I have braided lines and do use those on the extractor for butane, It’s just the connection on the chamber is not threaded.
A threaded shut off is cheaper then a new pump so that’d be nice 
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That number not only changes with altitude it changes with barometric pressure as well how much Im not sure.
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In a past life I was a “High Vacuum” expert: worked with diffusion, turbo, cryo, titanium sublimation and ion pumps. 10 exp -8 Torr pressures for very high end thermal imagers. One chip would be $500,000 and be 1/2 X 1/2" in size. It was an interesting experience to work with rare materials every day.
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It is working at -27"hg with heat mat set to 100f.
It’s just painfully slow
I’ll know moving forward not to do 2 runs back to back untill I get a couple more bigger vacuum chambers.
I have 3 pumps and chambers but 2 chambers are 1gal which worked fine for my diy small batches.
I’m afraid that want fit to well in a 1gal with out being a mess and it may not be thin enough of a “cookie” to purge well.
Or is my thinking wrong
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Make sure you close the valve on the pump before turning it off. I did that once. Ruined about 10g’s of bho. Brand new pump just filled with oil.
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I purge extracts for 48 hours. You have enough heat applied to keep the consistency like taffy, and allows butane to escape the extract. I think you should be fine.
Extracts that come out, can sit at room temp until you have room in the vacuum chamber. I’ve had to do it before with back to back runs.
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I had been turning the pump off when I went to bed and to work so rough guess the pump was running 6 hours a day and I couldn’t get past -27hg.
The night before last, I turned it on and haven’t shut it off, last night it did get to -27.5hg.
This morning it was still going but is finally slowing down over a week later
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Yeah I got lucky doing that.
I saw the oil comeing through the line and caught it before it got to the pot
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If you’re purging extracts, vacuum it down to as close as you can, then shut valves off, and then shut the pump off. Only needs to run approximately 10-15 mins, and probably less than that to draw some vacuum.
Can’t see that with the stainless lines. Lol don’t forget the valve…
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That’s what I expected but not how its worked out.
I can get to -27"hg quickly.
It’s been under-27"hg literally over a week now, either pump running or pump off with chamber locked down and constant heating bouncing from 95°f to 105°f.
Here’s what it’s still looking like right now
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Definitely a check valve, threaded shut-off, and a better pump coming in the future.
But heres what I get from chat GBT when i ask, “can my pump get my chamber to -30"hg”
"A single-vane 2.5 CFM vacuum pump may eventually get your 5-gallon (0.67 cubic feet) vacuum chamber close to -30 inHg, but it will take longer and may struggle depending on several factors.
Key Considerations:
- CFM vs. Chamber Size
A 2.5 CFM pump means it can remove 2.5 cubic feet of air per minute in ideal conditions.
Since your chamber is 0.67 cubic feet, in theory, it should evacuate most of the air in about 15-30 seconds, but efficiency drops as pressure decreases.
- Ultimate Vacuum Rating of the Pump
Check the ultimate vacuum spec of your pump.
If it only reaches 27-28 inHg, it won’t achieve full -30 inHg.
Two-stage pumps typically go down to 29.9 inHg (~50 microns), while single-stage pumps may struggle below 28-29 inHg.
- Leakage & Holding Vacuum
A weaker pump takes longer and struggles against leaks. Even micro leaks in hoses or chamber seals make a difference."
The AI response lines up with exactly what I’m experiencing…
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@hgassaway30 lots of info here
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