SWIM has never found any exact information on this one, yet generally seems to get reasonable yields ect...

Question - When measuring PH levels, when should this reading be taken? For example, in BASIFYING, we look for a PH of between 12-13...Is this reading to be taken from the BASE mixture (lye and distilled water mixed together) giving a reading of 12-13, or should the BASE be mixed with our extraction to give said PH level...SWIM finds that by mixing X-amount of lye with X-amount of water, as directed in most teks, he only achieves a PH of around 9 to 9.5, yet when this is combined with his extraction it does reach around 12-13...For the record is this correct or should the PH of the BASE solution actually be 12-13 BEFORE combining with his extracted liquid....What would be the effects of having too high a PH both on the spice and its effects on its user? THANKS

depends on which base is being used
but it should definitely be higher than the sol'n containing the alkaloids.


nothing.

but with really high pH comes a lot of other plant junk, some of which is likely inactive.

Thanks Benzyme....Basically using sodium hydroxide for base...When combined with distilled water at ratios used in other teks, SWIM is getting a PH reading of about 9.5.....when this base solution is mixed with the solution extracted from the root bark, and a reading is taken, it reads about 12 to 12.5 PH??? I can only assume that if one added more lye, and bought the PH up higher, this would send the overall PH of the combined solutions up to around 14 or 15? Is this too high or should i leave the overall PH of the combined solutions as is? THANKS

you either have a dodgy pH meter or you're not taking the effect of temperature into account. higher temperatures will give a lower pH reading than lower temperatures. And the premixed water;lye solution does get pretty hot, doesn't it?

[quote]you either have a dodgy pH meter or you're not taking the effect of temperature into account. higher temperatures will give a lower pH reading than lower temperatures. And the premixed water;lye solution does get pretty hot, doesn't it?
/quote]

SWIM has tested and retested his meter and it seems fairly accurate. He has also taken into account the heat created in mixing lye solution, and generally lets this sit in a cool water bath to help reduce this temp. He also waits until the temp has been reduced to below 45 degrees celcius so it's not hot enough to burn the spice...He still finds this change in PH???

forget pH measuring for this imo.. just add plenty of base and extract.. SWIM never found more 'gunk' to come at higher pH, instead it just helps preventing emulsions, it doesnt hurt the dmt and even if there is a little bit of yellow in the final product for some reason, just recrystalize the final product, its easy and effective and will clean it up nicely to yield you pure white dmt

If you add the base in portions and stir you will see phases where crap will precipitate out and then upon addition of further base it will redissolve in the solution making np extraction a hell of a lot easier and filtering unnecessary. Swim did an experiment overbasing to the extreme and recovered the same amount he did with less base. As long as swiy does a sodium carbonate wash all is good with the world.