SWIM posted this tek on another forum and asked me to share it wherever I chose. I am uploading the PDF here first, and you can review it. If you'd like I can post the tek and pics here later, so it can be viewed in the thread, as well as in pdf format.

Salutations,

Great PDF file!

This cleared up some confusion about the carbonate wash that SWIM was pondering over the weekend.

Question - are those old plastic milk containers that SWIY is using as their mixing vessel? SWIM assumes the solvent did not react with the container?

SWIM looks forward to the re-crystallisation update - thanks!

Methtical

That is correct, they are common milk and water jugs, and they are HDPE 2. They do not react with the solvent, however leaving basic mhrb water in them for extended periods is not recommended, as some have reported leaks after letting them sit for long periods. SWIM hasn't had this happen, but it's not a bad idea to dispose of the sludge/juice after extraction is completed, just to be safe. SWIM has used the same jugs to hold used solvent for months on end with no weakening of the jug, though.

Ok thanks,

An additional question, SWIY states in the procedure that the 2nd, 3rd & 4th pulls were done almost immediately after the solvent had been seperated from the last pull, yet most teks seem to leave the solvent in the MHRB/Lye mix at least 24 hours before the 2nd pull, and perhaps up to 1 week prior to the 3rd pull IIRC - does SWIY notice any difference in the duration of time left for the solvent to mix with the MHRB/Lye mixture, or is it perhaps because of the water bath that the take up of DMT by the solvent seems so effective (as evidenced by SWIYs yield at the end)??

Methtical

Very detailed tek but I have some questions : 17 g from 454 MHRB ????!! Wow, unless I missed a number, that would mean a 3.7% yield ?
If that's true I have to ask a link on a vendor

What is the use of the epsom salts ? Trace of water is not really annoying with a freeze precip.
Even the sodium carbonate wash does not seem to make *that* white crystals, at least not more clean than what SWIM would obtain without the wash. Good way to remove lye however.

Notice in the tek, each jug contained 1 lb of lye and 1 lb of MHRB, and there were two jugs. So the yield is from two lbs of bark, not one. That gives a 1.89% yield. The purpose of the sodium carbonate wash is to pull out polar impurities, which would include trace amounts of lye, making it smoke much smoother, and it also does remove some color. Notice in the tek the color of the first wash water, compared to the last. The point of drying the solvent, is because the water could hold trace amounts of lye, as well as form ice crystals, impeding proper crystallization of the DMT when freeze precipitating. Not sure of the tek you use, but in larger extractions, the crystals often come out more yellow, even with freeze precipitation than the exact same method, using smaller amounts of bark. SWIM would often get slightly cleaner crystals from an a/b, but as stated, on larger extractions, there is almost always a bit of yellow, and that is the point of recrystallization, to remove the yellow and impurities that are not removed with a polar wash.

And to answer Methical, no, SWIM hasn't noticed any increase in yield from pulls left to sit overnight or even a few days. The DMT that the naphtha will hold can increase with heat, but SWIM has never noticed an increase by waiting an extra long time, and he has experimented with this a bunch. As soon as the naphtha separates from the MHRB/lye/water solution, it is ready to be removed, however heat increases the solubility of the DMT in naphtha. Heat also makes any/every chemical reaction happen faster.

Sounds like a great tek that perplexed may consider doing(instead of an A/B) since it is very simple and straight forward and seems to be a lot less messy than playing chef in an acid bath.

YES thank you this was VERY helpful esp. about the carbonate wash. AND it gave me some idea of how to get ahold of some carbonate. How is the re-xstil doing? pictures soon to come? that looks pretty yellow for doing the polar wash. maybe it woulda got more out if you concentrated the naptha a bit more and then

More logical but still a very good yield !
SWIM uses a STB but he prefer siphoning the naphta. If done properly, there is no possibility of lye residue.
A carbonate wash does not hurt tough and SWIM will probably try it one time. It might be usefull on a last limonene extraction.
He is still having a doubt about the interrest of the epsom step. It is very easy to see layers, so SWIM prefer to leave a bit of naphta remaining rather than pulling water/lye in the freezing naphta jar. A single drop of water is very visible in the naphta.

