Harmalas Solution Still Extremely cloudy after settling and many filterings?

[Cosmic_Revolution]

Im trying to follow the Toa Of Rue Extraction but instead of boiling the Rue a few times I let my Rue soak in 3 times its weight of 3% Actetic Acid solution for 3 days and then 2 times its weight for 2 days. I Let everything settle overnight, siphoned off the best I could but Im sure a lot of sediment transferred over. I have a homemade pressure filtering device where I stack 3 coffee filters and filter through, but I can still see a lot of tiny, tiny sediment. In the tek it states it should look clear (brownish clear?) before you precipitate crystals and for the life of me no matter how many times I filter I can not get the solution to be clear(ish). Please help! Any advice is greatly appreciated, I no patience is important but Ive been working with Spice Extractions and re-crystilizations for 2 months now and Im a little tuckered out, not to mention all the other experiments Ive done, for once I would love for something to just WORK!. Not to mention I have a Wife, a Daughter, and a Job. I don't know why I'm rambling I guess I'm just trying to be as authentic as I can an let you guys know how Im feeling. So any advice would be greatly appreciated, I've got my Spice Extraction, Re-X, and Changa mix down very well, but the Rue Extraction seems substantially more complicated

 

[endlessness]

Dont worry you can probably precipitate them already. I think the first run, it will be near impossible to have it really clear.. Once you precipitate, redissolve and filter again, things start looking better. It's the first precipitation that is the worse to filter, be patient

Also another thing is that, while the harmalas are dissolved in acidic solution and you want to filter away the solids, I find a funnel with cotton plug and some layers of cotton works better than even multiple paper filters. Just be sure to run some water after you filtered, to pick up all the alkaloid-rich liquid that is trapped inside the cotton

 

[MelCat]

Extracting rue is quite an undertaking compared to extracting spice. You'll find it's well worth it when you get those nice spiky crystals though!

I'll update the tek on the wiki to make it a little clearer on what to expect. Just don't try to rush it. That's the beauty of the rue extractions is that there is a lot of down time while you're waiting for things to filter or settle. These are great opportunities to take a breather and then pick up where you left off later.

It sounds like your very passionate about your learning so I hate to hear ya getting so stressed. As Endlessness said, the initial filtering is the worst part of the extraction so you're almost to the good stuff. Hang in there and keep us posted on how it turns out!

 

[evil804]

ditch the papers, go with cotton balls.

easiest way i have found to filter is to first let all the liquid sit in the fridge overnight, then decant off to leave sediment behind. Take that liquid and run through a single cotton ball filter. once it has passed, take the filtered liquid and run again through 2 cotton balls, then 3, etc... until you feel its ready.

you can start the 2 ball filtering while the single ball finishes, just start on what has already passed rather than waiting for the entire solution to filter before going to the next stage. this really speeds up the filtering process. as endless said, always finish each filter with some water to push out the harmala rich solution trapped in the filters! every bit counts!

 

[MelCat]

I usually keep all of the filters and cotton balls to the side and do one final a/b on them before I compost them. Last time I did this, I think I got around 2g of relatively pure harmalas just from the filters of a 500g extraction.

 

[Cosmic_Revolution]

Thanks guys, your kind words and knowledge is invigorating! I must say my questions are always answered promptly and by people who are knowledgeable. So many other forums I've visited over the years are filled with people who just like to post a theoretical response based on no experience what so ever. Not that thats a bad thing, it just waters all the good experience based knowledge down a little. No doubt the Nexus is teeming with experienced people who enjoying sharing their knowledge and experience, LOVE IT! Thanks again