# Vacuum jars idea, will it work?



## zem (Dec 15, 2018)

Hello everyone. I was thinking about an easy way to vacuum jars without having to purchase expensive special jars or expensive jarring machines. The diy ideas that I saw online involve heating up the jars to make air inside less dense than the outside which is not really vacuum but will do to tighten the lid and keep the pressure outside pushing in. I don't like the idea of putting weed in hot jars and it is not vacuum enough i guess and is not that easy to do.
So I got this idea while I was thinking about buying vacuum chambers with glove box for another purpose and then I thought what if I get a big enough sealing machine that can fit a jar inside a bag and I can suck the air out then simply close the jar and cut open the bag. I am thinking it would work a little bit like a glove box vacuum chamber. I can still hold the lid and tighten it inside the vacuum bag. Can anyone tell if this idea would work and if not why? Will it create a vacuum in the jar? The bag sealing machines are relatively affordable nothing to compare with the jar sealing machines and I don't want to buy the expensive pump n'seal jars since I have quite a few jars that I would like to seal


----------



## thegloman (Dec 15, 2018)

Zen
I'm interested in vac jars too.
I have seen jar vac heads for about 10 bucks. I'm not sure but I'm thinking you could use it with a regular sealer and a small pc. Of clear vinal tubing.
I don't know how the jar in a bag thing would work because when you pull a vac on the bag it will suck tight against the jar making it impossible to screw the jar lid down without breaking vacume.


----------



## oldfogey8 (Dec 15, 2018)

i have one of the vacuum heads for small mouth mason jars. i hook it up to a seal-a-meal unit it had laying around. it didn't come with a hose(figures) but i bought some clear tubing at a hardware store. you could probably find a seal-a-meal at a garage sale or maybe after xmas clearance for cheap(people give them to people they have no idea what to get and then just sit in the back of a cupboard for years un-used like mine). i put boveda 62 packs in the jars with my bud and seal them up. i am still smoking bud from 4 years plus ago and it tastes nice and is way smoove. the buckeye purple i smoked last night has been sealed up for a couple years. beautiful smoke. i would prefer a large mouth mason jar for curing/burping but it is too late for that for me...


----------



## oldfogey8 (Dec 15, 2018)

sorry, i just read the rest of zems post. i tried the bag thing. it does not  work nearly as well as the attachment. and the vac head is cheap like gloman said. if your seal a meal is like mine, there is a rectangular box meant to trap liquid before it gets to the vacuum pump. mine is removable for cleaning. i take it out and there is a 3/16" port under it that i shove the plastic tubing into while it vacuums. you know it worked when you hear the mason jar lid make a tink noise. the lid is sucked down to the jar. then you screw on the top ring of the jar. easy peasy.


----------



## zem (Dec 15, 2018)

oldfogey8 said:


> sorry, i just read the rest of zems post. i tried the bag thing. it does not  work nearly as well as the attachment. and the vac head is cheap like gloman said. if your seal a meal is like mine, there is a rectangular box meant to trap liquid before it gets to the vacuum pump. mine is removable for cleaning. i take it out and there is a 3/16" port under it that i shove the plastic tubing into while it vacuums. you know it worked when you hear the mason jar lid make a tink noise. the lid is sucked down to the jar. then you screw on the top ring of the jar. easy peasy.


while it is easy peasy to you, I have no idea how to do this. It would be great if I could use a cheap sucking pump on regular mason jars.


----------



## oldfogey8 (Dec 15, 2018)

sorry zem. i wasn't trying to be a jerk. here is the attachment i use on amazon for about $10:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000CFFS6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

i am sure you could hook it up to the pump you have. i can't think of a way to draw a vacuum on the jar without the attachment though. i, like you, would not want to heat the jars with buds in them. again, i apologize if i came off like a jerk. i hope this helps.


----------



## zem (Dec 18, 2018)

oldfogey8 said:


> sorry zem. i wasn't trying to be a jerk. here is the attachment i use on amazon for about $10:
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000CFFS6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
> 
> i am sure you could hook it up to the pump you have. i can't think of a way to draw a vacuum on the jar without the attachment though. i, like you, would not want to heat the jars with buds in them. again, i apologize if i came off like a jerk. i hope this helps.


oldfogey you did not at all sound negative on the contrary, I know well that you were trying to help me, but I never saw this item before so I had no idea what you were describing before you posted the link. It is nice I would like to have it with bigger mouth as well. I have no access to amazon items and I can't seem to find except the jars that have built in valve and special pump


