Types of Vacuum Pumps & Different Questions about Purging BHO

Ok, so I currently purchased a BHO extractor, and am in the process of selectively purchasing a vacuum desiccator, vacuum pump, and the gauges and hoses that are necessary to successfully purge BHO. My question to all the ganja gods out there is about the vacuum pump itself. There are many different measures on the pump; i.e., cfm; microns; PA; etc. I'm curious because I've heard so many different things from so many different people, what is really necessary to successfully purge BHO through a vacuum pump? As far as I'm concerned I found this pump; ( http://www.amazon.com/Robinair-15115-VacuMaster-Single-Stage/dp/B005CO9FDW/ref=pd_sbs_auto_11 ) but wasn't sure if it would pull terpens out of my BHO. Also if this pump is ok to run on my desiccator, is there a way to control the amount of microns im putting into the desiccator or will the pump always run to ultimate vacuum? The Robinair 15115, runs to 100 microns, is that where I want to purge to? Or am I just watching the gauge and keeping an eye on the gauge till it reaches -29mHg? (depending on where im located, based on sea level). If anyone has any information for me I'd appreciate it, its quite an investment to make on one of these kits. Thanks RIU!!!!!! Stay Frosty!!

jewgrow said:

Ok, so I currently purchased a BHO extractor, and am in the process of selectively purchasing a vacuum desiccator, vacuum pump, and the gauges and hoses that are necessary to successfully purge BHO. My question to all the ganja gods out there is about the vacuum pump itself. There are many different measures on the pump; i.e., cfm; microns; PA; etc. I'm curious because I've heard so many different things from so many different people, what is really necessary to successfully purge BHO through a vacuum pump? As far as I'm concerned I found this pump; ( http://www.amazon.com/Robinair-15115-VacuMaster-Single-Stage/dp/B005CO9FDW/ref=pd_sbs_auto_11 ) but wasn't sure if it would pull terpens out of my BHO. Also if this pump is ok to run on my desiccator, is there a way to control the amount of microns im putting into the desiccator or will the pump always run to ultimate vacuum? The Robinair 15115, runs to 100 microns, is that where I want to purge to? Or am I just watching the gauge and keeping an eye on the gauge till it reaches -29mHg? (depending on where im located, based on sea level). If anyone has any information for me I'd appreciate it, its quite an investment to make on one of these kits. Thanks RIU!!!!!! Stay Frosty!!

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Below around -29.5" hg and you will start to vacuum away the diterpene cannabioids.

The pump will pull to its ultimate vacuum capacity, but if you slightly open your vent valve, you can bleed air in and keep it from pulling too low. The air will also act as a gas ballast.

so pretty much all vacuum's will pump to ultimate vacuum, and I need to bleed the dessication chamber of pressure to get my vacuum pressure to where I want it specifically. I'm assuming that you need to take into account your specific location of sea level and determine what your specific pressure needs to be so that you do start pulling out terpenes.

jewgrow said:

so pretty much all vacuum's will pump to ultimate vacuum, and I need to bleed the dessication chamber of pressure to get my vacuum pressure to where I want it specifically. I'm assuming that you need to take into account your specific location of sea level and determine what your specific pressure needs to be so that you do start pulling out terpenes.

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Yes, it is PSIA, or Absolute pressure, that determines the boiling points.

Fadedawg said:

but if you slightly open your vent valve, you can bleed air in and keep it from pulling too low. The air will also act as a gas ballast.

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i think i was on my way to figuring this one out last night! :] and here you are a step ahead again

wharrrgarbll

I just got a 6 cfm pump for 140, not really too worried about the numbers of cfm, just more concerned with the amount of pulls I can get out of my wax. As far as butane goes, do you have any preference for brands as far as quality, vector or colibri?

Either will work.

I'm running a 80 gram extraction tube, and probably going to make two runs. Would you expect a predictable yield of about 32-34 grams of wax from 160 grams of high quality trim?

I've used a Welch Duoseal running balls to the wall with good results. Imo you'll lose more to an air bleed than a good hard vacuum. cn

jewgrow said:

I'm running a 80 gram extraction tube, and probably going to make two runs. Would you expect a predictable yield of about 32-34 grams of wax from 160 grams of high quality trim?

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I use 20% from prime bud and 10/12% from trim as a ballpark rule of thumb. That suggests that you may be optomistic at 32 grams from trim.

So what do you think would be an optimistic amount of high quality sugar leaves to yield me an ounce of some nice sticky wax? 180-200grams?

jewgrow said:

So what do you think would be an optimistic amount of high quality sugar leaves to yield me an ounce of some nice sticky wax? 180-200grams?

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if i were to try and produce an oz of wax/taffy.

would take me at least a half lb. AT LEAST, with sugar leaves.

