Brew Particulates?

[V.primal]

Yep, I just got my ALK vials in and put hospira BAC water in it straight. Has the same dust look I'm referring to.

At this point, i've tried 3 different vial brands recently and looked at 5 different vial types - all sterile overall. All had what I am referring to.

I've tried 3 different filters with no different result. I've tried BAC water with no filter either.

So, at this point I have nothing left to test and will assume its normal since all gear I've looked at has this. The only way to see it in any vial is to clean the outside very well, put directly ontop of a flashlight, and look with a jewelers loop or magnification while attempting to not burn your cornea out. LMAO

Any chance what you are looking at are tiny air bubbles?

 

[Sera]

Hey, Meso

I have an interesting situation. After brewing with sterile vials, ba, bb, and mct from medlab as well as Tisch .22um PTFE Sterile filters I have particulates that I can see when using a backlight on the vial and turning it.

I have re-filtered into new sterile vials and the same particulates remain. I then filled a vial with unfiltered MCT to see if it could be the filters. The same particulates are present.

Since I already tried new vials, I'll be trying out new filters later but the question is why would the unfiltered MCT and the Filtered brew have the same particulates if it was the filter shedding? (Maybe the filter isn't doing its job at all and the particulates from the MCT are passing straight through?)

If anyone has any insight into this, I would really really appreciate the help. I'm at my wits end. Video attached below. Ignore the dust on the outside of the vial, the particulates swirling in the oil are the concern. I have let the vials sit still as well - these don't seem to be air bubbles.
View attachment 314570

You have to flush the filter with like 5ml of plain warm oil and bb first to remove any potential filter fibres.

Also be careful not to mistake air bubbles for particles.

 

[Stubb]

You have to flush the filter with like 5ml of plain warm oil and bb first to remove any potential filter fibres.

Also be careful not to mistake air bubbles for particles.

I was about to post that they look kinda like tiny bubbles until I saw your post.

I still did though.

 

[maddie]

Yep, I just got my ALK vials in and put hospira BAC water in it straight. Has the same dust look I'm referring to.

At this point, i've tried 3 different vial brands recently and looked at 5 different vial types - all sterile overall. All had what I am referring to.

I've tried 3 different filters with no different result. I've tried BAC water with no filter either.

So, at this point I have nothing left to test and will assume its normal since all gear I've looked at has this. The only way to see it in any vial is to clean the outside very well, put directly ontop of a flashlight, and look with a jewelers loop or magnification while attempting to not burn your cornea out. LMAO

Did you ever figure out what the debris was? I filtered oil with a PTFE sterile filter into brand new ALK vials and after sitting for a few days it looks similar to yours. The dust look isn't there before filtering.... so it makes we not want to filter anymore of them.

 

[Ghoul]

Did you ever figure out what the debris was? I filtered oil with a PTFE sterile filter into brand new ALK vials and after sitting for a few days it looks similar to yours. The dust look isn't there before filtering.... so it makes we not want to filter anymore of them.

You’re supposed to discard the first few drops if you’re not using a medical grade filter.

 

[maddie]

You’re supposed to discard the first few drops if you’re not using a medical grade filter.

Syringe Filters with Male Luer Lock Outlet

Sterile hydrophobic PTFE syringe filters with male luer lock outlet. Pore size: 0.22μm. Diameter of 25mm. Sterile by gamma irradiation. For sterile filtration of air and gas.

shop.cobetter.com

This is the one I'm using. I can't see anything with a black light, but if I look at the vial in the light it looks like very small dust inside. So its best to flush a small amount first? I haven't done that and will need to try that.

 

[Ghoul]

Syringe Filters with Male Luer Lock Outlet

Sterile hydrophobic PTFE syringe filters with male luer lock outlet. Pore size: 0.22μm. Diameter of 25mm. Sterile by gamma irradiation. For sterile filtration of air and gas.

shop.cobetter.com

This is the one I'm using. I can't see anything with a black light, but if I look at the vial in the light it looks like very small dust inside. So its best to flush a small amount first? I haven't done that and will need to try that.

Even the highest end lab syringe filters advise a pre flush to ensure no debris ends up in solution. Only true medical grade (Pharmassure or Braun) come
”preflushed” from the manufacturer.

 

[maddie]

Even the highest end lab syringe filters advise a pre flush to ensure no debris ends up in solution. Only true medical grade (Pharmassure or Braun) come ”preflushed” from the manufacturer.

View attachment 369382

Awesome. Let me try this and see what it looks like.