Wow, that is the best tek I have seen so far, the pictures combined with the handy Gatorade funnel make it very understandable. Good job.

I have a couple of questions. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a freezer, gutted me. So how would this work with pouring the solvent onto a baking dish and doing a traditional evap? And what would you say about smoking the crystals without doing a recrystallisation, again because of freezer issues?

And some theory, do you know any, have any, or can link to any data about the solubility of DMT in different temperature naptha? I know you reuse your naptha so it doesn't matter as much, but how much DMT do you reckon is dissolved in the solvent that is poured off after the freezer? What sort of yield would you get from solvent evapped to the brink of saturation, and then stored in the fridge (2-3 degrees C)?

Well, the naphtha can actually hold a very tiny amount of water, so the epsom salt dry dries the solvent of any water that you can't see. It is a very minute amount, but naphtha can hold a tiny bit of water, at least from what marsofold used to say and from things I've read. The epsom salt dry is commonly used to dry solvents in chemistry.

Evaporation works okay, but the spice may come out a bit more yellow/orange, and have more impurities. It's still okay to smoke, but it's not as pure. Some people prefer one or the other, so depending on your preferences, recrystallization may not be necessary. I forget the exact solubility of DMT in naphtha at different temperatures, but I know that it holds more when hot. I am pretty sure, as long as the freezer gets cold enough, there is probably very little, if any, DMT left in the solvent, after freezing. Evapping the solvent to the saturation point isn't a bad idea, and is good when using excess naphtha (to make it easier to separate in small extractions) is used. There might be a very small amount of DMt actually left in the solvent, but SWIM is pretty sure it's negligible.

I wish I could say SWIM was working on it or yes, soon, but he actually has a lot of work and projects that have been keeping him very busy. With kids starting back to school, and all the work he has to get done to keep the family fed, he just hasn't got around to playing with the spice more. As soon as he can get around to it, he'll get it done. It's, honestly, very simple to do, but I'll just wait to explain how SWIM does it, when he can get the pics, too.

Ok cool, as long as I don't get an oily gunk from standard evap, that may be the way I have to go. I may just be naive here, but if you are doing a standard evap, will any water evap with it, removing the need for an epsom salt wash? Or will it be affected by the ionising? If the former is the case, will the dampness of the air around make a difference to the speed of your evap?

Thanks again. Looking forward to the recrystallisation tek.

After seeing this posted earlier SWIM actually decided to try the procedure as STB with a wash, and everything is looking great right now, however one thing SWIM noticed was that the naphtha pulls were much darker than with other STB teks SWIM has used. SWIM is sure this is a result of heating during the solvent seperation and the solvent pulling across plant fats, but SWIM didn't think this was much of an issue with M.H. powdered bark. The solvent (V&MP) pulled out a dark yellow, is this a normal occurrence for this tek?

Normally SWIM would do an A/B, but time favored a STB and this tek is very well illustrated. REP POINTS... oh wait wrong forum style!

I just want to say this is a great pdf tek that makes it much clearer and answerss alot of questions...SWIM just wants to confirm one thing...while the milk jugs are hdpe2 the gatorade bottle used as a funnel is not...SWIM went to the store to get some and it says on bottom pete1...SWIM just want to confirm this wont get damaged by the basified solution and solvent...Thanks in advance

pretty sure that pete1 will be fine BUT it doesnt do so well in too much heat

Great file.
Thumbs up!

best tek on the net hands down.

Very well written tek. I was curious if doing a acidification step with vinegar would increase the yields. Also would it be possible to use lime instead of lye?

Thats a pretty bold statement. I guess, what ever works for you.

best tek on the net hands down?

How many different extractions have you done?

I love the write up and the pics in the pdf format, thats great.

IMO, getting the same results and not having to use any petroleum products or drain cleaner, (lye), is much better.

well, you cannot beat its simplicity.

it doesnt get much easier then this.

but if there are better ways im confused as to why i havent heard of them yet