ESSENTIAL OIL DISTILLER OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
Directions

IMPORTANT

If you are working on a tile sink or other hard surface, LINE IT WITH A TOWEL and also line your washing sink with some of that plastic liner availiable from the grocery store.
You don't want to be amazed at how easy it is to break glassware!!!

LOADING THE BIOMASS FLASK

It's Ok to use any consistancy of plant matter in the biomass flask with exception of powder. Powder may clump and cause the bottom opening to plug, or it may just "fall in" and get into the boiling flask. If you're distilling rosemary, for example, you'll be able to just cram the flask full and distill!, because it's big and bushy. But if you're using cut plant matter or finer consistancy material, you might want to insert the little stainless steel screen tube that we provide into the bottom of the flask, so the plant material doesn't clog the hole or fall down it.
Just fold it a little at it's top and stick it up in thru the bottom of the flask.
In any case, STUFF THE FLASK FULL with plant material!!
Using a plastic or wooden dowel about 1.2" in diameter will help to pack it in. DON"T use metal or you'll break the flask!



Assembling the backplate/support rod holder/ hardware

The backplate is provided as a heat-shield to prevent line-of-sight infra-red heat from the hotplate from heating up the reciever as the distillation process continues.
Screw the back plate on to the rear of the hotplate using the two #8 screws provided.




Place support rod into the clamp built into the rear of the hotplate by squeezing the top and bottom of the clamp together and inserting the rod thru the holes.
Now Assemble the two clamps to the support rod and placing them both high up on the rod. Leave the screws snug but not tight.
Here's a photo of how the clamps assemble:



Last, place the square wire mesh pad onto the stove, centered on the stove heater-coils, ceramic side up.



Putting the Glassware together

Ground glass joints will freeze together if not properly lubricated!

Three small packets of Silicone joint grease compound have been provided. Before assembling any of the ground glass joints, it is recommended that you first put a tiny dab of grease on the male end and wipe it into a line using a toothpick or your finger. Then assemble the joint, twist it gently into it's socket, rotating it at least one rotation to spread the grease around. If you have the right amount, the joint connection will rotate smoothly and become slightly "clear" to the eye. Too much grease- it will spin with very little friction and you'll have grease mushing out everywhere; too little and the joint will not become "clear" as you press on it and rotate it, and it will feel sticky. It actually takes very little grease to do the job. The amount in the vial may seem small, but it should last at least a month or two with daily use of the still.

Hooking the Hoses to the Condenser:

The hoses will slip on to the condenser very easily if you first heat their ends up with a match or lighter to soften them. Be careful not to burn the ends! When you have the hose end heated and soft, wet the glass fitting with some saliva and push the hose on.


Glass and clamps setup




Start by filling the boiling flask about 2/3 full with water (a little more is OK but no more than 2/3 maximum). Since you're distilling the water, tap water is OK, but you may want to use distilled or purified water so you don't get things like chlorine vapors coming into your biomass . (IMPORTANT- if you are boiling anything but water (ie solvents of any kind) you MUST use boiling chips, please contact us if you need a source for them!). Grease the biomass flask joints and assemble the biomass flask to the boiling flask (pre-loaded with plant material of course).

Place the biomass flask on top of the boiling flask, center the flasks on the burner, and secure the flasks using the upper clamp, attached to the top neck of the biomass flask.

NOW lightly grease both ends of the steam transfer tube and drop it into the top of the biomass flask. Clip the condenser to the transfer tube using the provided red plastic "Keck" clamp.

Last, FILL the receiver (preload it) with distilled water- close the stopcock and pour in enough water to make it come out the drain tube.

IF YOU DO NOT PRELOAD THE RECEIVER WITH DISTILLED WATER...

As the distillation process begins and receiver fills up with condensed water, the water's level will eventually rise above the bottom level of the outlet pipe. You will likely have a small quantity of essential oil floating on the surface in the receiver by then, and you'll notice that a small "plug" of it gets caught in the receiver's outlet pipe. This oil will be lost into the hydrosol collection flask and will not be easy to recover. If you preload the receiver with water before starting the distillation, this will not happen.

 SO preload the receiver with water, and now using the green keck clamp, assemble it to the condenser. You will now use the second clamp provided to hold it in place to the stand/support rod. If you've done it correctly it will look like the photos. The backplate should stand between the heater coils and the receiver, so that heat radiating from the heater does not have a "line if sight" path to the receiver. (this keeps your distilled oil cool)

Place a water glass under the receivers' drip tip to catch the first hydrosol that comes off during distillation. It's best to position it so the drips don't splash as they drip into the water... OR if you are not interested in keeping the hydrosol, you can place the whole still on the edge of your sink so the hydrosol simply drips into the drain and goes away.





