Sorry if this has been posted before, but SWIM has produced a grey sludge using QT's method. Have no clue what went wrong, but from what i have seen from another friend, this isnt right.

http://www.erowid.org/ch..._extraction_guide1.shtml



i skipped step 6 since it said it was not necessary when using mhrb.

wow, sorry about the massive pic. forgot to rezsize

you can still resize and edit your first post.

please explain what is going on when asking questions, its hard for us to help you if you dont give us more information. What step are you in there?

Did you already mix the lye with the bark? What color did the bark solution get when adding the bark? Then you added the solvent ? And shook it? If so, what you have is big ass emulsion. Add plenty more lye, the mimosa mix has to get black black. Dont shake next time.

Are you sure your chemicals are good? Is your lye 100% lye? Did you check if your solvent is good and contains nothing else than what is wanted?

Also check the FAQ, it might help

Sorry. this picture is after SWIM added the lye/water solution to the bark.

SWIM got the (bark water) by mixing a acid/water (half a teaspoon with 500ml distilled water) solution with the bark(~30g) and heated it, then let it sit overnight. next morning SWIM strained it with coffee filters and then thats when SWIM added the water/lye.

the tek said to mix warm naptha(~100ml) with the (bark water) before adding the lye(started with teaspoon of lye and 10,l water.pH was not right so an unknown amount of water was adde). SWIM messed up and didn't added the lye to the bark. it turned milky grey with a tint of green. SWIM then realized SWIM didnt add naptha and added it. next shook the jar like it said to for ~20 min, and this is the outcome.

it was 100 lye and sunnyside brand naptha.

You need to add lye until your solution turns jet black. Then try pulling with naptha again.

thanks, will try it asap

im sure it worked now..... swirled the jar for a good 5 min, now letting it settle. but its not the brown emulsion that the tek showed like this

Let the emulsion separate and collect your naptha and you should be good to freeze-precip or evap your xtals. I have never had a three part emulsion as depicted by the tek (erowid tends to carry out of date info with regards to extractions, imo) so I wouldn't worry about it. Your jar looks normal, happy extracting

peace,
SB

ps - your picture size was annoying me, so I made it more reasonable.

lol, sorry. i thought i resized it last night. i remembered to resize the newer one.


thanks for all the help.

Agreed with all that snozz said.

Regarding separating emulsion, check the FAQ as it has some tips about it

by the way, if you didnt throw your strained bark pieces away, do at least another 2 acid simmers on it. 1 is never enough, you can be leaving behind a huge amount of alkaloids if you just did one acidic simmer/soak on the bark. If you did throw it away, next time remember to do 3 or 4x.... Your first step will limit all the other steps in front, so better be thorough about it

SWIM didnt throw it away. he just wanted to try his first with a small batch before using more. for the 2nd time, instead of him doing the acid simmer(he was told by some one, and read other teks that never really called for the acid wash/simmer) he decided to skip it and just mix the bark with the lye water.

It turned the black color he was looking for. he then rolled it to mix it up, and let it sit for 10-25 min. then almost topped it off with naptha (leaving about half a inch of headspace, just before the rim). he then rolled it again mixing the naptha for a good 15-20 min and let it sit in a bath. it is separating fine, but there is some bark mixture stuck on the side of the jar, in the naptha layer. it has been a few hours, he is going to check it in the morning to give it a good amount of time.

picture.... the stuff in the naptha layer towards the top is on the glass, and not floating.


left it big to show the stuff on the side, but resized it to not mess the page up. sorry if its too big.



He also evaporated the tiny bit from the first pull, but after evaporating, it was a thick amber color and was goo. all he did was siphon some naptha off the top and evaporate it. cant take a picture, because the dish is a amber color, lol. he just got the chance to get on the comp, so he has yet to check the FAQ. im going to tell him to do it now.

If some bark goo is being that stubborn, it probably won't come off when you separate it out. I usually see the same thing. That sh!t is REALLY sticky.

Unless you're reducing a large amount of liquid, straining, or defatting, don't worry about the acid simmer. Just find a newer STB tek.

BTW, I've seen amber colored goo so sticky, it wouldn't even run down the pan when held nearly vertical. This was a final pull with xylene, but you could still try a few steps to clean it up.

- Add a little heptane (Bestine) at a time onto the goo and try to mix it around. Only part of it should dissolve, leaving a sticky brown residue.

- Evap the heptane in a clean dish (or freeze, but that will leave a little DMT in the solvent) and repeat as necessary.

- After 2 washes the immeasurable amount of goo became ~100mg of nearly white crystal.

Then again, you could always smear it on some herb and take your chances... Just make sure all the naphtha is evapped.

GL

The 2nd pull, the naptha is clear..... isn't it supposed to be cloudy/yellow. SWIM is just doing a small batch so that may be it, but he just thought he would ask.

SWIM does not think it turned out right

it looks so nasty. really waxy

Did you check if your solvent evaps clean, try to find an MSDS? Read the links here. Also check this thread about spice color and purity.

Maybe a recrystallization is a good idea. For that, check the FAQ.

Good luck

yeah, SWIM evaporated about 200-300 ml of it and it was clean.

*reading those threads you posted now*

*edit

TBH, SWIM does not know what it means.

http://ilrc.ucf.edu/samp...detail.php?sample_id=151

He does not know whats supposed to be in it and not

oh, and it does not smell like solvents or anything, just like a sweet dmt smell.

Solvent results does look good... dearomatized aliphatic hydrocarbons, hexane octane and nonane (the name is related to how many carbons it has). They will pull your dmt and not much else, and are volatile so wont be left in your final product considering you let it dry well, so its what you want.

I think that red can just be a bit of probably harmless plant impurities, and recrystallizing should clean it up nicely.

SWIM cant begin to tell you how much you have helped him and how thankful he is.