Hey all,
Update on a couple tests:
First is UV stability test. Results were sadly not what I wanted them to be, but science is as much about proving your hypothesis wrong as it is about proving it right.
8 stainless steel mesh balls which had 2 drop of tincture containing 20mg of DMT-acetate dropped on them then were left for 8 hours to dry.
After dried 4 were placed in a transparent container and 4 in a porcelain container and sealed. Both containers were placed on a north-facing windowsill.
After 1 week one ball from the transparent container was smoked and the effects were 90-100% of one smoked after 8 hours of drying only or the same 20mg of tincture heated and scraped up.
After 2 weeks one ball from the transparent counter was smoked and the effects were 25-35% of the effects of a week prior. After 30 minutes one from the porcelain container was smoked and the effects were slightly stronger maybe 35-40% of a week prior.
Not wanting to smoke all of them, but deciding any loss of potency means both storage methods are not useful long term and the experiment need not go on any longer, a visual test was done on the remaining balls.
The amount of smoke coming off each ball was observed and consistently the ones in the porcelain gave off 25-40% more smoke than the ones in the transparent container.
The same 20mg was dropped and immediately vaporized off a ball to produce a minumum of 250% the smoke of any of the UV-test balls.
Interpretation:
UV does seem to be a small factor in DMT-acetate's degradation, but it is not the main one. It takes between between 1 and 2 weeks for significant degradation in this experiment. The setting included:
DMT-acetate on charred stainless steel balls
DMT-acetate subjected to a humid climate with highs of 32C and average of 28-30C
Follow up experiments:
DMT-acetate on glass then scraped up after 2 weeks in the same conditions to eliminate the stainless steel variable
The same 20mg on stainless in the refrigerator and freezer for 2 weeks to eliminate the heat variable.
I don't have any desiccant, maybe I could just put one in a container of rice or something to isolate the humidity variable.
The ethanol solubility test:
I compared the solubility of DMT-acetate in 95% ethanol and vinegar somewhat qualitatively.
300mg of DMT-acetate was dissolved in about 20ml of 95% ethanol which was heated from below until the color of the tincture closely matched a 15mg/drop vinegar tincture.
Although the tincture did seem relatively clear, there was a large amount of residue on the glass dish which was used for the evaporation.
The same test was done but with about 50% vinegar and 50% water. There was maybe 10% the residue as the ethanol tincture and naturally a noticeable amount more liquid.
Interpretation:
Without a formal test it is hard to be sure, but I estimate 95% ethanol may only dissolve 5-7mg per drop reliably (maybe less due to ethanol having smaller drops than vinegar or water) compared to 15mg per drop being very easy to achieve with vinegar.
This isn't a real issue in my mind though. An ethanol tincture could evaporated in minutes or even be directly applied then smoked on herb or metal mesh. A 5mg per drop tincture would be very convenient for dosing in either case, giving more accurate dose control as well. (I have 2 small 10mg/drop and 12.5mg/drop tinctures along with my big 15mg/drop tincture that I combine to make my custom doses)
I still have the 300mg test in the vinegar tincture. I think next I'll try a 70% ethanol test to see if it create a better tincture with a balance of solubility and quick evaporation.
@CivilZombie
To answer your question: smoke = too hot. It is not hard to tell the difference between steam and smoke because steam is whispy and translucent while smoke is dense and white.
I personally much prefer to do the slow method, the reason is that scraping up spice usually loses about 4-6mg and although you could technically just not clean the surface to make that 4-6mg remain for the next scraping, I have accidentally went much further than I wanted through scraping errors.
The drop-on method is SUPER consistent with no loss.
I recently though of a mid-point between them, although it is better for candle rather than a lighter cause it requires a lot of heat. I put a metal ball on a big spoon and then I drop my tincture dose on the ball then heat the spoon from below. It doesn't spatter and if it does smoke, removing the flame makes it nearly immediately stop. After the spoon is pretty hot I just leave it for about 2 minutes and it's bone dry.
It is technically possible to vape the tincture directly off a ball when wet, but you'll be vaping a few drops of vinegar too which isn't great (I only did it once, didn't taste vinegar though). Maybe evaporating to a goo then adding water to dilute the vinegar to nearly nothing would make a good instant-dosing tincture similar to the ethanol one.
Q21Q21's Tek: A comprehensive guide to extracting DMTThe 2 teks use non-toxic lime and vinegar and Tek 1: d-Limonene or Xylene or Tek 2: Naptha to produce very quick high yields with the greatest of ease.I am almost never on this site anymore so I will likely not answer PMs