How to Use Gravity to Drain Water from a Bubble Hash Washing Vessel
Todde Philips
🇺🇸 Retired veteran, father, rock-climbing expert & rosin connoisseur.
Washing hash involves two main stages, agitating cannabis and ice water together, then running that water through a series of sieving bags called bubble wash bags. Agitation happens inside a mixing vessel, which could be an automatic washing machine, or a simple bucket or barrel that allows hash makers to mix cannabis and ice water with a paddle by hand. Washing machines come with a drain already installed, although it’s a good idea to change out the drainage hose if it’s a corrugated hose.
Most buckets or barrels used for washing hash don’t have a drainage system already installed, but if you’re using a smaller vessel like a 5-gallon bucket, you can simply pick it up and dump the water out into the sieving bags. If it’s a larger vessel, such as a 32-gallon trash bin, it’s better to install a ball valve and drainage hose at the bottom.
Whether you’re using a washing machine or hand-mixing vessel, using gravity to drain the trichome-loaded ice water into the stacked sieving bags is the ideal set up. And all you need to do to harness the power of gravity is to place the mixing vessel at a higher level that the sieving bags. Simply open the valve in the mixing vessel and gravity will drain the water out of the vessel.
Obstacles To Using Gravity for Draining Water from a Mixing Vessel
Low ceilings can be a deal breaker. This is especially true when you’re hand-mixing with paddles, because the hash maker normally needs to stand at the same elevated level as the vessel itself. With low ceilings, there might not be enough head room to stand at that elevated level and mix the ice water and cannabis.
Leaving both the mixing vessel and the sieving bags on the floor isn’t an option, if you want to use gravity to drain the water. The mixing vessel must be elevated above the bubble bags.
One potential work around if the wash room space has low ceilings is to place the mixing vessel on a platform jack. Hand wash the hash in the mixing vessel at floor level, then raise the platform jack to a slightly higher level than the bubble bags. Open the valve and gravity will cause the water to fall out of the vessel and into the sieving bags.
Platform jacks or hydraulic table lifts are both good options for raising and lowering mixing vessels.
Alternatives To Draining with Gravity
If low ceilings prevent the use of gravity for drainage, and a lift or platform jack aren’t feasible within the operation, hash makers can use a pump to move the hash water. But gravity is a far better option than hash pumps. Although specialty designed positive displacement pumps are less likely to damage trichomes than centrifugal pumps, there’s still a risk. Gravity is really the better way to go.
Read more in our article Gravity Drainage vs Hash Pump for Washing Bubble Hash.
Conclusion
Using gravity is the right way to go for draining a washing vessel. While low ceilings may be a potential issue to overcome, there are ways around this. A platform jack is a good solution that allows hash makers to stand on the floor for hand mixing cannabis and ice water. Hash makers place the mixing vessel on top of the jack, then raise the jack to a higher level above the stacked sieving bags to allow the water to drain.
Using gravity instead of a hash pump to move resin-loaded water is generally more cost-effective and also safer for the trichomes. Hash pumps, especially centrifugal pumps, have the potential to damage trichomes, reducing hash yields.
Also check out our article about How To Set Up a Bucket Stacking System for Washing Bubble Hash.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How do you use gravity to drain water from a mixing vessel when washing bubble hash?
Simply keep your mixing vessel at a higher elevation than your sieving bags, then open the valve on the mixing vessel and gravity will cause the hash water to drain out and fall into the sieving bags.
What is a platform jack?
A platform jack is a type of automatic lift that you can use to raise and lower a mixing vessel for washing bubble hash.
What is a hydraulic table lift?
A hydraulic lift is a type of automatic lift that you can use to raise and lower a mixing vessel for washing bubble hash.
What if you can't use gravity to drain water from a mixing vessel?
If you aren't able to keep the mixing vessel at a higher level than the sieving bags, then you'll need to use a pump to drain the hash water. Be sure to use only a pump that's designed for use in ice water extraction.
Is gravity better than using a hash pump for draining water?
Gravity is the ideal way to drain water from the mixing vessel when washing bubble hash.
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