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RainWater Clears emulsion

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DimensionlessBeing

DimensionlessBeing

Rising Star
Just thought I'd share a story SWIM told me. He used STB and got a couple of good pulls. On the third attempt he got emulsion somehow. He tried salting it but it didnt get any better. He decided to give up and put the container in the sun to evap the naptha before dumping the lye/MHRB. Well it rained pretty hard for a while. The glass jar that the mixture was in was a juice jar with a gradusted slender neck, perfect for pulling off naptha. The nex morning he went out to inspect and to his surprise the emulsion was gone. He had checked the night before but bo real change was observed.

The question is, what got rid of the emulsion? Rainwater (lower PH?), or cool overnight temperature, or both?

Anyway he wasted no time in pulling off the naptha and performing a wash /freezing it :)
 
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I'd guess that in the downpour, the rain beating on the sides of the jar caused vibrations that broke up the emulsion. I've heard good results from people placing their extraction on a thumping subwoofer or even a revving motorcycle :shock: to break up emulsions.
 
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The physical force of the water droplets knocking down the MHRB back to the bottom is my guess. I add more lye for this reason when I get emulsions, it clears them right up. I've tried the vibration method, didn't work for me. The lye doesn't do anything chemically as far as I can tell, it all sinks to the bottom and collects.
 
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i am leaning towards either the water knocking it down or the acidity of the rain (aka acid rain). the rain beating on the gass seems unlikely as any vibration would, in my mind, be less vibration at a hugely reduced frequency than a speaker playing music with a heavy bass.

cant wait for swimto take it out of the freezer
 
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I'm fairly certain "acid rain" would make the emulsion worse (the higher the pH, the less chance of emulsions and the shorter their duration if they do form, acid rain would lower the pH), and the vibrations don't have to be anything ridiculous to help break up an emulsion. Tap a rubber spatula or kitchen utensil against the jar the next time you have an emulsion; you'll see it has an effect. A rain storm for a mere 15-30 minutes could easily, to my mind, assist in breaking down an emulsion through vibration.
 
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