Kava Preparation Homemade Instant Kava - Construction
- Thread starter The Kap'n
- Start date
krunkedout
Kava Lover
Aw man that's some bad luck /domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/frown.gif
kl.new2kava
Kava Enthusiast
I really hope that 60 day return policy hasn't been compromised by using non manufacturer recommended heat transfer fluids. I'm not sure how they will look upon that, hopefully they will take it no questions asked. Ebay is pretty serious about customer satisfaction so I hope it works out. If it's the refrigerant that sounds like an issue with the machine itself and only the pumping mechanism would be effected by the heat transfer fluid. Did you tell the guy you used glycol in it?
Luckily the glycol didn't hurt this system. It's the actual refrigeration with the issue. In fact pretty much the only way you could damage the refrigeration portion of the machine in that way would be to fill the entire well with water and freeze it so hard it tore through the stainless steel container and into the insulated refrigeration lines wrapping it.
You can hear the compressor trying to pump the freon through the expansion valve, but this little engine just...can't. I would easily bring it in the office to fix it if we could, but this thing uses an ancient and coincidentally outlawed refrigerant gas (R403b) for which there is no great replacement. At this point I'm praying that this guy just says scrap it. It wouldn't be worth his time to have fixed actually.
You can hear the compressor trying to pump the freon through the expansion valve, but this little engine just...can't. I would easily bring it in the office to fix it if we could, but this thing uses an ancient and coincidentally outlawed refrigerant gas (R403b) for which there is no great replacement. At this point I'm praying that this guy just says scrap it. It wouldn't be worth his time to have fixed actually.
They're having me send back the jar only. Thank the lard! Looks like I'm back to the drawing board. I wish I had a spare 15 grand laying around. Maybe one day. Until then it's back to the plate. It seems everyone likes it. I could re-invest the money into a vacuum oven and use lower temps than I have been. We'll see. I think more research is necessary in this case.
kl.new2kava
Kava Enthusiast
You should consider getting a supercritical CO2 extractor if you have enough money. It may be able to DIY with the right materials. That would really be the way to go. You could make extracts of various types of root instead of the usual mystery meat extract that vendors usually have. I'd love to have an stone extract for sure. They have the equipment on ebay as well and they don't ask any questions there as the manufacturers tend to, but making kava extracts is perfectly legal. All in all it would likely be comparable in cost to the system your working on but without needing to press the roots first and way quicker.
krunkedout
Kava Lover
Huzzah! Maybe one day when your making profit from this you can invest is a freeze drying system or something of the like
krunkedout
Kava Lover
Any update on how it's going, Kapm?
Yep things are moving forward. I've decided to go with stainless grinding media since the ceramic was too porous and caused the kava to cake up and turn more into kava concrete. I'll have my vacuum oven on Tuesday and will be tweaking that. I'm going that direction because a batch or 12 oz takes a total o 4 hours to dry. So I'm trying to ramp up (or down actually) drying times to a more acceptable level.
Ok, got the vacuum oven in. Needs a meticulous cleaning which I've started. I'm assuming that most vacuum ovens are used in the forming of silicone in one way or another. It's also looking like the cold vapor trap is still going to be a necessity, so I'm on the hunt again. I've got quite the science experiment going on at my house now.
Edit: turns out there actually exists a vacuum pump that doesn't bat an eye at water vapor. Called a water jet aspirator vacuum. Never knew it existed until now. This will completely eliminate the need for a cold vapor trap. It's on the way!
Edit: turns out there actually exists a vacuum pump that doesn't bat an eye at water vapor. Called a water jet aspirator vacuum. Never knew it existed until now. This will completely eliminate the need for a cold vapor trap. It's on the way!
Well. Tried filtering pre-made kava through a Büchner flask. Ha. Haha. I think the cops may be knocking on my door soon because apparently glass can be explosive in the opposite direction. Those vacuum flasks are great for everything but a vacuum. I put the kava in the top and everything was filtering through just so nicely until all of a sudden it sounded if my garage were violently ripped from my house. I just stood there laughing. Back to the drawing board for a minute.
krunkedout
Kava Lover
oh man! Be cAreful! We need someone to make instants of our favorite kavas!Kapmcrunk said:
Some interesting developments. A local guy came into our shop and I overheard him talking about purchasing an industrial freeze drying system. This guy of those people who is seriously crazy about the end of the world happening tomorrow. He wants to go in on one. Thing is, they're $15,000. I have some family members who are also of the "prepper" type. We'll see how this works out. I haven't given up on this yet.
kl.TylerKTB
Kava Curious
Freeze drier would be optimal. I usually use a large vacuum desiccator for drying, or a vacuum oven if the solvent isn't flammable.
Edit: Oh wow Tyler, how helpful of me to suggest what is already being done 5 posts above lol sorry.
Edit: Oh wow Tyler, how helpful of me to suggest what is already being done 5 posts above lol sorry.