What happened here? Looks very different this time

chernobe

Well-Known Member
This is after 4-5 days in the vac chamber. It is a trim run that has been blasted and then winterized with some iso 99 and a buchner funnel and filter paper. After letting the alcohol evaporate it was thrown into a vac chamber that has a built in heating plate in the bottom of it. There is a silicone mat in between the oil and the plate. Temp was set to around 122 or so , taking into consideration the mat absorbs several degrees. I should point out that the chamber had a slight leak from the o-ring and has been sealed up with a dab or two from the chamber. The gauge read just below -30 hg maybe 28 or so. After 2 days of this and no visible reaction happening the oil was put in the freezer for 2 mins or so and then flipped over. When it went back into the chamber and now at full vac and temp set to 135, again accounting for the mat, it immediately stood up like it was purging butane and stayed there for the next 2 days or so. But to me that sounds very unlikely that is butane making it stand up like that since it was winterized.

Now it looks like this, solid and brittle. This has never happened to us before. It seems like it passed the flame test and my friend smoked some on top of a bowl and said it was just fine to him. This is a trim run which we do often. Same strain and same conditions. The 3 things that were different about this run were

1) small leak in o ring so it didn't quite hit full vac at first

2) went into the freezer for 2 mins and flipped

3) used cheaper butane this time. Whip - it 5x refined. It was on sale and we used it before and didn't have a problem , but at that time we did not winterize. Usually we use Vector or Newport and have never seen this problem.

As long as it is safe I don't mind having it around. It has a bitter taste the first puff or two. If a piece breaks off it can easily be crumbled up like a powder or broken glass.


Any thoughts or ideas on what this is and what may have happened?
 

Attachments

Last edited:

perry420

Active Member
Do you usually vac for that long? Maybe it's the vacuum time and temperature. Maybe only a couple hours in the vac and only at around 100 F would show different results. But that stuff still looks good. For vacuuming at 5 days with heat, there is NO fucking butane in there. I'll be a tad bit cockeyed optimistic to say that. This seems to be an aesthetic problem. I think you're g double o d goood
 

disposition84

Well-Known Member
I've run into some stuff that gave me a similar issue, just super brittle crystalline structure is my guess. I ended up putting it in vac oven at higher temp than normal and not pulling vac for a day and it melted into itself.

Silly idea, but maybe try rosin tech with it? Melt it down manually into smaller patties? Could be a good test to see if my presumption is correct?
 

chernobe

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the replies guys. I always vac 4-5 days, this was winterized so all of the butane was removed from the alcohol. When it was broken down it looks like a fine crystalline substance. I didn't have a chance to melt it down as it seems to have just grown legs and walked away :) working on another batch this week tho. The bitter taste seems to be from the iso99, we will be using everclear 151 this time as you can't get the good stuff in CA. We do the same process every time , I'll post pics of the new batch in a week or two when it's ready. Thanks again for taking the time to share your thoughts on this with me.
 

707humboldt

Well-Known Member
You can get the good ever clear on winechateau.com. They ship to cali too. We don't winterize unless its for a food grade run. We dewax in our sweet leaf extractor than purge in a few across international vac ovens at 96 for 2-3 days, then flip and vac for 2 more.
 

chernobe

Well-Known Member
You can get the good ever clear on winechateau.com. They ship to cali too. We don't winterize unless its for a food grade run. We dewax in our sweet leaf extractor than purge in a few across international vac ovens at 96 for 2-3 days, then flip and vac for 2 more.
Last I checked it was out of stock, but I have friends and family out of state. Just waiting for a visit:) A de-waxing column sure would be nice to tho!
 

707humboldt

Well-Known Member
Imo it makes the world of a difference. You get a better flavor profile vs winterization and its less of a process, takes less time to do a run. Im so glad i got one, I love it!
 

707humboldt

Well-Known Member
5 days in the oven at 96. Its a little dark because it was made with some older outdoor. Inline dewaxed. We get all our stuff tested and this batch was well under the limit for solvent ppm IMG_0531.jpg
 

chernobe

Well-Known Member
As to your original post.
Whats the problem? Looks like shatter
I wouldn't quite call that shatter, it was very brittle and crumbled up easily like a fine broken glass. I have a question rather than a problem tho. The question is 3 factors were different than all my previous runs. Which of the 3 different factors mentioned in the original post could have caused this particular consistency? I've always purged 3-5 days and kept the temp of the built in heater at 135 tops, starting low and finishing high. When the heat transfers through the metal plate and silicon mat the oil temp is much lower than 135, at that temp it may be 118-122 depending on the weather. After completing all those steps it comes out like the attached pic, not bad for 2 month old trim Imo. I use the same strain, same conditions same everything except for the 3 mentioned changes, that's why im scratching my head as to which one did it ? Thanks for having a look and sending your feedback
 

Attachments

francy420

Well-Known Member
151 will affect taste a bit but will also leave a little char on the nail. I have had that happen when my temp were too low for that particular strain. It's basically just a frozen muffin. Same material doesn't necessarily mean anything. Especially if it was from a different plant.
 
Top