropyl for a quick wash would yield desirable product, although it is recommended to gently heat by double boiling or simply by spreading on a large surface area such as a pan and increasing the air flow with a few fans and whatnot. Using any type of alcohol however will certainly end up with chlorophyll contamination in the end product, resulting in a darker and less desirable wax in terms of taste. To filter out the chlorophyll, I recommend using activated carbon (activated charcoal) which can be found at Walmart in the aquarium isle. Also for clarification, it would be better to use Isopropyl alcohol (99%) over ethanol. Isopropyl is easier to evaporate, and much less expensive. Most states can only get a hold of 151 Everclear in terms of ethanol and it is pretty expensive, and it's only implication is to be used in tinctures as ethanol is digestible.
Click to expand...

Consider how much effort it takes to purge residual butane to acceptable limits, and how much harder it is to get rid of "mystery oils", which include pentane, hexane, heptane, etc.

Activated charcoal can help clean up crap, but two filtration's of a quart of alcohol solution, left me with a pint, so plan on significant losses.

To lower either iso or EtOH to FDA limits, works more reliably under vacuum and heat.
 
Mr.CrumWell

Mr.CrumWell

Member
this just seems like a bad idea… BUT… i would pay to have it tested for sure. vacuum this shit out of it and crush it down to powder and vac it if you have to. take it to a lab and get it tested to see where your PPM is at. lab testing will be the only way to be sure if you got a good purge on it.

i just posted a thread on making organic hash oil if you want to look into a non petroleum based way to make an organic absolute oil for dabbing.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

https://www.rollitup.org/t/oho-organic-hash-oil.884998/
 
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