Keggo woes

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Keggo woes

Postby r0bsk1 » Sat Nov 04, 2017 7:58 pm

Ive just given up running my first 25L TPW through a keggomax :shock:
Temp got to around 78 and started to get a dribble from the outlet. Collected about 150ml.
All of a sudden temp shot up to 90+ and couldnt get it back down with reflux so pulled the plug.
Surely i've not missed the boat while waiting for it to warm up and its boiled off already?
Can i put back in what it produced and started again?
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby Cheersbigears » Sat Nov 04, 2017 8:03 pm

Update your equipment so we can help and and you said hello yet
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby r0bsk1 » Sat Nov 04, 2017 8:12 pm

Yes done the hello thing a while ago. Before you joined in fact
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby woodduck » Sat Nov 04, 2017 10:14 pm

So your saying that you turned on your still and waited for it to warm up before turning on the water? If so not a good idea mate, that vapor can be dangerous, it could start a fire or poison you. I ALWAYS turn my cooling on before the element. Stay safe mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I would doubt it's all come off without you noticing but could have depending on how long it was on for.

Did you check your wash with a hydrometer to see if it was finished before stilling it? Maybe there's no alc to get?

Only other thing is a leak I guess?

How many ltrs is your boiler? 25?
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby Woodsy71 » Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:07 am

Need a bit more info, mate. Could you explain your set up? What are you using for cooling, boiler size, size of element..
I think the Keggo has a needle valve similar to a T500? :think: If so, those things can be a bugger to set!
Give us some more info, champ.... I'm sure we can sort it :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby Woodsy71 » Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:13 am

Sorry mate, I just read your equipment list :oops:

So a 2kw element on a 50 litre keg with a 25 litre TPW in it? It could be running too hot. You may need to sort out a power controller to dial the heat back. Get back to us on your cooling arrangement. You may not be throwing enough water at it too :think:
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby r0bsk1 » Sun Nov 05, 2017 2:34 pm

Cooling was done straight from the tap but ill run it off the rainwater barrel in the future so ill be needing a pump.

There's no valve on the keggo and the water goes up through the PC to the RC. I want to control the cooling independently so put in a Y splitter from the water feed to feed the 2. They have ball valves to close them off.

I reckon im over powered at 2kw for this setup so have ordered a PID controller as the other manual controller thats been ordered wont be up to the job. Hopefully that does the trick.
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby hillzabilly » Sun Nov 05, 2017 4:06 pm

I would check that you have not packed ya colomn too tight ,at a guess ya useing stainless scrubbies,and make sure ya leave a little space without packing at the top of the colomn were ya PC comes out,ifn ya unsure it's best too repack a little less and try again,is yours the stainless version or the glass one ?,an overpacked colomn will not handle as much power as a less packed colomn and this leads to flooding wich usually makes a gurgling noise from the colomn wich is dangerouse situation wich can end with a couple of hundred millaliters being spat out at once scary with electric but very bad on gas ,getting the packing right on a reflux still is critical to its performance (and may take a few runs to dial into what works for your particular still and boiler)personally I only use copper mesh wich I think is easier ta handle and gives a better result in flavour,and am of the opinion that 2000wt should not be too much for a 2inch reflux as I used that amount for a few years on my old 2inch nixon stone with very good but slow performance.cheers hillzabilly ;-)
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby r0bsk1 » Sun Nov 05, 2017 7:44 pm

Previous owner used stainless packing but i've replaced it with copper scrubbers. Its packed so that you can breathe easily through it.

I'm not convinced the reflux action actually works on this still. I am convinced im over powering it though.
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby orcy » Sun Nov 05, 2017 8:12 pm

Are you sure it didnt just puke? Every time ive had the temp shoot up quick its cause the still is puking.
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby scythe » Mon Nov 06, 2017 5:22 am

Sure you dont have a leak?
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby hillzabilly » Mon Nov 06, 2017 12:27 pm

r0bsk1 wrote:Previous owner used stainless packing but i've replaced it with copper scrubbers. Its packed so that you can breathe easily through it.

