2nd extraction. is it too good to be true?

[PedroSanchez]

i finished my first extraction 2 days ago and the results were as expected for a first attempt with 50g MHRB. first two pulls returned 53mg and 31mg, but the next 4 pulls gave me a total of 559mg, a somewhat low yield, but i was aiming for 500mg on my first attempt so i was very happy.

yesterday i started my second attempt, again with 50g MHRB, but i made some changes. i ground my bark down as much as possible (it was still shredded, but more finely shredded), i only waited about 30 mins between mixing the base/bark and adding the solvent (instead of 3 days on the first attempt) and i stirred it a LOT, over about 6 hours.
i also evaporated a lot more solvent before freezing and for the first time my solvent was cloudy, even without blowing on it.

today i removed the first pull from the freezer and weighed it in. i pulled 397mg and the result was much whiter than the total of the first attempt. i assume the colour was a result of the speed compared to the first attempt.

okay so now to the point. after the solvent was evaporated there was a very thin film of what i thought was water vapour, which i wiped with a tissue to discover that it was a sticky oil (so i probably wasted some goodies there). does anybody have any idea what this oil might be?
also, on the side that i evaporated the solvent from there was a thick, oil-like, white substance that looked like an evaporation mark.
when i scraped up the "evaporation mark" it turned into what looks like normal DMT powder, but before scraping it up it looked like something i was going to have to throw away. does anybody have any idea why this turned out like that and if it might be okay to smoke? or could it be contaminated?

here is the whole dish, where you can see how the two are contrasted and kind of see the oil in between.

and here is a close up of the odd leftovers from the solvent evaporation.

i have kept the top crystals and the smear separate for now. the smear only makes up 43mg, but it would be nice if i could combine them rather than bin it just to be safe. i think i might just be worried because it seemed to go suspiciously well for a second attempts.
sorry for the long explanation, i dont know what information might be important.

thanks for the help everybody

 

[PedroSanchez]

Beyond impressed. Granted my first time, had issues like spills,, etc. and thought 1% yield was the normal, i used 100g. After 1 quick rewash with clean naptha I ended with your same amount and white.

So for you to get off 50g is amazing, makes me think of all I prob sadly wasted ignorantly.

Congrats again!

thanks!
it felt good to get that. the rewards were truly beautiful

my first attempt was an absolute mess hahah. i had so many spills and fumbled my way through the whole thing. thats the best way to learn though.

 

[AiL762]

Lol it wasn't till it almost splashed into my face with no PPE was I like yeahhhh..... I need to not take this lightly. Not to be cheap and just get proper equipment.

 

[PedroSanchez]

Lol it wasn't till it almost splashed into my face with no PPE was I like yeahhhh..... I need to not take this lightly. Not to be cheap and just get proper equipment.

oh damn! im glad you didnt find out too late!
on my first run i was putting the soup back into storage in the cupboard, which is over-head, and i didnt notice a little of the soup on the outside of the jar and it dripped down almost in my eye, but lucky for me i had goggles, gloves, etc already on religiously
i still took a moment to reflect on things hahah. now i check things more closely.

 

[AiL762]

I cant even being to express all the issues I had lmao

lets see what I can remmeber, well from my first batch of 50g I attempted, I had setup initially in a container that I could not stir properly or seal in order to mix the naptha. so with the naptha being in the 1st pull I tried to transfer container and it spilled easily 70% of that naptha and more.

In addition while messing with my sous vide to provide temps, after like the 3rd pull attempt, the cheap mason jarr I had cracked and broke off on the bottom. and no ability to continue any thing with it.

with my 100g aatmpt and now with an actual beaker. I didnt realize the rubber top wouldnt stay on after the pressure buildup of shaking, thats how I spilled that time around and almost got on my face lol

needlesss to say I'm a lot safer after that and know the limits of how my sloppy negligent methods were. lol

anyways, update, I ordered the stir and heater. should be attempting very soon.

 

[PedroSanchez]

I cant even being to express all the issues I had lmao

lets see what I can remmeber, well from my first batch of 50g I attempted, I had setup initially in a container that I could not stir properly or seal in order to mix the naptha. so with the naptha being in the 1st pull I tried to transfer container and it spilled easily 70% of that naptha and more.

