Hi all
This is a very timely thread!
I made a batch a week ago. All seemed fine, as it was from the same stock as previous, titrated the same (though it did produce only about half the usual amout of glycerine for some reason).
After washing, I aggressively bubble / fan dried it. I do this on a timer for about 6 hours a day during these cold months (Sydney hills district), for a couple of days. Problem was (?) I forgot to turn off the fan/ bubbler and went away for work. Came back 4 days later, and yes the level was lower in the drum.(loss of methanol?) What was more surprising was when a sample was left overnight (about 4 degC) it seperated into a combination of what looked like bio, with a layer of 'cous cous' on the bottom (flakey) and even what looked like mould on the glass jar sides.Obviously not mould, but similar speck appearance. I assumed it was just the cold, as when it is heated in the sun / left at room temperature it all goes back to normal. My older samples dont change when cold, so there is another problem.
I am guessing from the previous posts I dried the methanol out of it? My guess is the loss was in the order of 8 litres, though it is difficult to know as i had added some older unwashed bio before washing / drying, so didnt have an accurate amount at the start of drying.
Ideas.....reprocess as above posts (Tilly 1g/35ml per litre?).....anything else? I appreciate the help.
Notwithstanding any of the above, Is it fair to say settling is far better than drying, and what do most people think is enough drying without methanol loss?
Carl