cleaning GVG

[gibran2]

Old thread, but here's a question:
Usually I get crystal kind of yellowish condensation in the curve of the GVG, but this time I smoked alot in one session, and accidentally got one dose touching the glass side near the copper mesh, this resulted the melted DMT to drain into the curve.
This surprised me, that it was dark brown waxy liquid(had it before thugh). I then dissolved in acetone and scraped it, it hardened slightly, but is still very sticky dark brown stuff. It smells like DMT etc and I'm sure it's good, but what makes it change color so dramatically and why does it stay so sticky? And do you think it's oxidized DMT or something else? And does it possibly have different effects compared to "standard white freebase"?

It’s probably “toasted” or “caramelized” DMT. If DMT accumulates in the metal mesh, or if you're vaporizing at too high a temperature, then the DMT will begin to pyrolize (break down due to heat).

It’s like caramelizing sugar – when first melted, sugar is clear and white. As one continues to heat it, it gradually changes color, from golden, to amber, to deep brown, to black. The by-products of pyrolysis include carbon, which adds much of the pigment.

My guess is that a similar process occurs with DMT. So once the DMT is brown, it’s still mostly DMT with a small amount of miscellaneous unknown by-products (including carbon) that add the coloration.

I’ve seen nothing in any DMT-related literature that suggests one can make DMT n-oxide by simply heating DMT.

 

[tele]

thanks gibran

 

[Vector]

so just to clarify on how to clean...

you guys just run some isopropyl alcohol through the pipe and it cleans out the dmt gunk that has built up? or do you soak the pipe in alcohol for a certain amount of time?

 

[d*l*b]

I usually add a tablespoon or two's worth of IPA or acetone, roll it about a bit until it's dissolved everything and then pour out. Takes maybe a couple of minutes.

 

[Vector]

I usually add a tablespoon or two's worth of IPA or acetone, roll it about a bit until it's dissolved everything and then pour out. Takes maybe a couple of minutes.

thanks! worked like a charm

 

[MomentOfTruth]

Endlessness mentioned this, but I want to put a HIGHLIGHTER on it.

I find that warm/hot solvent is best for this operation. It breaks down the melted spice much quicker IMHO. I usually take the screens/mesh out and put a small amount of solvent into the pipe and then submerse the lower part of the GVG into a hot water bath to heat it up. This heats the glass and the solvent simultaneously, making the process faster. (Remember, solvent is highly flammable! I trust that no one will use solvent near an open flame) Once heated cover the openings and shake vigorously until the spice residue dissolves into the solvent.

Then just dump out solvent and evap to obtain the goods. I then use additional hot solvent/water as needed to finalize the cleaning. You do NOT need a lot of solvent, especially if you heat it up a bit. Be cognizant of the solvent temp though, as you do not want it to be too hot. (use same idealogy as if you were doing a re-x with hot heptane)

Q-Tips can be helpful when cleaning out the interior of the bowl itself, and they automatically dry out any moisture inside the bowl after cleaning.

**WARNING: MAKE ABSOLUTE CERTAIN THAT THERE IS NO SOLVENT REMAINING IN THE PIPE BEFORE USING IT AGAIN. RUNNING HOT WATER THROUGH IT UNTIL THE SMELL IS GONE IS A GREAT IDEA. I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZED TRACES OF HEPTANE THAT WERE TRAPPED IN CRYSTAL DMT ONE TIME AND IT WAS A HORRIFYING EXPERIENCE. I quickly learned my lesson about crystal shards. They are great to keep for show, for stability, and well... they are the reward for your diligence. But now I ALWAYS crush up my hard DMT shards into powder and make sure there is no smell of solvent left before vaporizing.

 

[blue.magic]

I use alcoholic NaOH or KOH. Simply mix small amount (say 10 wt%) or NaOH/KOH with IPA and mix well. This readily removes the resins and crystals.

Be careful as this is very caustic so use gloves.

The GVG is then thoroughly rinsed with hot water followed by distilled water (to remove salts from the tap water).

 

[swimer]

can i use warm 50c napha to clean it? I would just pure it inside, close both sides, shake it a bit, and pure it to another vessel to evap. Than just turn fan and evap the rest from the pipe. Bad idea?

 

[rOm]

Cleaning in the name of ?!!

seriously though many tricks to clean a GVG. or stop using it, it won't get dirty

 

[Loveall]

can i use warm 50c napha to clean it? I would just pure it inside, close both sides, shake it a bit, and pure it to another vessel to evap. Than just turn fan and evap the rest from the pipe. Bad idea?

I wouldn't do this. The fan may not get everywhere inside the pipe. I think using IPA is better and cheaper too.

 

[swimer]

can i retrieve product from IPA? Im quite noob in all this chemistry magic only learned CYB's max ion and quite proud that i did it properly

 

[Loveall]

can i retrieve product from IPA? Im quite noob in all this chemistry magic only learned CYB's max ion and quite proud that i did it properly

Sure, dry the IPA and collect the residue. This will also tell you how dirty your pipe was (if you get nothing maybe you have a different issue). If you get a bunch of stuff, you can dry a second wash to see if you are done cleaning. The higher % IPA you use the easier to evaporate. You can clean up the residue itself with a naphta re-x. It's also a good practice to test your IPA by evaporating a sample straight out of the bottle and veryfying it evaporates clean (that should be the case, but no harm in checking and is a good thing to know if you move on to evaporating other solvents one day).

Congrats on doing the TEK.

 

[swimer]

thank you fot this will clean my GVG soon