I bought myself a ph meter for my first A/B extraction. I used lye to basify distilled water to 12.5 and added that to my washed/filtered vinegar containing MH root. I appear to have hit a wall though. I added ~ 1 ounce base to my jar and tested the ph, it only went up to 3.5. I continued to add the base but my ph only got up 4 and i'm running out of room in my jar. Any ideas what I screwed up?

*edit* sorry I didn't read the rules before I posted this. I haven't forum'd in a while and I have forgotten my manners apparently. Should probably have put this in the general help thread. Also I was using this tek (http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/dmt/extraction_guide1/dmt_extraction_guide1.shtml) except after reading the two A/B teks on the nexus I am basifying before I add my warm naptha.

Also, because i'm running out of room in my jar, will adding straight lye to get my ph to 10 or so hurt my solution? I have read somewhere that doing so can and probably will create ph spikes that can destroy my spice.

I used the same tek and found that it wasn't all that efficient.

How much of what percentage HCl did you add? What is the current volume of the solution. My guess would be that the ph is significantly higher than the indicator says due to the fact that ph is based on the concentration of acids and bases. Also testing through naptha ridiculously messes up my ph indicator.

I dont believe you would ruin your spice unless you added a lot at once, just add slowly stir until dissolved and add more and you should be fine.

I am using lye (sodium hydroxide) not HCl. I added straight lye crystals to the solution and ended up w/ a ph of 9.9 and decided to just go with it and see what I get. I'm letting the bubbles settle then I'll be adding my naptha later tonight.

I currently have another jar of MH w/ acetic acid and will be trying again. I'm going to alter small things each time and see what I can do to maximize yields. I bought a fairly large amount of MH root so I have a good amount of room for trial and error.

Thanks for the response shishigami.

*edit* OOPS, sorry I'm using white vinegar and not HCl . . . sorry, its been a long night.

Unless you used a ton of acid or have a very large total volume your ph is most likely higher than 9.9.

I'm pretty sure high pH doesn't hurt as you can never add to much lye xD

First thing I would do is make sure the meter is working correctly. Those things are finicky. Mine only lasted a few months before it started giving wild readings.

Thats a bad idea, yes it will create localized spikes and destroy your spice. Always add lye crystals to water, slowly because its a very exothermic reaction and you don't want it boiling in your face. Add your NaOH SOLUTION to your acidic extract. Add enough with stirring so that the solution is black and there is zero emulsions, then check the pH.

mumbles: With localized spikes you mean that the NaOH won't be equally distributed throughout the solution therefore different pH reading in different "areas" may occur ?

About destroying spike. Is that due to exothermic nature of the reaction (NaOh+H20) or something else ?