Hello everyone. I came across this thread and wanted to reply to a couple of concerns that have been addressed about the SuperC. I work at OCO Labs and also use the SuperC to process my personal concentrates. We have not run into any issues with user safety on our equipment. The SupersC has a pressure switch that will shut the system down once it reaches a pressure of 4500psi. If for some reason the operator were to turn the system on and walk away from it, the system would safely shut down once reaching 4500psi. As well, we have installed an industry standard burst-disk on the rear of the central air block. If the system were to ever reach a pressure of 7000psi the disk will burst and the system will no longer hold any pressure. I have yet to hear of, or see a system that has reached a high enough pressure to cause the burst-disk to burst.
Recently I had to replace a set of seals "O-Rings" on my personal SuperC. I had well over 500 hours on my seals for the compressor. On the Expansion-Kit, I've noticed if the seals are kept clean they can last up to 200 plus hours. Changing the seals on the expansion kit is very easy and probably only takes 10 minutes or so, but they will not last as long as the seals on the base compressor in my experience. As long as the operator keeps the machine lubricated with the correct lubricant, the seals should last much longer than 100 hours on the base SuperC. I tend to run my SuperC with Expansion-Kit 4 days a week at 12 hour intervals. I try to stop the system every two hours briefly to lubricate the felt pads with liquid coconut oil (not the kind that solidifies at room temperature). Keeping these felt pads that rest on the pistons lubricated helps me to only have to replace seals every few months.
Everything FadeDawg said about the capabilities of a passive CO2 extraction system is correct. However the SuperC uses a patented dual syringe piston compressor to gain pressure. Many users often turn the heating element off to pick up fewer waxes during their extractions. The SuperC can be operated up to 4500psi with the heating element off should the operator choose. Each displacement of the pistons will create friction and thus some heat though. I guess you could call a run with no heat on the SuperC a "near critical" run, but currently our systems are not set up to run sub-critical.
I saw another comment in this thread about possible corrosion of some of the aluminum parts on the SuperC.. We do use aluminum on several parts of the SuperC but all aluminum parts are anodized, thus being corrosion-resistant, and are left with a anodic oxide finish. I've been running the same extraction chambers for three years now. I clean them after every run and have not come across any corrosion in my experience.
If anyone has additional questions about the SuperC I am more than happy to answer them.