I had someone ask me the same question... phil, is that you?

I normally see a 15-20% return when I run high quality material.

if youre shooting to get 28-30gs of oil... youre gonna need 5x that amount. so 150g minimum of dried, sugar coated leaves/small buds (smokable quality). if youre using medium quality leaves, shake, etc.. id imagine that its even lower than 15-20% yield and would require nearly a half lb like mentioned (225g)

Thanks, those numbers make a lot more sense! Everything came in the mail today, and I have trim drying as we speak, so there will be some purging ahead.

me too! drying... this is a first for me.

I got the bag and it was one big frozen clump... so I let it sit for a few days, broken up lightly.

on day 2-3.. the bag that the weed was in has moisture on the inside of the bag, and the bag was also very very hot! even though it was sitting in my room on the floor... I just find it weird hot damn hot the bag and weed were... any longer and im sure it would have started decomposing! hope im not hurting the crystals or oil output.

The pump that I bought didn't come with any hoses, and the gauge that I bought came with some crappy plastic "T" splitters and tubing. I want to purchase the industrial tubing with the brass fittings on either side from my local hardware store. What I am curious about is, my dessicator doesn't have the proper fitting to take the brass fitting that the hose has. But the fittings on the vacuum as you know has threads on them and needs the hose with the fittings. My question is, can I cut the hose so that one side has the brass fitting so that I can connect it to my vacuum, and so that the other side doesn't have the brass fitting. I also want to attach in the middle of the hose, a brass "T" valve that will house my gauge. I'm curious as to your opinion on how to attach my hose from my vacuum to my dessicator.

jewgrow said:

The pump that I bought didn't come with any hoses, and the gauge that I bought came with some crappy plastic "T" splitters and tubing. I want to purchase the industrial tubing with the brass fittings on either side from my local hardware store. What I am curious about is, my dessicator doesn't have the proper fitting to take the brass fitting that the hose has. But the fittings on the vacuum as you know has threads on them and needs the hose with the fittings. My question is, can I cut the hose so that one side has the brass fitting so that I can connect it to my vacuum, and so that the other side doesn't have the brass fitting. I also want to attach in the middle of the hose, a brass "T" valve that will house my gauge. I'm curious as to your opinion on how to attach my hose from my vacuum to my dessicator.

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Any way that works! I cut a refrigerant charging hose in half for my first desiccator, and used the fitting ends for the pump and gauge, while using the cut ends with a hose barb.

Thanks Fadedawg, you've been very helpful. I just want to make sure that I'm doing everything correctly. I know that this is a process of trial and error and I need to find my own "niche" as to how to do things, but I'm glad your pointing me in the right direction.

Hey fadedawg, another question, when you do your extractions, do you put ground up flower, or do you put the whole buds, in small bits into the extraction tubes? I have about 45 grams of a mix of popcorn nugs and high quality trim in my extraction tube and have an inch and a half of space until the open end of the tube where the unbleached coffee filters attach. I'm excited because I plan on breaking my extraction virginity tomorrow!!! I have my 8x12" pyrex dish to drip my butane into, i'm going to buy a 9x13" pyrex hot water bath to go into my 8x12 to increase butane boil off. Other than that, I also heard many rumors as to the amount of butane to squirt into the extraction tube at one time. I have heard that a rule of thumb is 30 seconds on and 15 seconds off. Is this an accurate representation of what should be done? I know you cannot just keep squirting C4H10 into my extraction tube and it has to be done in an on/off fashion. I just wasn't sure if there was a constant of seconds on and seconds off. Also my last question for you is, when extracting is there a certain amount of butane (fl oz) that I should use per amount of trim/flower? Thanks again bro

why cant you just keep spraying the butane??/ thats what I do... as fast as a can will go through.

if you freeze them, the butane turns into more of a liquid and doesnt flow through as fast, I think it rinses it better/longer warm cans of butane fly right through the extractor and hanf boil off before it hits the dish causing a ton of butane in the air. dangerous and I dont like breathing that shit. id rather none of my butane evap until I put a dish of hot water over it. then stand inside.

also. those pyrex dishes are a bitch to deal with. id recommend a 6$ stainless steel salad bowl from wal mart so you can scrape every last bit. with that pyrex dish, youre going to lose probably a half gram of oil in all 4 corners. if you scrape the edge of a pyrex from bottom to top in 1 motion, you can do an SS dish

sometimes, they put the small buds in, run that real quick for some very nice oil. wait for those buds to dry (day or so) then chop them up and re run them again. peronally I just chop it all up right off the bat... maybe that why my oil turns out differently than all theirs though???

trial and error is the best way. theres so many ways to do each tiny little step.. mixing and matching them all gives you 100,000 different ways of making honey oil!!

good luck. post some pictures.