Other - Use of paraffin wax to filter.

[Mammon]

O.K. I could put this as part of the CFO thread but that thread is already so epic I thought we could use a separate thread to discuss aspects of the techniques in there, like we did with the filtration.

It’s quite simple really: when paraffin wax is added to the poppy tea, is the temperature of the tea higher than the melting point of the wax? I.E. do you circulate the paraffin wax as a liquid (if so, for how long), then cool to allow it to solidify, or do you add the wax as a liquid and then allow to solidify instantly?

Ideas, guys?

[Potter]

What would this filter out the oils? Nobody avoids letting the oils fall into solution by simply using cold water and a short time for extraction.

Seems interesting if unnecessary though.

[samuraigecko]

Add the wax as liquid while the solution is cool, allow it to solidify in the solution while keeping it agitated at all times. Once solidified the parafin has taken the majority of plant fats and waxes from the solution.

It does not just remove fats but also plant waxes (which there are A LOT of) leaving a more purified solution from which to make tea, laudanum or CFO.

Peace

[Mammon]

O.K. but if hot liquid wax is added to cold poppy tea the wax solidifies in an instant. I admit I have no real idea what’s going on here, but does this really allow enough time to trap all the plant stuff?

Is there a ratio of liquid wax to CPS solution that works best?

Sorry for all the questions but you know I love the technicalities of these processes.

[samuraigecko]

Sorry,
SWIM meant to say "added while warm" then allowing the solution to cool while keeping it agitated.

If one was to perform the CFO tek both with and without the step one would notice a fairly huge difference.

SWIMs bad, he was replying to SO MANY questions at the time . . . lol. With that kind of load anyone is bound to make a mistake.

Peace

Reputation Comments on this post:

Great info, as always.

[Mammon]

No need to apologise, Samurai. You’re the guiding light in the Opium and Poppy Section. I love your posts and I love your methods. You’ve saved SWIM from the horror of gallons of poppy tea – he can never thank you enough.

Anyway, Wiki says the melting point of paraffin wax is 49 degrees C. Therefore we can keep the wax liquid in the CPS solution without destroying the goods. Stir the two liquids together, let the temperature drop beneath 49 C to solidify and trap the plant rubbish. Excellent.

O.K. you know I can never get enough info, so, any ideas on the ratio of paraffin wax to CPS solution?

Take care, mate.

[samuraigecko]

SWIM uses raw parafin candles and uses around half a stick per liter.

Peace

[HeadRx]

Whats that half candle roughly in weight?

[samuraigecko]

No idea, one would have to cut a candle in half and weigh it.

Peace

[HeadRx]

LOL, well, guess what SWIM was getting at is he's a little confused on the ratio of paraffin to poppy solution. The paraffin is heated until it just forms as a liquid (this due to heat issues ? Dont want to dissolve the goods?) and then agitated until it solidifies and then the leftover liquid is strained. But how much does one want to add? Is unscented / uncolored going to make a different end product compared to scented/colered wax?



After this, SWIM had a question about further filtering. For the 10 micron filter bags, would SWIM want the solution hot as well ? Or should 10 micron be good enough in room temp water?

[samuraigecko]

SWIM filters while warm for heat expansion reasons.

Use unscented and uncolored wax of course. Scents and colors will influence the end result, perhaps adversely.

Peace

[mugwump77]

so then ice-o-late would be after a wax filtration, or would ice-o-late still be first, but just reheat the remains, then adding the wax?

(order of steps in reference to the gekko quick reference guide)