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Discussion => Off topic => Topic started by: redalloverthelandguyhere on June 07, 2012, 01:58 am

Title: Dangerous incident with the honey bee extractor
Post by: redalloverthelandguyhere on June 07, 2012, 01:58 am
The 'honey bee extractor' is a small plastic tube with a screw on lid. Its made of plastic which will not dissolve with butane and other solvents.

The idea is you fill up this device with dried bud or bud leaf (shake). You put a Pyrex dish into a pan filled with boiling water.. You pour around 400ml to 600ml of butane through the device via a small hole at the top. You use a coffee filter at the bottom of the tube to stop leaf getting through  then tighten it VERY tightly otherwise THC laden ice cold gas will leak.

You ought to use gloves but if the honey bee works correct there are no leaks.

I watched as a buddy ground up his bud in a grinder. He poured maybe one oz of finely bone dry bud and bud leaf. Somehow the pressure off 3 200ml cans of butane created so much pressure the butane can blew out like a bullet. We are very safety conscious and wear safety goggles and point the honey bee away from us!

May send the device back. Think the thread has gone bad, Also concerned at the blow-back. There was enough gas in there to do serious damage if someone had got that can in the face.

Be careful out there.

PS The honey bee extractor has been safe for us. This was a one off. Maybe the very fine dust used was to blame. We did reuse the filter also.

The price of butane makes us think if we can reclaim the butane we evaporate. At £1 per 200ml can you can spend a lot per year and look suspicious as you put 25 cans in the basket.  ;D

Purged for a week that oil is as pure as any other method. If we re-filter through charcoal its insane stuff.

If you make butane extracted resin then always do it outdoors. Always use a got water bath method were your Pyrex dish for collecting sits ina dish or oan with boiloing water added to it until the oil stops bubbling. Do NOT burn off the excess gas with a lighter. It can be dangerous if burning oil lands in your eye. Also it degrades the oil.

Heat a pan of water up and purge the gas out once all traces of gas are no longer visible. Use something to stir that oil!

Leave in a 77 degree heat for a week to store and stir each day as much as you can. Cover with cling film or lid to stop dust contamination or a fly in the oil! Keep in a darkish place.

Buy a grinder as you will create a dust so fine in one minute that you cannot create with hours of messing by hand!

Also use new filters on each run.

Wear gloves, wear eye safety goggles. Do NOT wear clothing that can give off static electricity!

Best done on a windy day if possible.

Love to create a device that could do a butane extraction of bud.

Also love to turn that oil into that clear tasteless THC. Got the book Cannabis /alchemy that has instructions. Need a degree in science to understand it all.  ;D

So if you have a honey bee watch out.

Maybe too fine a dust makes the butane actually just pressurize the plastic tube. I feared that the end screw on cap may have come flying off which would mean real bad things. gas with oil flying everywhere. Clothes would be ruined. Eyes not protected would need treatment at the hospital.

Done safely its very safe. Be careful out there. This is not something to be taken casually.
Title: Re: Dangerous incident with the honey bee extractor
Post by: souledout on June 07, 2012, 09:37 am
I love my honey bee, but sometimes it scares me too !   I think im getting some of those safety glasses
Title: Re: Dangerous incident with the honey bee extractor
Post by: cache on June 13, 2012, 09:29 am
Sounds like your bud was ground too fine.

I made my own version using compression plumbing fittings and the valve from a clipper as a non-return at the top. I found that chopping the weed in a blender rather than grinding it gave the best result, if you grind it right down into a powder it will just block the filter and cause the effect you saw. As the butane heats up it expands massively and will pop the threads, one of the reasons why I made mine out of metal.
Title: Re: Dangerous incident with the honey bee extractor
Post by: Mrfungi on June 13, 2012, 05:55 pm
Throw that piece of shit away before you hurt yourself. Otherwise, at least get some good tight fitting goggles, safety glasses won't help much when you are blasted in the face with liquid butane.

Go to your local hardware store. Buy an ABS plastic schedule 40 or 80 pipe nipple. They come in many diameter/length combinations, pick the size you like. They have deep and long threads on both ends. Buy two ABS end caps to fit. ABS is the dark grey stuff. Drill a few 3/32"  holes in one end cap, this is your bottom. Drill one hole of the same size in the other. This is where the butane goes in.

It will cost you all of $6. You will not ever even come close to blowing this apart with the measly ~120psi that butane can produce at normal temps. You actually should never get close to 120psi, as the extractor gets chilled pretty good  as some of the butane evaporates and expands into gas while in use. You can take my word on this. I'm certified in pressure vessel fabrication and repair, have been for 15 years.

Don't use a coffee filter! Grab ANYTHING else. A wad of polyfill from an old pillow or stuffed animal, a wad of cotton, even a wad of cheap paper towel is much better than a coffee filter. You're not going to blow the ABS assembly apart no matter what you do, but when that coffee filter gets clogged it's gonna be a pain, you'll have to just put it down for a few hours while the butane evaps out the top hole, or risk losing all of your oil.

It's quite obvious to me, looking at pics of this "honey bee extractor" that it is unsafe, cheaply made, and way overpriced for something that is going to blow your weed and oil all over your yard, not to mention your face. The threads are fine, and there are only 1/2" or so of them. You would be far better off making one from a 20oz coke bottle. (rated to 150psi, BTW)