Noman, I have one suggestion regarding your tek. I think that calling for a bit less naphtha would make it so that peoples' extractions are concentrated enough to freeze-precip more often. (It may end up taking them one or two more pulls to get all the spice, but I think that easy freeze-precipitation is a good trade-off for one or two extra pulls).

SWIM found that when using somewhere around 0.4 mL of naphtha per gram of bark (doing every pull with heated naphtha), every pull except the last one freeze-precipitated easily. (This was with an A/B in a sep funnel, but I don't see why it wouldn't work as well with an STB)

Also, is there a reason you only recommend heating the naphtha for the final pull, instead of every pull?

SWIM'd also recommend to glue two (even three) syringes together in the fire of the stove, so the NPS won't dry the rubber of the piston so much, making it unusable...





it seems fool but it really suck when the piston simply don't move!

srry but why?

More surface area, so it absorbs more water. The thicker the phase is, the more apt it is to form emulsions.

About the plastic syringe... aren't you concerned about the fact that the nonpolar solvent dries out the rubber at all? That means it's dissolving something, which will end up in your spice, at least in small amounts. Doesn't sound good.

ya i would be more concerend about what its doing to the inside of tht thing

let alone the glue leeching in there somhow



glassssss

dont you see...his plunger will never come in contact with the solvent...he put a syringe on a syringe...as long as its the good plastic..it should be fine

Then why the recommendation of a third syringe, and qualifying that it won't dry the rubber out much?

well the way i see it is if you are very careful about not letting the solvent level up to the rubber stopper..it shouldnt matter

OMG Jorkest, you're admitting that you've been smoking plastic-tainted spice all the way along, hahahahaha

It will take days of immersion for the rubber washer in a medical syringe to de-plasticize under a non-polar solvent such as Petroleum Ether or White-gas. Medical rubber is not as easily dissolved by "rubber solvent" (which is mainly petroleum ether, luckily enough for us) as other rubbers are (they are mainly silicone with butyl rubber).

Additionally, it won't precipitate out of the naphtha if a freeze precipitation is completed.

Don't let it touch the rubber, and you have nothing to worry about (draw in about 1cc of air before collecting the naptha). I've been doing it this way for as long as I've had to work with A/B extractions.

Additionally, the rubber is non-toxic, so in the worst case scenario, you're not really harming yourself that much, even after combustion.

Has anyone else tried using a nasal aspirator? Seriously, it works wonders. Never had one melt even the slightest bit. I have a giant one I use for all my solvent extraction needs.

hahaha Infundibulum SWIM never used a syringe for getting solvent up..he has a little jar thing..that is about 3 inches long and about 3/4 inch thick that he dips below the solvents surface which fills up and he pulls it out..yes it gets some lye juice on it..but a paper towel wipes it off good enough..and he can always get the last little bit of solvent up this way..

the only plastic SWIM uses is HDPE number 2 plastic for is extraction jug

SWIM was looking through his medicine cabinet and found some little squirting thing that is made of PETE number 1...what is PETE? and is it safe with solvents?

OK so SWIM will be using powdered bark. If he is adding more water, does this mean he will need to increase the amount of NaOH that he puts in too, to keep the pH up?

Gluing syringes avoids the rubber of the piston to get in contact with the vapour of the solvent, what will dry the rubber, not melt.

About PETE, it's not good, it's the same plastic of the soda bottles, it can't take too much heat... just put it on hot water and see.. it's beautiful

I used powdered bark and followed the amount of water to the letter. It wasn't slushy at all, very liquid. At first you have to kinda "pop" the balls of powder that form like when you're making hot chocolate only larger. Just mix it up well and it should be fine.

Noman, are you gonna write a new updated tek for us?

pull 99% isopropyl alc through the syringe eash time to stop them sticking.

Swim also uses 99% isoprop for washing his jars instead of scraping them.

I do likewise. At the most I have increased the H2O content of, say, for example, a 100g/100g/1500mL (MHRB/Lye/H2O) extraction by 200mL, making it approximately 100/100/1700. It has always come out pretty much liquidy, with maybe a little bit of sludge at the bottom. As long as you make sure that all of the little powder clumps are broken up (which can easily be done by shaking or stirring; I prefer to stir), then you won't have any issues at all.

Are you referring to each time that you pull an individual syringe-full, or each time that you commence a new extraction process?

I used to wipe the edge of the rubber stopper down with a paper towel sprayed w/ pam cooking spray to get things moving. Then I found a huge 2-cycle motor-oil mixing syringe at wal-mart for around $3. It works great, and the best thing is it doesn't have a rubber plunger; it's all plastic.