Cannatrol vs. Freeze Dryer

K

Kgrim

Well-Known Member
ismann said:
For the Cannatrol, is it possible to hang branches and dry trim after the 8 days? I assume so, just need to get a hanging rack of some kind. I'm not privy to wet trimming and laying buds on flat surfaces. Otherwise that seems like a deal honestly for anyone running less than 2 lbs per harvest and living in hot climates. Holding a whole room at 60/60 here for 2 weeks is expensive.
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You can if you'd like to. After 4 days dry/ 4 days cure, it comes out dry enough to trim. If you don't want a flat spot on your buds, after day 2, flip them over. I really don't care about flat spots, it's going into Grove bags after it comes out, and my grinder can't tell the difference.
Having an environment that is completely adjustable and "set it, and forget it" has worked out nicely, and a lot better than my old drying room which has served well over the years, but a pain to control and keep adjusted to the sweet spot.
Personally, I wet trim everything down into nuggets, run it thru my Centurion trimmer, then into the Cannatrol. I fit almost the 2.2#'s they say will fit, the 6 trays were packed. I'll have a final dry weight tomorrow night after work when I pull the 1st batch out. I've got a bunch sitting in the freezer waiting once this 1st run is done. Then I'm going to run 3 different strains on the next batch, and do a nice run of "fresh frozen" bubble hash while the next batch is going thru dry/cure.
 
T

toxic bizzle

Well-Known Member
Kgrim said:
You can if you'd like to. After 4 days dry/ 4 days cure, it comes out dry enough to trim. If you don't want a flat spot on your buds, after day 2, flip them over. I really don't care about flat spots, it's going into Grove bags after it comes out, and my grinder can't tell the difference.
Having an environment that is completely adjustable and "set it, and forget it" has worked out nicely, and a lot better than my old drying room which has served well over the years, but a pain to control and keep adjusted to the sweet spot.
Personally, I wet trim everything down into nuggets, run it thru my Centurion trimmer, then into the Cannatrol. I fit almost the 2.2#'s they say will fit, the 6 trays were packed. I'll have a final dry weight tomorrow night after work when I pull the 1st batch out. I've got a bunch sitting in the freezer waiting once this 1st run is done. Then I'm going to run 3 different strains on the next batch, and do a nice run of "fresh frozen" bubble hash while the next batch is going thru dry/cure.
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Question what is room temperature that canatrol is operating in ? I'm worried my room is 70 to 73 degrees I'm worried that the ambient is too high for me to make use of this unit am I wrong in this thought process ?
 
K

Kgrim

Well-Known Member
LoveBudz420 said:
@Kgrim I purchased one based on your recommendations. If you purchase another one you should point them to this thread and post to show them you deserve a further discount for bringing them business.
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Thanks, but I highly doubt they'll give me any more of a "
discount" then they already did, discount code, and Veterans discount.
Ended up with 10.5 ounces dry on the 1st run, and Pistachio turned out awesome.
Next up this Saturday, Hammer Mitter, Blueberry muffin, & Squirt.
 
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Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
Kgrim said:
Thanks, but I highly doubt they'll give me any more of a "
discount" then they already did, discount code, and Veterans discount.
Ended up with 10.5 ounces dry on the 1st run, and Pistachio turned out awesome.
Next up this Saturday, Hammer Mitter, Blueberry muffin, & Squirt.
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I would of had a cannatrol but they don’t ship to the U.K.! So glad to see you guys rocking the show with your units. I built a diy one and my experience has been similar to urs with side by side tests of traditional method vs diy unit. Do you mind posting up the parameters during the 8 day dry and cure? Does the temp/hum/dew point change throughout the cycle or does it just stay set at day 13,c 62% for example. Thanks dude
 
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LoveBudz420

LoveBudz420

Active Member
Blue brother said:
I would of had a cannatrol but they don’t ship to the U.K.! So glad to see you guys rocking the show with your units. I built a diy one and my experience has been similar to urs with side by side tests of traditional method vs diy unit. Do you mind posting up the parameters during the 8 day dry and cure? Does the temp/hum/dew point change throughout the cycle or does it just stay set at day 13,c 62% for example. Thanks dude
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I hear you! I am in Thailand, and they do not ship here either. To this day, I'll never understand American companies that won't ship outside the USA.

You'll be glad to know of the company I use to export things from the USA to Thailand. They will ship to the UK also.


I get a small benefit from that link, FYI. But you'll get the greater benefit of being able to order from any US shop and then have MyUS reship it to you.

Clearly, you already built your own Cannatrol, which I could not be bothered to do, even though I knew it would be quite a saving. But in the future, if you want anything from the USA, MyUS is your go-to solution.

Blue brother said:
Do you mind posting up the parameters during the 8 day dry and cure?
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If he doesn't, I will. You can PM me if you need that info. My unit is about a week from arriving in Thailand.
 
