The Source Turbo By ExtractCraft

Got this machine to make botanical essential oils and it does exactly that and works great. The closed loop system is great because you can reclaim the alcohol which saves money. However I feel like for the $600 price tag, there could be more and better features.First off, while efficient, this thing is S-L-O-W. It takes anywhere from 4-8 hours to make one batch. There is supposedly a Turbo mode that’s advertised as 2x as fast as regular mode, but after doing one batch in regular mode and the second in turbo mode, it took about the same amount of time so I’m not sure what’s considered turbo about it. It would also be nice if there was a quicker vacuum release mechanism, it takes about 10 minutes to release the vacuum with the screw on the front. I also feel like there should be a way to adjust the temperature to get a better boil to make the process quicker. My mixes do not boil with visible bubbles until they are almost done.The app is my biggest complaint about the product because it is basically worthless. It only monitors temp and vacuum pressure, but the temp reading fluctuates from 71-105 totally randomly throughout the process so I don’t put a lot of stock in it. I haven’t checked for sure but I believe the temp stays consistent and it’s a communication issue with the machine and app. You can start and stop the process from the app, but you can only start regular mode, not Turbo, although like I said there’s not a lot of difference between the two. I just don’t get why they didn’t put a second button for turbo mode on the app, doesn’t seem like it’d be that difficult. Lastly there is no way to adjust the time to more or less than 2 hours. This is especially annoying on a bigger scale batch because once the time is up it shuts the process off, no alert, no flashing light on the machine, nothing. It’s kind of a “set and forget” thing until the last 10 minutes, and the only way to get more time is to stop and start the process again which it says not to do on the info sheet packed with it so that is kind of confusing. So if you miss the end of the 2 hour run time your material just sits in the cup without heat and under vacuum.Overall, the machine will perform as advertised, but IMO $600 is a pretty hefty price tag for the crap features it has. Overall I’m not disappointed with my purchase but I feel like it could be a whole lot better with a little more effort for the price. Would have been a 5 star review for a $2-300 machine but $600 is way too high for what you get in options and user interface.

This little extractor works great. Super simple operation. Made good, clean concentrate. Works as advertised. Be sure to set your correct sea level at set up, so the vacuum works properly. Also, be sure to purchase 200 proof lab grade ethanol and silicon work tools and work mat!

Very, very loud: the vacuum pump is just short of 85dB at close range (a few cm), but thankfully it only has to run on occasion after the initial minute or so of noise. One unexpected source of noise? There's a relay (I think?) that is flopping on/off while it's in process. It's a noticable "click"/"clack" periodicially, which I'm guessing is the heating element switching on and off. Sorta surprised it's relay-based instead of MOSFET or SSR, but don't know enough about the workings internally to say if it was a reasonable choice. Depending on the relay, it might wear out over time, but honestly my biggest complaint about it is the constant clicking while it's running. :PAs many others have talked about here and elsewhere, it's a bit small. Do NOT fill above the line in the crucible--you WILL spill solvent out of it into the output and have to start all over. I added a few PTFE boiling "stones" to make sure no serious "bumping" (flash boiling that tends to go everywhere) occurred. Getting more volume would be nice. It's around 250mL to 300mL, BTW (about 1 cup for those addicted to the US's system).The app has some bugs, but suffices to get a read-out on parameters. I had to force kill it a few times to get back to device selection, and sometimes it got confused when I rebooted the Source while the app was still connected.Final complaint would be the reservoir for solvent is...difficult to empty. They suggest a funnel, but it wasn't much help. Issue appears to be liquid pours out from the inside ring first rather than the outside lip. At a point during the emptying, this flips to the outer rim, which makes for a tricky bit of pouring. Use a bowl bigger than the reservoir to pour into and you should be ok.Otherwise, very neat product you can't get anywhere else, and automates what is otherwise a slightly dangerous and tedious process of getting a solvent out of an extraction. Niche market for sure, but I am happy customer of said market now. :)

I would like to say first, that the product does what the seller says. In general, it is a vacuum reclaim still that lets you reclaim most of the ethanol from the extracted essential oils of botanicals. I just feel money could have spent been on something that would last longer. Ethanol vapors exit the pumps inside the lower unit which houses the crucible warmer and electronics. There is a fan that draws them out but they still are in there. I have experienced the effects of alcohol on plastics of other items before and now on this item. The bottom has become brittle and has cracked from the slight pressure of picking up the unit to put back in the foam from the box. I can also verify that the units app does not show an accurate temperature of the crucible. I used a thermometer and got a reading of 130F in the crucible right after a cycle even though the altitude had been set accurately. If the temperature error isnt an issue for you, just make sure that you read all of the reviews on this site and on others to know exactly what you are purchasing beforehand. It wouldn't hurt to read a little on the science behind the device and the reactivity of ethanol on the different types of plastics over time.