Each herb is a little different in that regard. Depends on the relative concentrations of alcohol-soluble compounds and water-soluble compounds in it. There are some good books on the subject, but in the end, most recommend using 50/50 to start, unless you know that a plant contains only one or the other, or if you're specifically trying to get only one class of compounds, and not the other. For example, Astragalus root's active compounds are polysaccharides, which are strictly water-soluble. In that case, you'd want to produce a water decoction, and add the ethanol to the finished product as a preservative (at least 24% ethanol). Catnip and peppermint's active compounds on the other hand are primarily alkaloids and terpenes, which are only soluble in alcohol, so no point in tossing water in there, unless you only have, say, 100-proof vodka as your menstruum source. In such a case, the water won't *harm* the extraction process; it just won't help it. Therefore, because the plants you mention have a mixture of water- and alcohol-soluble compounds (passionflower provides flavanoids and glycosides, both of which are water-soluble), I would recommend the 50/50 mixture of ethanol and water. That is, use 100-proof vodka if you have it, or 80-proof if you don't. Good luck, and let us know how you make out! -BH

I realized after some thinking that Erodinia made an assumption that alcohol extracts was the best and only way to pursue the use of herbs. However, from her responses to many of the postings, I also realized that she doesn't have enough knowledge or experience to have made the decision to use only extracts. Truth is, a working knowledge of various methods of extractions is necessary to make a judgement of which application is best under different circumstances. For example, alcohol extracts are fine if you're wanting a fast immediate, short term relief of a symptom. But when you want to go deeper into a constitutional treatment (long lasting healing), it's better to avoid alcohol extracts since you'd need to take about 1-2 ounces of extracts per day to accomplish what would otherwise be done using a decoction. That's like taking 1-2 shots of vodka per day which is not bad in itself, but many wouldn't want that much alcohol everyday. Many of the Chinese recipes call for boiling or infusing the herbs in water. They've been using this method for over 2,000 years. There's lots to be said for this. You can take a greater quantity of herbs and maintain their food-grade qualities. Whereas alcohol tinctures kinda' puts herbs into a medicine-type form for relief of symptoms only, but not having the in-depth approach needed for a more lasting healing. Here's some specifics: When there's a chronic health problem for which people want an herbal remedy, an average of 15 herbs are custom blended. And there's an average of 9 grams per day per herb which equals about 1/4 pound of herbs per day. Now, convert that into an alcohol extract. 9 grams is about 1 teaspoon of alcohol extract (It's not calculated straight across as weight per menstrum as one might think). So, that's about 15 teaspoons per day of alchol extract to get the same quantity and quality of herbs decocted in water. That's about 5 tablespoons per day which is about 2 1/2 ounces of alcohol extract every day. See why the use of alcohol extracts becomes relevant and not absolute? I use both forms of the herbs depending on which approach I want to take. Hope this makes sense. If there are any questions, please raise your hand. HerbDoctor

You need just a bit of clarification on using that charger. If all you have for setting options (amp ratings) is 2, 4, & 6 AMP, you SHOULD NOT engage the starter while the charger is connected to the battery! Small chargers like this don't always have good "overcurrent" protection (internal circuit breaker) and the load of the starter being applied to the charger could be the death of the charger. UNLESS a charger features a selection for "Boost Start" or something like that, never engage the starter without disconnecting the charger first. If the battery is very much discharged (weak) you will need to leave the charger connected for around 24 hours at 6 amp before the battery will gain enough capacity to function in cranking duties. (amount of charge in battery determines the exact amount of time at a specific amp rate to reach full charge). Having the battery tested by a competent shop could reveal whether the battery is shot or not. Another issue to cover in "no start" situations is whether corrosion has developed in the large cable circuits that serve the starter system. Both battery post connections, both large posts on the starter solenoid, the starter cable on the starter case, as well as the frame/engine connection fastener for the battery ground cable, MUST ALL BE TIGHT & CLEAN. You can't always determine if those connections are clean & tight just by looking at them! You have to take them loose, inspect the cable end and the place it connects to, to eliminate corrosion as a problem. Always disconnect the battery negative cable before setting out to loosen/clean/tighten any connections of any of the big cables.

Test conditions: outside air temp, 80 degrees. Suction pressure, 85 psi. Discharge line pressure, 150 psi. Both high pressure(small) and low pressure (large) lines at compressor are virtually same temperature. stearman, I think you still got a sick bull here. You got it back on it's feet but I think you should find out if you have a TXV or not. With that I would recheck pressures and take some temp readings of your lines and find out if superheat and subcooling are correct. This can lead you to finding the problem. If you know how much freon you added and how much is normally in the unit, then you could calculate the loss and decide how big the leak is. To keep adding freon to a system under 50#s is not against EPA regs. To handle a jug of freon....I won't got there. You got guages, you got some knowledge, you are out in the middle of nowhere and need help. Fairy lady should get off her high horse and find out what is happening in China, India, and every other third world country that is now polluting more than Europe or the Americas ever did. Take a temp drop on the unit after it has run for ten minutes. Use the return temp at the filter, and somewhere down the line from the A/coil or at a nearest register. Is it about 20 degrees difference? If you got guages, you should have a good meter and a good temp tool strap on type.