Some questions about NaOH solutions

[WhoaManThatWasIntense]

So far, i've had great results with Norman's tek, very slightly modified for my own situation. I have a few questions so I thought i'd run them past those that know. I've been doing approx. 150g batches of MHRB split over 2 jars, using a 75ml solvent wash on each.

In Norman's tek he recommends the same amount of NaOH to root bark, which works out to be 150g of NaOH to 2.1 litres of water. I've been using 140g of NaOH to 2 litres of water to give a pH of 14.24, according to an online pH calculator. (I weighed after grinding and 156g of bark had gone down to 140g, but I suspect this is due to crap kitchen scales).

According to the same calculator, 80g per 2 litres of water is enough to get the water to pH 14.

So, the questions:

1: Is it possible to over-basify, or is it a case of the more the merrier with STB (up to a certain point)?
2: Am I missing out on yield when only using 140g of NaOH to 150-odd grams of MHRB?
3: Is 80g really enough to force the good stuff over into the solvent?

 

[Infundibulum]

Man, it's Noman, not Norman,

And you are right, in theory 80g/2l will bring the pH to 14 in distilled water. . But when you add all this bark in the basified solution, with all these plant acids and dmt salts, the final pH of your 80g lye + bark + 2lwater will be less than 14, and actually (and this is just empirical guesstimate) around 13. This is why Noman is adding more lye, just to make sure that pH is at least 14.

So, re to your questions,

1. No
2. No
3. maybe but use a wee bit more (like 100g) just in case

 

[WhoaManThatWasIntense]

Man, it's Noman, not Norman,

Ack! Damn my eyes inserting extra letters where they don't exist, must exercise the third eye more if the standard pair are knackered

And you are right, in theory 80g/2l will bring the pH to 14 in distilled water. . But when you add all this bark in the basified solution, with all these plant acids and dmt salts, the final pH of your 80g lye + bark + 2lwater will be less than 14, and actually (and this is just empirical guesstimate) around 13. This is why Noman is adding more lye, just to make sure that pH is at least 14.

So, re to your questions,

1. No
2. No
3. maybe but use a wee bit more (like 100g) just in case

Ah, right I get it, I didn't think of what would happen to the pH when everything was in solution, duh! I'm not about to meddle with a winning formula at this point, I was just asking because the last time I hit the DIY shops they didn't have any NaOH in and I was down to my last 500g, hence me asking about lesser amounts. Not to worry though because i've just come back from town with 1Kg of the stuff so no worries for a while yet.

Cheers for the reply!