I'm not convinced the reflux action actually works on this still. I am convinced im over powering it though.

Well ya know what thought thought,with this hobby the only way to be sure is ta try it,and when I started I believed more packing would give better purity,but experience showed otherwise,and after a few pukes and spits and temp fluctuations I dialed the packing back and got a better safer result,I see the recommended power for your still is 2000wt and the fundermental result of useing less power is that you slow ya run down perpotionaly,with scrubbies I found it hard to get an evenly packed colomn wich is less of a problem with mesh rolls wich I weigh to maintain an even structure from top ta bottom,and as I said befor I have found a colomn can handle more power ifn ya have a lighter packed colomn,this is because with more whoosh going up its harder for ya refluxing liquid to go down because of less free space in ya packing,especialy ifn you have an area of more compackted packing the vapour will go up but the liquid will not be able ta go down,this is when ya colomn floods and the refluxing liquid builds up as does the pressure below it until the pressure forces the liquid out very quickly with dangerouse consiquinces.You could use less power but ya runs will be longer or ya could try a lighter less packed colomn your choice.It's something that would be clearly visiable ifn ya had sight glasses in the colomn like I have used at times and still do with my 4inch packed section.cheers hillzabilly ;-)
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby r0bsk1 » Thu Nov 09, 2017 9:44 pm

I found a PID controller available locally so i gave that a try. Nah figured quickly its not suitable due to the on/off nature. :angry-banghead:
I had the PID reading temp below the RC and a manual digital above. The PID temp never actually exceeded 77 but the temp above hit 80. :angry-banghead:
Anyway in 3 hours it produced about 200ml and then stopped dead in its tracks :angry-banghead:
Next step is wait for a 4kw light/fan controller and remove a bit of packing.
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby scythe » Fri Nov 10, 2017 5:14 am

I think that certain types of reflux stills are meant to stop producing once they reach a lower %ABV aren't they?
Unless you change some thing to get the rest of it out.

It really sounds like something could have been wrong with your wash.
That or your takeoff valve (if yours has one) is playing up.
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby r0bsk1 » Sat Nov 11, 2017 11:33 am

WE HAVE TAKE OFF!!!!! :music-deathmetal:

I've ignored the temp readings as the temp stated in the instructions gave a drip a minute. I've now got a drip drip dribble going on :happy-partydance:

More to follow.....
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby EziTasting » Sat Nov 11, 2017 11:50 am

:laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: It’s a Boy! :clap: :happy-partydance: :clap: :dance:

The joys of a breakthrough in this hobby are immense! Well done for sticking with it AND being teacheable!
Sometimes the best you can do is do ‘less’ (ref: hilz) and the rewards (not just monetary savings) can be immense.

Good luck and keep us posted!
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby r0bsk1 » Sat Nov 11, 2017 1:28 pm

And here's the results......are they good, bad or ugly?
1 87%
2 87%
3 87%
4 86%
5 85%

6 84%
7 84%
8 84%
9 84%
10 82%
11 80%
12 75%

There were 2 runs. 1-5 was a drip drip. 6-12 was a drip drip dribble.
Each jar was about 200ml.
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby hillzabilly » Sun Nov 12, 2017 3:33 pm

That doesn't look to bad ifn ya wash ABV was pretty low like less than 5-10%(or you only put a small amount into the 25lt boiler),ifn it was low wines of 40% then I would expect your starting ABV to be higher like 92% and ya colomn temp to be close ta 78'c but as you hit tails it will allways rise and would collect down to 35-40%ABV wich will be about 90-95'c.cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Keggo woes

Postby r0bsk1 » Sun Nov 12, 2017 4:10 pm

The whole 25ltr TPW was used. The calc says it was 11%. Total time was 7 hours
Column temp stayed around 74 until about jar 10 and started to rise. By that time it was a slow drip so i killed it at 12.
What i dont get is why the temp above the reflux section would be higher than that of below.

We tried some of it last night and definitely needs to breath a little. And the best thing is zero hangover......still feel pissed actually :laughing-rolling:
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