I decided to share how I steam distill Cannabis trim to get terpenes that don’t have PG or VG to use in making Vape Carts after talking with @PreyBird1. I’m just ordered a new setup to upgrade from a 1000ml distiller to a 2000ml distiller do to breakage and to attempt to get larger returns. If you don’t want to dilute your carts with terpenes and just use the rosin alone, a good way to thin the cart is to heat the cart up with a hair dryer or heat gun, but those methods will degrade the cart and will not taste the same after a short time.
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Boiling points for Cannabis Terpenes. I usually set the temperature to 113 to 115 celcius to get all the terpenes extracted. I use this chart if I am targeting a specific terpene for a specific use.
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Here are the items I use to extract the terpenes.
Essential Oil Distillation Apparatus Lab
Heater mantle with magnetic stirrer. (Currently waiting to order). This eliminates using a pan and veg oil to maintain constant even temperature and easier to clean.
Vac grease to seal the joint connections.
For cooling I use a portable Coleman Cooler with frozen water jugs and Blue Ice packets and an 8 ft water fountain water pump.
Here is a video of the distiller and how it works.
- Fill boiler flask with distilled water or R/O water for best results.
- Fill water/oil separator with distilled water or R/O water until overflow, make sure you have something to catch the overflow during the distillation process.
- Fill the material flask with cannabis trim and sticks, make sure not to pack the material to tight or the steam will not be able to extract the terpenes.
4.Select the temperature for the range of terpenes you want to collect. Once the temperature is steady set a timer for 30 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on the temperature and make sure you don’t let the boiling flask run dry. - If after 30 minutes if you don’t see the terpenes still dripping into the oil/water separator turn the heater off and let it cool off and reset the material flask.
6.Repeat the process until you have the amount of terpenes desired.
Note: I usually get half to 1ml per cycle.
7.Drain collected terpenes into a dark bottle and store in a dry, dark, cool area. Try to keep terpenes away from air and light to prevent loss of flavinoids and prevent oxidation of the terpenes. Oxidation will effect the terpene profile and turn the liquid dark.
Note: Smell the terp juice while bottling it, if it smells grassy don’t use it and check your heat settings.
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Hi @nacho151
Thanks for sharing this advanced home extraction method. I watched a podcast last week, hosted by one of my clients, Cheeba Africa, maybe some good information for people here, I especially found the Q & A at the end. Something I have never been aware of this the creation of Aflatoxins, have always been under the belief that you can remove the mold and bacteria if you use a strong enough solvent, instead the mold creates a more intense aflatoxin.
" Aflatoxins are a family of toxins produced by certain fungi that are found on agricultural crops such as maize (corn), peanuts, cottonseed, and tree nuts. The main fungi that produce aflatoxins are Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, which are abundant in warm and humid regions of the world.03 Jul 2024"
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That video was very interesting! I was surprised when Doug said he adds Distilled Water during his extraction process. When I first started growing, I used a Soxhlet Extractor to make distillates. It worked great, however it would take a minimum of 12 hours to get enough to use and I didn’t have a vacuum pump to help recover the ethanol, which made it cost more than I thought it was worth. I might try it again and use a Source Turbo Extractor and buchner funnel for ethanol recovery.
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Has anyone used Pot by Noids to make extracts?
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Yeah that source turbo is badass. Ive been eyballing it for 2 yrs now. Man so much to learn lol.
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I looked at their website this morning and it said they’re out of stock. Amazon had it listed as unavailable and unsure if they will be available. For what I am thinking to do with it, I could use the Pot by Noids and probably get the same results for 1/2 the price. The Source Turbo Extractor and buchner funnel was priced at $800 for both and the Pot by Noids was priced at $377. I might just go back to using the Soxhlet Extractor and get a buchner funnel vacuum kit to reclaim the ethanol.
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The stuff I use to make carts.
Beaker, syringes, blunt tip needles, and 1g reusable Powerslug cartridges. Purchased from 760glass.com
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Here is an inexpensive way to remove ethanol from your product at home.
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Informational videos.
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Cannabis hydrosol uses.
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I had one for a few years tried it a few times didn’t really like the way the concentrates tasted so I sold it
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I have been reading reviews about them and found out they will not honor the warranty unless it was bought directly from them. For $615 plus shipping I’m thinking I won’t use it enough to justify the cost. If I start doing ethanol extractions again I am going to try out the drip coffee maker and water distiller method to recover the ethanol. From all the research I’ve been doing solvent extraction using ethanol, butane, and propane won’t give you a full spectrum oil or rosin, so terpenes have to be added to get the entourage effect and get the flavor back.
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I have a press and a BHO setup they both give very good flavor pressed material is a little dirtier as in more fats and lipids if you use the BHO setup it’s very clean and very flavorful smells very nice 
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I did a little experiment today that I didn’t think would work. Now I am wishing I hadn’t tested this cart until I was ready to go to bed. I took .5g of blueberry hash and soaked it in 2ml of blueberry terpenes and heated it at 105c for 20 minutes while stirring. I filled the cart up and let it soak into the coil for around 2 hours. 4 hits off the cart and now I fill like I’m floating. It sort of tastes like Blueberry Haze. Tomorrow I’ll check the cart to see if it separated or turns to sludge.
UPDATE @PreyBird1 it didn’t separate or turn to sludge overnight. It tastes like Blueberry Strain instead of Blueberry Haze this morning. The pain relief was pretty good. I’m thinking I should have used the magnetic stirrer and heated it for 45 minutes to an hour to make it a little stronger. I am thinking that is a waste of material to make it this way, I am just going keep pressing my dry sift for carts.
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Cool nacho im watching.
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Here is an update on temperature of steam distillation of cannabis terpenes after having a conversation with a retired Professor of Chemistry/Biology who’s son is working for an out of state cannabis testing lab. When I told him I was running the temperature at 113 to 115 C he thought I was talking about 113 to 115 f and told me I needed to raise the temperature to 140 degrees and didn’t say Celsius or Fahrenheit. 140 c equals 240 f, which will destroy most of the terpenes. Today he called me and said after he talked to his son about it, his son said the correct temperature to prevent the burnt smell and get a good collection of terpenes is 60 to 65 c or 140 to 145 f. He told me the extraction should smell better and it shouldn’t go bad as fast.
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