GrowTutor

This method requires specialized equipment and should result in a more complete extraction.

You will need:
1) A vacuum pump (around 3CFM should do)
2) Vacuum hose/manifold/gauges
3) A vacuum chamber, large.
4) A sonic bath large enough to hold your batch(s).
5) A Grinder (Large spice/coffee grinders make quick work of a large pile)


Step one: First Extraction - DHMO
Place freshly harvested or previously dried cannabis in a large 20+ gallon container made of plastic or ceramic and cover completely with pure DHMO. Let soak in the dark for 7 days, changing the DHMO often to remove more impurities. While Some claim that DHMO is a dangerous solvent, it can be handled safely with proper equipment and common sense.

Since THC/CBD/etc will not dissolve in DHMO, this extraction is done first so that the second extraction will be cleaner.

After the product is fully saturated and flushed by the DHMO, drain well and place in a Vacuum container and evacuate the chamber until all DHMO solvent has been evaporated fully. Product should be dry.

(I'm going to break this down one step to one post for now and then I'll merge the steps so it'll be one post. That way we can discuss each step...)

(Step 2 will be Ethanol + Sonication)

Question: Would the vacuum chamber need to be large for the purpose of accomodating very large batches? How much volume would be suitable? Any glassware with a ground joint on the top is suitable as long as the vacuum is kept moderate; round bottom flasks aren't necessary even w/ DHMO.

I'm very interested in knowing what kind of leakage (loss) there would be with this method. The DHMO washings could be dried and quantified for content

Very very interesting method....Thanks for the idea! It has lotsa merits, so I look forward to the rest, as well as other's input.

re: DHMO "danger" - with the exception of water, ALL solvents have atleast one hazard. I want to say (without looking at the tables) that DHMO recovery is much more feasible than Ethanol recovery.

Heisenberg » Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:13 am wrote:Question: Would the vacuum chamber need to be large for the purpose of accomodating very large batches? How much volume would be suitable? Any glassware with a ground joint on the top is suitable as long as the vacuum is kept moderate; round bottom flasks aren't necessary even w/ DHMO.

I'm very interested in knowing what kind of leakage (loss) there would be with this method. The DHMO washings could be dried and quantified for content

Very very interesting method....Thanks for the idea! It has lotsa merits, so I look forward to the rest, as well as other's input.

re: DHMO "danger" - with the exception of water, ALL solvents have atleast one hazard. I want to say (without looking at the tables) that DHMO recovery is much more feasible than Ethanol recovery.

Well, the original RSO extraction method, used 1 pound of "product" in a 5 gallon bucket covered with solvents like ethanol, and some other one RS used (naptha maybe?) Now *this* method would also use the vacuum to evaporate the DHMO so the contain would have to e large enough to either hold the whole pound or it'd have to be evacuated in batches. I guess a 3-4 liter chamber would probably be enough without needing to do several batches but the larger area does take a little longer to evacuate. 4L isn't much for a 3cfm pump.

Then there's the second vacnum reduction. Figure, to cover that 1 pound of product in a 5 gallon bucket you'd need several gallons of solvent which would then need to be reduced. RS used heat, I want to use vacuum. So, the larger the better (within cost reason of course) but at least large enough to hold one or more quart canning jars at a time, gallon or larger jars might be better for larger batches but it's all going to reduce down to 3-4 ounces of goodness. To do a small 1oz batch like Sam's GD method smaller containers might be better, I was even thinking silicone bowls so they'd be non-stick (I hope) and non-staining. I don't think it would have to be glass, it could be made from thick acrylic as long as it was large enough to hold other containers.

I'm sure the loss would be measurable but I can't tell what that would be in a percentage or grams/pound type number yet.


Good questions Mr. H, I'm actually glad that you're back to maybe help me fine tune this idea. Right now this is only theoretical, I've never done this type of multi-solvent extraction with sonication and vacuum reduction before. I have a LOT of experience with DHMO, maybe that's why I'm OK with the minimal dangers. I also have experience with vacuum evaporation so I can see where this should all work. Once I can get all of the equipment, myself, I'll definitely try it.

Water has dangers too, it's not totally safe! The purpose of the DHMO Extraction cycle is use osmotic pressure to remove the things we don't want in the second ethanol extraction so it ends up cleaner and more pure. That's the theory anyway.

Cute. While we're at it, why don't we explain to folks that DHMO is Dihydrogen Monoxide which is definitely not a dangerous chemical for humans to consume. In fact, human life is not possible without it. And I can personally attest that cleaning the cannabis first in a 100% concentration of DHMO does an excellent job of removing unwanted compounds. But lets call it by its real name: water.

The vacuum is a good idea and could be used as a solvent recovery system also. I've wanted a vacuum filter to make that part of the process go a lot quicker but it's not in my budget.

Of course DHMO can be dangerous and you can DIE by consuming too large of a dose but it *is* safe in lower doses. Inhaling too much in the liquid state can also kill and people have also died from too much exposure to DHMO in the solid state of matter too.

Had to spoil the fun? I though for sure you would have played along like Mr. H did...
OK, so the first extraction is a water cure. Water is a solvent.

The idea behind it is to remove as much of the stuff (sugars, chlorophyll, plant solids, etc.) that we don't want in our second extraction as possible.

BTW, DHMO is it's real name, water is a layman's term.


Merry Christmas!

Step two: Second Extraction - Ethanol
Grind product fine (similar to a manual hand-held herb grinder) and cover with ethanol (everclear or even 151 will do) in a mason jar and place inside a sonic bath.

Run sonic bath 30 minutes and then 5 minutes on per hour for 12 hours. Drain and filter.

Place ethanol extract in the vacuum chamber and evacuate to reduce, as desired. partially, for GD, or fully for RSO.

Enjoy!

(Mr. H might have some suggestions on how to better run the sonicator. You can over extract with sonication so I think you're supposed to run it on a timer rather than just "on." Perhaps 12 hours is too long or too short, I don't know, it's just a theory until I try it.)

I was reading and thought "WTF IS DHMO?"

Good one.

You'd be surprised how many people read the DHMO facts link (from the first post) and think it should be banned. The funny thing is that all of the DHMO "facts" are true which is a also a statement on those that want to ban so many things deemed "dangerous." Life is dangerous, it'll kill us all.

It is a good first step though, since it removes things that you wouldn't want in your second extraction. It should be a much cleaner GD/RSO.