 

[Photon]

Did you ever figure out what the debris was? I filtered oil with a PTFE sterile filter into brand new ALK vials and after sitting for a few days it looks similar to yours. The dust look isn't there before filtering.... so it makes we not want to filter anymore of them.

Does it only occur after a few days or is it visible after filtering?
Does shaking get rid of it?

 

[Walter Hype]

personally speaking this issue happens more so with lower grade filters,
i have use cobetter ptfe filters and never once had this issue even under blacklight. it 100% depends on the brand and quality. cobetter makes very good filters and i use stainless steel filtration setup no standard bottle top (dont like the idea of chemicals leeching into my products) these fibers are often from the backing layer they use to laminate the filters with for strength. ptfe doesn't normal just leech the fibers as they are very chemically resistant but the backing layer is PP. however the ptfe side of the fitler should always face up towards the oil upstream never down! but i use a stain steel backing screen which takes the strength role so i dont have to do that! so fiber leeching is a zero concern. so many tricks to get around this. a syringe filter leeching fibers just means its not up to snuff.

 

[maddie]

Does it only occur after a few days or is it visible after filtering?
Does shaking get rid of it?

It definitely looked worse after filtering so I let it sit for a few days and it looked a lot better. I did heat it up to about 140-150°F and it didn't change anything. It's barely noticeable unless you're really looking at it. Shaking it doesn't change anything as well. I'll take a photo and see if anything will show up.

 

[Walter Hype]

It definitely looked worse after filtering so I let it sit for a few days and it looked a lot better. I did heat it up to about 140-150°F and it didn't change anything. It's barely noticeable unless you're really looking at it. Shaking it doesn't change anything as well. I'll take a photo and see if anything will show up.

Be very careful with it looking better PP will soak up the solvents and then turn translucent over time so just because it's looking better doesn't mean the particulates are gone it just means the pp is soaking up inside that BB

 

[maddie]

personally speaking this issue happens more so with lower grade filters,
i have use cobetter ptfe filters and never once had this issue even under blacklight. it 100% depends on the brand and quality. cobetter makes very good filters and i use stainless steel filtration setup no standard bottle top (dont like the idea of chemicals leeching into my products) these fibers are often from the backing layer they use to laminate the filters with for strength. ptfe doesn't normal just leech the fibers as they are very chemically resistant but the backing layer is PP. however the ptfe side of the fitler should always face up towards the oil upstream never down! but i use a stain steel backing screen which takes the strength role so i dont have to do that! so fiber leeching is a zero concern. so many tricks to get around this. a syringe filter leeching fibers just means its not up to snuff.

I am using the cobetter brand PTFE. I'm not running anything through it before and I go right into filtering. I am filtering with a syringe into sterile AFK vials. I'm sure I'm missing something. The odd thing is I filtered deca and EQ the same exact way without issue. The NPP is so clear and easy to see anything in it. Under black light it looks completely fine. It almost looks like when the sun coming through the window and you can see some dust floating in the air.

 

[Ateam2023]

This may sound cheap, but I use PTFE syringe filters made by peaky bio I don't have any problems except when I try to filter too much gear through one and it breaks and that's how I know "i better change" filters ha ha ha

 

[Walter Hype]

Syringe Filters with Male Luer Lock Outlet

Sterile hydrophobic PTFE syringe filters with male luer lock outlet. Pore size: 0.22μm. Diameter of 25mm. Sterile by gamma irradiation. For sterile filtration of air and gas.

shop.cobetter.com

This is the one I'm using. I can't see anything with a black light, but if I look at the vial in the light it looks like very small dust inside. So its best to flush a small amount first? I haven't done that and will need to try that.

If your using cobetter id bet money these are micro air bubbles. These take awhile to go away. They do like to float inside the oil and not rise to the top so it might be mistaken as a particles

 

[maddie]

If your using cobetter id bet money these are micro air bubbles. These take awhile to go away. They do like to float inside the oil and not rise to the top so it might be mistaken as a particles

After letting the NPP sit for three days I went to take the photo and it looked clear. The test prop i had issues with and still looks bad, but its only one vial. Here's the photo of it. Probably a different issue.

 

[Walter Hype]

After letting the NPP sit for three days I went to take the photo and it looked clear. The test prop i had issues with and still looks bad, but its only one vial. Here's the photo of it. Probably a different issue.

Fibers would look a bit stringy if you really look closely. These look like bubbles. Shake it up alot and then let it sit somewhere. Undisturbed.

Alternative you can take a 10ml syringe suck up in the head space with the stoppers. See if the bubbles rise to the top. Good way to check if it's fibers. The bubbles will vac out

Id trust cobetter with my life. They know how to make filters.