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K

Kgrim

Well-Known Member
Blue brother said:
I would of had a cannatrol but they don’t ship to the U.K.! So glad to see you guys rocking the show with your units. I built a diy one and my experience has been similar to urs with side by side tests of traditional method vs diy unit. Do you mind posting up the parameters during the 8 day dry and cure? Does the temp/hum/dew point change throughout the cycle or does it just stay set at day 13,c 62% for example. Thanks dude
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I'll have to pull up the chart with the factory defaults for parameters. You have the option for it "slope", so it changes slowly from day 1 to to day 4, and day 4 to day 8, and then it has the "store" settings after the dry/cure phase. If you want to hold a constant thru the dry/cure, you have that option also. Keep checking, because someone just started "stocking" them in Australia, and things are changing daily, someone in the U.K. may start to also.
 
K

Kgrim

Well-Known Member
Blue brother said:
I would of had a cannatrol but they don’t ship to the U.K.! So glad to see you guys rocking the show with your units. I built a diy one and my experience has been similar to urs with side by side tests of traditional method vs diy unit. Do you mind posting up the parameters during the 8 day dry and cure? Does the temp/hum/dew point change throughout the cycle or does it just stay set at day 13,c 62% for example. Thanks dude
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Ok, so factory "defaults are: Dry 68 degrees, dew point 54 degrees, Cure 68 degrees dew point 52 degrees, Hold 68 degrees dew point 54 degrees. Here is the chart showing temp, dew point, and how it relates to relative humidity.
 

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Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
Kgrim said:
Ok, so factory "defaults are: Dry 68 degrees, dew point 54 degrees, Cure 68 degrees dew point 52 degrees, Hold 68 degrees dew point 54 degrees. Here is the chart showing temp, dew point, and how it relates to relative humidity.
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Thanks so much mate I’m gonna try and replicate the 8 day cycle, I’ve been letting mine go 3 ish weeks at 9c ~60% and then just storing at 12c 62% but I’m gonna try and copy your cycle next time
 
K

Kgrim

Well-Known Member
Blue brother said:
Thanks so much mate I’m gonna try and replicate the 8 day cycle, I’ve been letting mine go 3 ish weeks at 9c ~60% and then just storing at 12c 62% but I’m gonna try and copy your cycle next time
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I played around with my 1st batch, and ran it cooler with a lower dew point, and it came out real tasty. I'm running this next batch at defaults, and gonna do a run of bubble hash to see how it turns out. After washing, going to run it on a 2 day dry 1 day cure to slow the drying process down some. Hoping to hit a sweet spot with the bubble hash. My phone been blowing up this last week with everybody asking when I'm going to do a run and wanting some.
The chart is very helpful once you understand how dew point correlates to relative humidity.
Some folks are trying a real long cure cycle, but haven't posted results yet.
I let it run its 4dry/4cure and then put them into Grove Bags, and boy, what a change it makes over mason jars. Just smoked a wee bit last night, literally 1/4 of a joint, and was pretty damn high. Had some in my old drying room to compare, and what came out of the Cannatrol is far better in just about every way.
 
Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
Kgrim said:
I played around with my 1st batch, and ran it cooler with a lower dew point, and it came out real tasty. I'm running this next batch at defaults, and gonna do a run of bubble hash to see how it turns out. After washing, going to run it on a 2 day dry 1 day cure to slow the drying process down some. Hoping to hit a sweet spot with the bubble hash. My phone been blowing up this last week with everybody asking when I'm going to do a run and wanting some.
The chart is very helpful once you understand how dew point correlates to relative humidity.
Some folks are trying a real long cure cycle, but haven't posted results yet.
I let it run its 4dry/4cure and then put them into Grove Bags, and boy, what a change it makes over mason jars. Just smoked a wee bit last night, literally 1/4 of a joint, and was pretty damn high. Had some in my old drying room to compare, and what came out of the Cannatrol is far better in just about every way.
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Have you ever dried your bubble hash just in a regular fridge freezer? , that’s all I do, get the majority of the moisture out of it with coffee filters then into the fridge on a plate, takes about 3 days and it’s dry enough to smoke
 
LoveBudz420

LoveBudz420

Active Member
Kgrim said:
Let me also add, I wet trim with a Centurion Pro Tabletop
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@Kgrim, did you opt for the variable speed controller? If so, do you find it essential? Was it worth buying?

Did you upgrade to the Non-Stick tumbler they call QUANTANIUM? Again, what do you think if you did? Worth it?
 
K

Kgrim

Well-Known Member
LoveBudz420 said:
@Kgrim, did you opt for the variable speed controller? If so, do you find it essential? Was it worth buying?