WATER FOR THE CONDENSER

The easiest thing you can do is to use tap water to circulate water through the condenser. Water goes IN THE BOTTOM and OUT THE TOP of the condenser. Tap water will work just fine, and you can drain the exiting water to your garden or the sink drain. Experts say chilled water is better, and recirculating it with the pump provided with the kit conserves this precious resource. If you use the pump, use a bucket of ice water and drop the pump in it (it's submersible) to circulate chilled water through the condenser and back to the bucket. In any case, the water only needs to be a trickle, but IT MUST ALWAYS BE MOVING. Once the distillation gets underway, you will be able to tell if your flow is enough by feeling the temperature of the water coming out...if it is cold to luke warm, your flow is enough. If it's warm or hot, turn up the flow. If you use the pump instead of tap water, plan on using up at least three "grocery store" sized bags of ice per distillation.

Be sure to plug the hoses on to the condensers' glass hose-bibs snugly... a hose popping off in the middle of a distillation is a good way to make a real mess! The hose may seem difficult to get on to the condenser fittings- if so, simply warm the end of the hose with hot water or over a lighter or candle flame (don't burn it!) and it will then stretch easily and slip on. (you may have to cut it off with a razor blade later)

BASICALLY THAT'S IT

Turn on the condenser water, Make sure the stopcock on the receiver is CLOSED, Turn the hotplate on FULL HIGH and let it rip!



THE DISTILLATION PROCESS

As the water heats up and starts to boil, you'll see steam starting to finally come out the top as the bionass flask heats up. This takes about half an hour. Eventually you'll finally see that first drip make it's way down the condenser and into the receiver. Then you'll see a layer of oil starting to form... there it is!!
You will likely find that with many plants, the bulk of the oil comes off in the first 10-20 minutes, and the remainder takes 2-4 hours.

FINISHING As the process continues, the oil layer will grow, and when it's all done, you simply turn everything off and let it cool down, remove the receiver, carefully drain off all the water you can by slowly opening the stopcock, and when the water's gone and the oil layer has just barely hit the bottom, quickly close the stopcock.

I then like to clamp the receiver to the support rod and let it hang there for 10 minutes or so, to allow any oil stuck on the sides to make it's way down and join the big puddle. Then finally, open the stopcock and drain the oil into a vial.

HINT
If you wrap your bioflask with a kitchen towel or two, held in place by clothspins, it will insulate the flask somewhat and this will help keep it at steam temperature.
The result will be less steam condensing in the bioflask and returning to the boiling pot, which means more of it will go thru the bioflask and on to the condenser. Your distillation will go faster and you'll create more hydrosol. It's an option with the 2 liter flask, a good idea with a 5 liter, and manditory on a10 liter system.
JUST BE SURE to keep the towel away from the burner or you could cause a fire!!!



CLEANING

I usually just swirl a lot of soapy water around in the parts, and use a bristle brush to clean everything. It's all pyrex, so it can also be put in a dishwasher. It's a good idea to first wipe as much of the joint grease out as you can with a paper towel or kleenex. Otherwise just treat it as any other glass item and wash it as you will. My wife likes to rinse the parts first with a swirl of Vodka to dissolve and remove any oils from the flasks and parts prior to washing them with soapy water.

BE CAREFUL to not clunk the glass against the sink... those plastic liners are nice for safety... most glassware is broken during cleaning!! If the flasks bump into a hard object like a tile counter or porclean sink, they may develop little tiny "star" cracks. These are dangerous- they can be repaired, but if left un-noticed, they can easily cause a flask to crack or break apart at the most inconvenient time, like when it's full of boiling water...BE CAREFUL WITH THE GLASSWARE!!

I've found that using a 1/2" diameter dowel or plastic rod is helpful for quickly poking plant matter and stems out of the biomass flask. Don't be tempted to use metal or you'll break your flask!
Shaking the bioflask over a plastic trashcan also works well to remove finer plant material

Guk in the boiling flask that builds up from the mineral deposits of your tap water can quickly be removed with an overnight soak in vinegar, or if you're in a hurrry, a swirl of muriatic acid (pool acid) or dilute hydrochloric acid. I havn't tried it but a good soak with Lime-away will probably works just as well.
BE CAREFUL with these chemicals, they are dangerous.

I usually do not remove the water hoses from the condenser- I've found that for the most part, simply pouring a little soapy water inside the center tube, plugging the ends with my fingers, and giving it a good shake is usually all that's necessary to clean the condenser, but the water jacket should never need cleaning.
It's a lot easier to just leave the hoses on for storage than risk breaking things trying to get them off each time you use the system
If you do have to remove them and they are stubborn, just use a sharp knife and slit the hose at it's base, and it will come off easily. The only problem with doing this is that your hoses magically get shorter and shorter....



OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES
Click Here to learn about other things you can do with this kit, and other optional accessories availiable.



BOILING and SOLVENTS

Not that you need this information, but in case you have any questions about boiling and what it actually is, why you are supposed to use boiling chips with solvents, or perhaps you want to know the boiling temperatures of many common solvents,
CLICK HERE