Extraction Help - Adding more slovent for next pull

[jdanon123]

Hi everyone!

First post here and let me start by saying im beyond happy ive found this community, ive learned alot and actually successfully performed my first extraction using MHRB and Gordo Tek method.

Everything went smoothly apart from a lot of my initial solvent (Naphtha) from my first pull has either been absorbed or evaped and now i need to add more for my next pull. After successful xtalization i was left with maybe 10-20 ml of solvent to reuse, (and ~500mg of xtal on first pull) now my question is when adding more solvent can I simply pour old solvent in with the new or should i warm the old solvent and new solvent separately and then mix, does any DMT held in the old solvent need to be fully dissolved first or am i purely overthinking this? lol any insight is appreciated.

Thank you all!

 

[Praxis.]

I'm pretty sure you should just be able to mix the two and go from there. You could throw the remaining 10-20ml in the freezer to see if any more DMT happens to precipitate out first. I'm not super familiar with this tek but if you're able to conserve your solvent without evaporating too much of it off, you should be able to reuse most of it for each pull without having to add a bunch of fresh solvent each time (you could use less solvent on each pull so it becomes supersaturated without having to evap as much off, and then just do extra pulls to compensate). You could then recrystallize your combined yield at the end with fresh solvent if you'd prefer your crystals to be as white as possible.

 

[jdanon123]

I'm pretty sure you should just be able to mix the two and go from there. You could throw the remaining 10-20ml in the freezer to see if any more DMT happens to precipitate out first. I'm not super familiar with this tek but if you're able to conserve your solvent without evaporating too much of it off, you should be able to reuse most of it for each pull without having to add a bunch of fresh solvent each time (you could use less solvent on each pull so it becomes supersaturated without having to evap as much off, and then just do extra pulls to compensate). You could then recrystallize your combined yield at the end with fresh solvent if you'd prefer your crystals to be as white as possible.

Awesome info thanks! I was lucky enough to get very pure xtals on my first pull, with each pull im assuming plant oils and such in the reused naphtha may dull the clarity, if necessary ill recrystallize, for now ill mix in some new solvent and continue a new pull

 

[downwardsfromzero]

Plant oils are not an issue with MHRB. You can carry on recycling your freeze-precipped naphtha indefinitely, especially if you avoid wilfully evaporating it, as Praxis says.

 

[MeecroHyperion]

SWIM has struggled with this: The shocking case of the disappearing naptha:

Your naptha is forming an emulsion. If the base solution is too thick after basing and salting for the first pull, add water to thin it down, and even put it in a warm water bath to speed up the separation. So it's still in there, packed with solutes - just hopelessly mixed up like a milkshake, in cells so small their lower density is overcome by skin effects, holding them in place.

Adding more naptha will help, but won't fix the problem unless you seal the container and let it sit for a day or two. Just add water, stir, warm, wait a few minutes and watch the "lost" naptha reform as a nice clear layer on top again.

Good luck!

 

[jdanon123]

SWIM has struggled with this: The shocking case of the disappearing naptha:

Your naptha is forming an emulsion. If the base solution is too thick after basing and salting for the first pull, add water to thin it down, and even put it in a warm water bath to speed up the separation. So it's still in there, packed with solutes - just hopelessly mixed up like a milkshake, in cells so small their lower density is overcome by skin effects, holding them in place.

Adding more naptha will help, but won't fix the problem unless you seal the container and let it sit for a day or two. Just add water, stir, warm, wait a few minutes and watch the "lost" naptha reform as a nice clear layer on top again.

Good luck!

Your post hit my problem head on actually!

I just today revisited my bark for my 3rd pull after 1 week time has passed. Heated up my naphtha, added into the bark and mixed and to my suprise the bark soaked it all up and wont let it go!

What was strange to me was this anomoly has not been present in the first 2 pulls. I can only assume that as my bark has sat (sealed) the base did its job, I now have an overly based (rather dry) mixture. Following your advice I added small amounts of water and will hope it retains its new moisture for my next pull, for now im heating up another 50ml of naphtha and continuing with the extract :? live and learn right?

 

[MeecroHyperion]

Yep - it's amazing how much naptha can soak in. Just keep adding water until it is runny again. Your powder has no doubt absorbed some water during the process. The extra water won't grandly affect the final concentration of alkaloids in your naptha, so the limit is really the volume of your container.