In addition while messing with my sous vide to provide temps, after like the 3rd pull attempt, the cheap mason jarr I had cracked and broke off on the bottom. and no ability to continue any thing with it.

with my 100g aatmpt and now with an actual beaker. I didnt realize the rubber top wouldnt stay on after the pressure buildup of shaking, thats how I spilled that time around and almost got on my face lol

needlesss to say I'm a lot safer after that and know the limits of how my sloppy negligent methods were. lol

anyways, update, I ordered the stir and heater. should be attempting very soon.

oh damn! i am very happy you are still alive!
i am a little worried about the jar i am using at the moment. it sounds a little thin when the stirrer hits the side. i think i will just suck it up and find a better one before i try my last 100g extraction (last in stock, not forever ). i also bought a new stainless steel stirrer to replace my wooden one, but if i cant get a new jar i will stick to the wooden stirrer to reduce the impact when it hits the side.

some of these lessons are learnt the hard way. i am just thankful that with places like this we can learn from each others mistakes and improve collectively. harm reduction at its finest.

awesome news on the hotplate! keep us updated, i would love to hear how it goes. i definitely feel like it is a tool worth using if you can.

 

[AiL762]

Its a little bit of a hassle learning hot to get the sitrbar to catch but ohhhh so worth it so far.

Had put 100g jn a hot water bath since yesterday waiting for the hotplate. total with vinegar to keep it at 3.5ph.

I had it running 6 hrs with the stirbar and what I feel might be a safe temp range 130ish. Hard to tell even with the twmp reader. Need to get a thermometer in there somehow to see whats it at for real.

I do the salt tek, so added 100g non ionized salt and raised my water level to , been running about 3hrs like that.

Just added the lye to reach ph 13.5. Will let run overnight and then tomorrow ill work on the pulls.

But oh this is amazing how little effort and casual ita been making the process. And I am expecting great results. With a method that can be standardized, and not left to the amount of effort I do or do not employ.

Just finding optimal "running times" and temps would be the only thing I'd really think needs to be modified.

 

[AiL762]

Forgot to add pics :d

 

[AiL762]

Everything was going smoothly, something had to go wrong of course. My ph meter took a crap on me prior to adding the lyed water.

Since was clueless if hit the correct ph I just added a boatload. Nice and black with no emulsions, so I'd say I hit the ideal amount. Lol

Can't wait to see the first pull tomorrow tomorrow

 

[SpoonFed]

Cute the Nexus website just told me to use proper English since it's not my mother tongue please bear with me.

so yes my friend I have read several times on this website and other places that you don't really need a ph metre as long as you can kind of measure how much of your lye you're adding to the water.

I luv this shi I mean stuff on my fourth extraction.

 

[AiL762]

Cute the Nexus website just told me to use proper English since it's not my mother tongue please bear with me.

so yes my friend I have read several times on this website and other places that you don't really need a ph metre as long as you can kind of measure how much of your lye you're adding to the water.

I luv this shi I mean stuff on my fourth extraction.

So did encounter an issue. Guess I added way too much lye, so water is too thick and lye not seperating. Gonna heat up and see if can vibrate it somehow to loosen up the naptha.

Realistically seems gonna have to split the mixture into two containers so can add some more water to thin it out some.

Def gonna get me a ph meter that won't die on me. Dont like not being precise anyways and it bit me in the ass.

 

[PedroSanchez]

So did encounter an issue. Guess I added way too much lye, so water is too thick and lye not seperating. Gonna heat up and see if can vibrate it somehow to loosen up the naptha.

Realistically seems gonna have to split the mixture into two containers so can add some more water to thin it out some.

Def gonna get me a ph meter that won't die on me. Dont like not being precise anyways and it bit me in the ass.

awesome to see the new hotplate stirrer in action!

adding more water sounds like the best fix to me too.
once you get to know the tools it will be a smooth process.

the pH meter i was looking at getting was a cheap one, at least to start with. i was having doubts though, i think you just convinced me to save for a good one.

 

[PedroSanchez]

Cute the Nexus website just told me to use proper English since it's not my mother tongue please bear with me.

so yes my friend I have read several times on this website and other places that you don't really need a ph metre as long as you can kind of measure how much of your lye you're adding to the water.

I luv this shi I mean stuff on my fourth extraction.

it is true you dont really need to measure pH if you use exact amounts, but if you are doing experimentation it is very useful to know the pH of things at certain stages. yes you could technically do it mathematically, but it is much simpler just to stick a pH meter in your solution than it is to find all the information on your chemicals and then calculate that at every stage of the process.
in AiL's case, he/she has new equipment and is experimenting with ideas to create the best process. a pH meter will speed things up hugely in this case.