First time extraction sense check / Progress diary

[Zeul]

Hi all,

First post but have been lurking for awhile.

Im not sticking with one tek because from what iv seen not one single tek has all the answers.


Im going to start this off as a sense check to make sure im not making any gaping mistakes and the put up a extraction diary with pictures of the progress!


My first few runs will be small (50g's of powdered MHRB)

Using a sodium hydroxide / naphtha style extraction

3/4 large glass baking trays for the freeze precip
a large measuring cylinder for separation of the two layers
Standard turkey baster + syringe for pulling off naphtha layer

Instead of getting lye im getting "reagent grade sodium hydroxide" from Amazon

( Is it possible to get high quality sodium hydroxide from Amazon or is this BS and am i better with sticking with standard lye? NOTE: im aware lye is Sodium hydroxide just thinking if it is in fact reagent grade it would be alot better? )

ronsonol's for the naphtha (sucks that the cans are only available in small amounts but cant seem to find a better source for naphtha in the UK.)

I realise there are alot of mixed reviews about ronsonols being clean but iv just dumped 1/4 a can into a tray to see for my own peace of mind!

And for water just standard tap water that has been filtered.

And of course all the necessary safety gear!!!

Will cut off this post here to get feedback on this so far then will post my plan the extraction it self.


Peace!

-Z

 

[DeMenTed]

Normal lye from b&q is fine. I don't know if reagant stuff would be any better tbh. Defo stick with ronsonol though. The last extraction i done i used swan and newport and even after two re-x's i wasn't happy with the purity. Ive never had a problem with ronsonol.

 

[Zeul]

B&Q it is then, most likely cheaper too!

Is it possible to get ronsonol in larger amounts then the small 100-150ml cans?


One other thing what temps are recommended temps for freezing? not sure if my freezer is cold enough will post temps after a hour or two of readings.

 

[DeMenTed]

I think anything under -18 is good probably. It mostly depends on how saturated your naptha is. I think you can get bigger ronsonols on ebay but they come from america

 

[Zeul]

ah pain, not sure the laws on shipping flammable liquid but better off to just stick with the small uk cans, if its above -18 would it still have the same effect but take longer or would it give diminished effects?

(my main deep freeze is buggered will be using a fridge freezer combo set to the highest setting)

think im going to go with the Amazon option nearest B&Q is a bitch to get too.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SODIUM-HYDROXIDE-PELLETS-LABORATORY-REAGENT/dp/B0053AMSHK/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1344207356&sr=1-2

 

[Zeul]

Started gathering supplies!

Had a question about the freeze stage,

Im going to do four pulls, can i mix the two first pulls into one tray and the last two into one tray? or should they stay separate?

Also is HDPE plastic a must have or is PET ok?

 

[DeMenTed]

combining pulls is fine but if you're adding naptha that isn't very saturated to naptha that is remember to evap a little before freezing.

Hdpe 2 is fine. I'm not sure about PET.

 

[SnozzleBerry]

PET is definitely not ok to use.

Some people use HDPE, however, Phillips (the company that manufactures it) states:

In addition to many individual chemicals (mentioned below), Phillips lists two major classes of chemicals that are not compatible with HDPE: aromatic hydrocarbons, and halogenated hydrocarbons. The basic aromatic hydrocarbon is benzene (a major component of gasoline); others are toluene (also called methylbenzene), and the three xylenes (o-, m-and p-xylene). Others include naphthalene (moth balls), and pdichlorobenzene (also moth balls). These aromatic hydrocarbons "permeate excessively and cause package deformation," says Phillips.

From here

 

[Zeul]

ok, Also on both stages of evap (room temp + freeze) do they need to be covered/sealed or only partially?