When you unbox the Source Turbo from Extract Craft, it's hard not to feel intimidated by how complicated it looks to make your own concentrates. For me, in all honesty, I gave up the blonde hair. I dyed mine blue-black just to make sure I could easily operate this unit. The blonde needed to go away so that a mad scientist could take her place.
In reality such a drastic makeover wasn't necessary to operate this baby. It's actually a very simple process, the machine itself. What you need most is patience and the ability to follow instructions (for all the steps!) before and after using the Source.
At the time of this writing, I have only made shatter and pull n' snap. I have not tried Jar Tech yet to make EHO (Ethanol Hash Oil) or edibles. This is the part that still intimidates me just a hair.
Pros:
Cons:
In A Nutshell:
Patience is something this Squirrel lacks almost completely. At the age of 10 I unwrapped all my Christmas presents and rewrapped them. Nobody was the wiser until I confessed many years after. Now nobody wraps my presents. The best I can hope for in the way of wrapping is the shipping box.
While waiting for your Source Turbo to arrive you have to watch and read all the documentation, maybe several times. Take lots of notes and make a "Flight check list" for all the steps you will need to take in prep, extraction and post processing of oil.
Here are a few helpful links:
All the steps might seem intimidating and they are, until you do it the first time. Then you are wondering why this all seemed so complicated in the beginning. In my case it's probably because I barely passed Chemistry in high school, probably due to the fact I was smoking weed. So it's a bit ironic that weed is to blame in rekindling my interest in the subject I failed to excel in so many moons ago.
After my 3rd batch of making the THC oil with my Source I don't need my check list anymore. Everything is pretty simple. The only tricky part that I am still trying to master is when to actually end my process. Getting that sweet spot for the oil takes time and experience to get it right.
If you have the right friends perhaps you can get trim or shake to experiment with until you get the hang of making your shatter. The only downfall with using trim verses bud is that it tends to hold onto more of the ethanol during the wash portion. At least that was my experience. For my second attempt at washing trim I was able to get more ethanol out by letting the mason jar sit longer upside down in the measuring cup, for almost an additional 1 1/4 cups.
For this review I am going to focus more on the machine use verses the whole process. A detailed account of the steps, from prewash to finish with journal of my first few sessions visit my personal reviews site, Racky's Reviews.
Extract Craft was out of their buchner filter and flask so I had to order on Amazon. Personally, this is a must have as it really speeds up the process with the Source's vacuum assist and gets your wash clean. Some people use mason jars with coffee filters to do their filtering with patience and success too.
The hose that came with my Amazon flask was horrible. I needed to be a descendant of Kâli to use the vacuum assist on the Source with this rigid short tubing. I couldn't find anything local that worked either. So the first two washes I relied on gravity to filter my "tincture".
After much frustration at gravity intentionally deciding to move much slower under my watchful impatient gaze, I started plotting ideas to make my own vacuum hose. For once being on oxygen had it's perks. With my "no crush" green tubing, a swivel O2 male connector and racers tape *aka duct tape* I made an ugly but amazingly efficient vacuum hose. What took hours with gravity now only took a fraction of the time. The vacuum assist on the Source is easy to use and works great.
Now I was ready to use the Source. First set altitude, which is super easy. Hold the green button for 10 full seconds. Click out your elevation at 1 click per 1000FT. If at 300FT round up to 1k. Yes, their rounding rules are weird.
The written instructions are slightly different from the video. I think someone may have been smoking some weed when they wrote them out. Per video you hold for 4 full seconds to start turbo mode. Unit will give 2 slow flashes. To stop press button once. Unit will give you 3 *not 2* quick flashes.
Use a timer because the Source does not fully shut off at the end of the 120 min cycle. The fan still runs so you might not realize your session ended. On turbo mode, wash filled to Fill Line, it took about 2 hrs and 45 min to get my oil to the consistency I wanted. The last 30 minutes watch carefully, checking every 5-10 minutes.
Their app is another great way to monitor your time too. This app has to be the most fool proof software I have ever used. It automatically connected to my Source without me having to push anything on the unit.
This wonderful little machine is loud. I think I would hesitate to use this in an apartment. Especially if female. When the pump kicks on, it's pretty loud and who knows what dirty images that might conjure in your neighbors heads. They might get the wrong idea on why you are so happy all the time! Oh my!
However, if you like distillate and other concentrates you NEED this unit. What better way to get the flower and flavors in the concentrates you love than make your own? Plus you know what all is in your concentrates. You can even add additional terps with companies like TrueTerpenes line of products. Custom blended and super yummy.
The unit really is "So Easy A Squirrel Can Do It." It consists of one button and one screw "knob," not much you can screw up there. The prep and post process are a little more complicated but if you visit the links above and familiarize yourself with all the steps, it really isn't that hard. Make sure to make use of their FaceBook Group too. There is a huge wealth of knowledge there with very friendly and helpful users.
If you grow your own flower and have the money I would highly suggest getting the ETOH Pro, although there is something very therapeutic about doing the smaller batches in the Source. It helps to get my fluffy biscuit up and moving about.
This unit due to it's simple, quality design and ease of use earns it a Wacky Racky Seal of Approval.