When distilling, small amounts of the extract can find their way into the condenser and pump assembly.
This will lead to lower pump performance, and ultimately prevent Merlin400 from gaining the necessary vacuum.
This is a cause of many error messages, but luckily it is rather easy to wash the condenser and pump array.
The following procedure ‘washes’ the pump and condenser with IPA fumes from the distillation chamber. Here is how:
1. Mount a clean, empty collection glass with glass beads under the Distillation chamber.
Tighten the elevator ring.
2. Open the top lid of the Distillation chamber, and add 30 – 60 ml IPA to the collection glass, so that the glass is full and the IPA cover the sloping sides inside the Distillation chamber.
3. Open the IPA tank (right, drop imprint) and remove any clean IPA from the tank.
4. Run program 4: ‘Just Distil’ The IPA will start to boil, and the fumes will wash residue out from the pump and condenser.
5. If the machine is very dirty and has problems gaining enough vacuum, it will stop after a few minutes.
If the machine stops with an error message, just reset it by pressing and holding the select and pause buttons, then start prg 4 again.
You can repeat this until you see the IPA starts boiling in the oil glass.
6. (Optionally) When the IPA is boiling, you can vent the pump by resetting and restarting prg 4.
6. When the IPA has evaporated and the glass is empty, you can reset the machine.
There is no need to let it perform the whole end sequence.
7. If needed, remove dirty IPA from the IPA tank.