----------



## oldfogey8 (Dec 18, 2018)

looks like you could get a large mouth sealer here for $5:

https://www.foodsaver.com/accessori...de-mouth-jar-sealer/T03-0023-01P.html#start=2

i am thinking if you have a vacuum pump of some sort, you could make this work.

they also have a refurbished unit on the site for $32.

https://www.foodsaver.com/vacuum-se...-system--certified-refurbished/RG-FM2000.html


----------



## oldfogey8 (Dec 18, 2018)

this is what i have


----------



## St_Nick (Dec 18, 2018)

I tried one of those, the one in your post in fact.  Personally I prefer to heat  my jars to 200 and then quickly fill 'em and seal'em.  That causes plenty of vacuum to seal the lid and my weed comes out as fresh as it went in.  If I used the vacuum machine it pulled to much of a vacuum on the auto setting so I had to use manual and thats just guesswork anyways.


----------



## St_Nick (Dec 18, 2018)

The only thing I use Bovidas for is softening up brick weed.  Just my opinion but if you seal your jar properly and the weed is cured properly, it doesn't need regulated.


----------



## oldfogey8 (Dec 18, 2018)

Makes sense. I have buds in my long term stash jar from 2013 and it is still very nice, tasty and potent. I figure if I cure the buds to below 60 rh, then seal it up with boveda 62 packs, the buds won’t get too dried out even if there is a small amount of leakage. Never tested the theory to compare though.  It is just what has worked for me. I can’t keep up with what I grow and like you, I give a lot away. I know my kids are not as up tight as I am about keeping buds ‘fresh’ so I put a boveda in their jars too. Not sure if I am drawing too much vacuum. I know I can’t get the sealer off of the jar without disconnecting it from the machine because the vac is pretty strong. I have caliber humidors in the jars I am curing right now. I see the humidity drop about 15% when I first seal them but then it comes back up. Heating the jars sounds like it would be a good workaround for zem.


----------



## St_Nick (Dec 18, 2018)

Yup,  I just pass on what works for me too.  When I say too much vacuum I know you got to be wondering, ***?  I opened up a jar I had let go on auto and looked at the Trics under a microscope.  I had tons of stalks but many of the little "balls" on top of th stems were missing!  Same thing happens if I use vacuum bags and seal on auto.  If I suck down an oz. until it looks like brick and about half of the little tricome balls seem to explode (I think).


----------



## oldfogey8 (Dec 18, 2018)

Ok. I prolly have a bunch of ball-less stalks. lol...


----------



## St_Nick (Dec 18, 2018)

Now that's funny right thar!


----------



## oldfogey8 (Dec 18, 2018)

A buddy of mine is from West Virginia. He drops into an Appalachian drawl sometimes(subtitles would help). I read your reply in his voice.


----------



## zem (Dec 22, 2018)

St_Nick said:


> I tried one of those, the one in your post in fact.  Personally I prefer to heat  my jars to 200 and then quickly fill 'em and seal'em.  That causes plenty of vacuum to seal the lid and my weed comes out as fresh as it went in.  If I used the vacuum machine it pulled to much of a vacuum on the auto setting so I had to use manual and thats just guesswork anyways.


Why would any vacuum be too much? I thought it should be vacuumed and one reason why I don't like heating the jars is that it is not vacuum, it is air that is less dense inside.


----------



## zem (Dec 22, 2018)

can someone please elaborate on this? Do I want less than total vacuum? Does the machine create total vacuum? I don't get what St_Nick is trying to say about creating too much vacuum.


----------



## St_Nick (Dec 22, 2018)

Zem, go back and read post 13


----------



## oldfogey8 (Dec 22, 2018)

@zem and @St_Nick - i just checked out my vacuum sealed buds. not sure what non-vac sealed would look like but there are very few globes/balls on top of the trichome stalks. not sure where the balls go but i gotta think if they explode, the resin from the balls sprays all over the buds(so it is not lost). my vacuumed doob gets me toasted but now i gotta do a side by side after my next harvest to see if there is a difference between vacuumed and non-vacuumed doobage...


----------



## thegloman (Dec 22, 2018)

Accelerated oxidation and decomposition of cannabinoids should be the only problem with rupturing the trich heads.
How much?
Probably not much for a long time.


----------



## zem (Dec 23, 2018)

oh wow exploded trichome balls, I will try to avoid that. I never thought of this possibility


----------



## Aksarben (Apr 28, 2019)

If the idea of vacuum is to keep out air, why not just fill the jar with nitrogen gas just after you put  your buds in there for storage?  Nitrogen purged bags is what keeps those ready made salad bags stay so fresh you get in the store.... until you open them and expose them to air (oxygen).


----------

