RxCE Equipment List
All the items below can be acquired from various sources at reasonable prices. Much of what you see can be sourced at Dollar stores, Goodwill stores, charity stores, big chain retailers like Walmart, Target, and online.
List of Equipment and Items needed to make oil
This process is free, open to all. There is nothing proprietary requiring special purchases. Every product used is a consumer product available in stores or online; feel free to use your own equipment. With that said, most product links presented below are Amazon Affiliate links. You are not obligated to use these links, but we are grateful if you did as it helps fund future research.
This list shows the most common items used to make oil. The links are intended on giving you a visual picture of the item. Most of these items can be purchased locally at lower prices. A lot of the equipment used over the course of development was acquired at the local Goodwill and dollar stores.
Common Items needed for Setup:
Distilled Water, up to a liter/quart.
1L/1qt or 2L/2qt Mason jars and screen lids. 1 gallon and larger may be too heavy to handle.
Metal or Glass Funnel for holding the filters.
Digital Temperature Gauge for use throughout the process. A MUST HAVE..
Items needed for Washing and Filtering:
Cleaning the Wash by Removing Plant and Particulates.
Mason Jar Screen Lids for 1st pass straining.
The screen will hold back the plant material while draining the jar.
Linen-like paper napkins for 2nd pass 45u filtering.
This paper catches Trichome shells and larger particulate. It is equivalent in filtering
with a synthetic fryer oil filter. It's paper vs synthetic plastics, you choose..
1.5 or 3 gallon coffee filter for 3rd pass 20u final filtering.
Upgrade from No.6 coffee filters, these have large surface area for fast filtering.
Dumping waste water while saving the sediments:
300 and higher MESH stainless steel screens filters down to approximately 40u.
This 500 MESH screen filters down to approximately 20u.
Use these MESH screens to catch sediments when pouring out the cold waste water.
Wax catching filters for Rapid Winterization.
N04 or N06 Unbleached coffee filters.
These small filters are used to collect waxes from Rapid Winterization.
Your choice in Solvents, when local laws permit.
Ethanol - Food Grade ...................................................At a liqueur store near you!
Isopropyl - USP-NF 99% Isopropyl Alcohol ..................[1 Gallon ] [4 Gallons ]
USP-NF grade 91% works very well .........................Out of Stock
WARNING: Say away from products that advertise 99.5% Isopropyl. There is
something very questionable about this product. Best to stay away.
Acetone - ACS Reagent/USP/Food Grade ..................[1 Gallon]
Ethyl Acetate - ACS/USP/NF Grade .............................[1 gallon]
Items needed for Distilling:
WARNING: Sparks and open flame are dangerous around distilling. Always use electric heat sources for distilling in well ventilated spaces. For heat sources, choose one:
Electric Skillet or Electric Griddle. Here is a test video showing a 5 degree swing using a skillet.
Fondue Makers Cuisinart or Rival.
For alcohol recovery, it is recommended to use either a table top Moonshine Still or Water distiller.
The Moonshine Still needs a 3w Aquarium Pump for driving the still’s condenser, plus silicone tubing to hook it up. Typically these small stills use 1/2 Silicone Tubing and 3/8 Silicon Tubing for all the connections. Use a 5 gallon bucket to hold water for the condenser. Fill the bucket with water matching the capacity of the still.
This water distiller has a programmable end temperature needed for an optimal alcohol recovery.
Items needed for Winterizing:
Household freezer to reach -20c/0f
Use a stainless steel bowl instead of a glass jar to freeze the solution. Metal cools faster than glass.
Items needed for Final Reducing:
Same electric heat source.
For large reductions, use a flat bottom quart pot.
For small reductions, use a broad flat bottom stainless steel bowl.
It's crucial to have a perfectly flat bottom bowls for even heat distribution. Use bowls like these to place in the freezer as well as the skillet for the final reduction.
Tips and Tools
Tip: Water distillers work, but lose a substantial amount of alcohol due to too much heat. Alcohol boil 30 degrees lower than water, the condenser is not setup correctly. An entry level Moonshine Still is the real engineered solution that works. Use a Still for alcohol recovery and, if legal, raising the proof of the alcohol.
Obtaining 190proof/95% Ethanol for Extraction and Final Reduction.
Its best to use 190Proof / 95% ethanol for washing the plant and in the final reduction. Lower proof alcohols contain water that interferes with dissolving oils. If 190proof / 95% ethanol is not available in your state, here's something to investigate. In every state, you may own a still. Depending on your state, using a still to concentrate alcohol may be permitted by law. Here is the most important point. You will not be generating new alcohol like a moonshiner. You will effectively be removing the water. You can boil out and recover alcohol from old expired soured wines, etc.
More useful is buying 80proof / 40% vodka and concentrating it to 190proof/95% in a single pass. The trick is to stop distilling once the temperature hits 85c/185f. Watch the temperature gauge closely. Once the temp hits 85c/185f, swap capture jars. The first jar will contain 95% ethanol, the second about 70% as it collects more water. Save that second jar for future distillations.
Do your homework. Find out if this is legal in your area before proceeding.
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