DIY small consol vacuum

[The Grass Baas]

Howzit oaks.

Just a short one again of a few little vacuum chambers I have made. There are bigger vacuums that you can make using perspex and pots but that I have not done yet. One day maybe.

So this guide would just be for a little chamber and a hand pump. An extreme budget job. For the noob like myself. 

So a list of things:

• Jar and lid (preferrably small as possible (200ml)).
• WondaFix (pratley).
• 1/4 inch ball valve.
• Some 1/4 inch fittings and nozzles.
• Plumbing tape.
• Hand brake bleeder pump (tube included)

So I also have one that uses an 1/8 inch valve which is awesome but fittings are quite tough to get hold of so just for the ease of it, we will refer to 1/4 inch in this quick guide. I managed to find all my fittings at a shop called Adendorff. What a shop. Lots of cheap tools and crap. I asked them if they do vacuum pumps and sounds like they have a huge request and might bring something in. 

Quite simple. Drill a hole into the lids of the jars. I used a 6mm drill bit. The 1/4 inch fitting fits nicely into it. I actually just screwed it into the hole using the thread on the fittings. Depending on your valve being a male to male or female to female, you will have to figure out the best fittings/adaptors for the job. I used female valves so I basically only needed a 1/4inch male to male adaptor and a 1/4inch male nozzle. Once screwed in I used the wondafix to seal it nicely. I used the steel pratley but doesn't work because the lid of the chamber flexes a little when you suck all the air out. Let the glue settle overnight and then make sure everything is screwed in tightly. 

You will notice in both photos that I am using different jars and lids but they are still small enough. The reason for the small jars is because you have to remove the air using a hand pump. It takes suuuuuuuuper long if you use a 1lt consol jar and pump it with a hand pump. Smaller jars are much easier. I am on the look out for second hand fridge compressors because the old school ones have an inlet and outlet. As far as I know you can get a really nice vacuum going with one of those. With the hand pump and small jar I can get about 24"hg. With a compressor pump/vacuum pump you can get very very close to a perfect vacuum (29.92"hg). 

Last two photos is from vacuum to no vacuum. When warming the extract with a mat or warm bath it helps get all the bubbles of gas out easier. The extract can also be directly blasted into the glass jar, then purged from the jar too, and utilized from the jar for consumption.

Total estimated costs:

• M/M adaptor 1/4inch (R20)
• F/F ball valve 1/4inch (R40)
• M nozzle 1/4inch (20)
• Brake bleeder pump kit (R250)
• Small jar and lid (R25)
• Plumbing tape (R20)
• Pratley WondaFix (R80)

TOTAL: R455

Hope this manages to help someone else that is also using chemical extraction methods and wants cleaner dabs.

Thanks for watching.