Did you upgrade to the Non-Stick tumbler they call QUANTANIUM? Again, what do you think if you did? Worth it?
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There is no need to spend money for the VSC, it isnt needed, and sure not worth the extra $800. I did get the Quantanium tumbler, and that IS worth the extra money. The company I ordered mine from tried to screw me and didn't send the Q tumbler that I paid for, and after contacting Centurion and getting them involved, received my Q tumbler direct from them, very GREAT customer service, so I have both.
I just had to clean mine this evening after running 5 plants, like 60 1 gallon freezer bags full. The standard tumbler needs to be cleaned after each run, if not even half a run and is way harder to clean.
There is a balancing game that has to be played between the diverter and cover to achieve good throughput because of how powerful the blower is. I added 1/4" to the back legs to get it angled a little more, and just take the cover off while it's running to keep a good flow, then at the end, pull open the diverter to clear the tumbler, am probably going to 3/8" tomorrow night, as that will probably be the sweet spot. It took about an hour or 2 to get it figured out when I first got it last year, but it flies thru wet buds.
People always say "you lose trichomes with a machine", but its not really any more than you'd have with a pair of sticky scissors spending hours upon hours of hand trimming, and the buds look just as nice coming out of the tumbler as any hand trimmed bud.
 
K

Kgrim

Well-Known Member
Blue brother said:
Have you ever dried your bubble hash just in a regular fridge freezer? , that’s all I do, get the majority of the moisture out of it with coffee filters then into the fridge on a plate, takes about 3 days and it’s dry enough to smoke
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I have not. I typically break mine up immediately with a kitchen strainer and a spoon while it's still moist. Tried the freeze then microplane method, and hate working with it when it starts to thaw out and get sticky. It's much easier for me to push it thru the strainer onto parchment paper, and just air drying is typically dry in about 36 hours. Then roll it out in Turkey bags with a big bottle full of boiling water, ball it up, seal, and stash away.
 
LoveBudz420

LoveBudz420

Active Member
Kgrim said:
There is no need to spend money for the VSC, it isnt needed, and sure not worth the extra $800.
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Yeah, $800 seems far too much for such a simple function.

I'm assuming that without it the machine runs at full speed, which seems to be optimal for wet. If you wanted to do dry and were really concerned about tricomes, then maybe you want to slow it down with this controller...

Did you ever try dry trimming in your machine?

Kgrim said:
The company I ordered mine from tried to screw me and didn't send the Q tumbler that I paid for
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No Name-&-Shame? I would shame them endlessly if they did that to me. If they are an online store maybe can you PM the name? I don't need or want those kind of headaches with my order. I am considering ordering from Trimleaf

Kgrim said:
I just had to clean mine this evening after running 5 plants, like 60 1 gallon freezer bags full.
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What does that entail roughly?
 
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K

Kgrim

Well-Known Member
LoveBudz420 said:
Yeah, $800 seems far too much for such a simple function.

I'm assuming that without it the machine runs at full speed, which seems to be optimal for wet. If you wanted to do dry and were really concerned about tricomes, then maybe you want to slow it down with this controller...

Did you ever try dry trimming in your machine?



No Name-&-Shame? I would shame them endlessly if they did that to me. If they are an online store maybe can you PM the name? I don't need or want those kind of headaches with my order. I am considering ordering from Trimleaf.com



What does that entail roughly?
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1-no I have not tried dry trimming with it, and it's just a VSC, you could probably find one way cheaper than $800. I usually grow way too much because I help a few Veterans and don't have the space to hang and wait, much easier getting it down and into the racks, takes up much less space.

2-it was purchased thru Growgeneration.com, and the only reason was because they had the best price at the time.
I should have bought it earlier in the year, could have saved close to $900.

3- it entails removing 4 bolts for the upper carriage, taking the tumbler out. Then I use Isopropal Alcohol and paper towels to clean the tumbler. They say to use warm soapy water, but that takes forever. With alcohol, and paper towels, you can feel it go from rough to smooth as you get thru the layer of resin. 2 screws and 2 set screws, pop the blade out and clean it. Then, I use a razor blade scraper (gasket scraper from auto parts store) and alcohol to clean the 7 blade reel.

They send you an extra parts pack which is nice. The only "consumable" part that I've found are the cam followers, which are a roller with rubber ring, and the ring wears out. Those you really have to shop around for, Centurion wants $11 for the complete follower and $7 for the ring. I found a place after a while searching that I bought quite a few for $3.95 for the complete follower. I replaced 2 rings last year, 1 because I didn't have the upper carriage installed the correct direction, and the other from simple wear.
 
K

Kgrim

Well-Known Member
LoveBudz420 said:
@Kgrim : I appreciate every detail, I really do. Thank you so much.
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Not a problem at all. Hope I've answered your questions in a way that gives a bit of insight before making such an expensive purchase. It wasn't easy for me to part ways with so much money, but going into my 2nd season with the Centurion, I'm glad I did. It's such a time saver for me. 2020's crop was only 2 massive plants, but took 3 of us, me, my neighbor and his wife over 70 hours of trimming for close to 8#'s dry, it wasn't a very fun task, and I vowed not to do it again.
It's has been taking right around 2 1/2 hours to fill the hopper, and could run thru it in about 20 minutes, and yields 2 plastic grocery bags full, around 2.3#'s wet. In the last couple days, I've now added a cheap fan leaf trimmer a TrimPro clone (vevor model) that my friend had sitting around. Now I trim off the fan leaves with it, and the step kids chop the buds into the hopper. It has cut the time down considerably. 2 1/2 hours now nets almost 3 hoppers.
 
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