HELP First distill,reflux still,poor rate HELP

by **Sam.** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:41 am

Yeah I never got mine into full reflux. The only reflux created is from those two little tubes so more coolant the better I reckon.

And yes they should be a power management still I reckon but this is in no way ideal

by **finners** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 10:53 am

Gunna give a good clean and repack with new packing, then give it one more go. If it does the same might flog it off and buy a boka

by **Sam.** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 12:42 pm

[quote="] If it does the same might flog it off and buy a boka[/quote]

Good idea!

by **punchy21** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 1:14 pm

finners wrote:I ran it at a steady temp with low coolant flow at the start. That was when I was collecting the drop per second. That led me to experiment with turning the element up higher and increasing coolant flow to try to speed up the collection.

Tried heaps of different variations of heat and coolant, but at 77/78deg all I could manage was a drip or two a second.

As mentioned, haven't check digital probe thermometer in boiling water but did remove it a few hours into it and replace it with cheap handheld one I use for beer and it appeared to be reading close to the same.

Gday finners,

I reckon by increasing your water flow and turning your element up higher, it has pretty much cancelled each other out hence the little change in output. This has increased vapour rising up the column but caused more reflux at the same time...

On your next run leave your heat at the same setting and just back off your cooling water to control your output. You'll have to keep an eye on your output to make sure you have enough cooling to condense everything, if not then you'll have to lower the heat setting. These are tricky to control but its just a matter of finding the sweet spot... :handgestures-thumbupleft:

by **SBB** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 2:02 pm

If you really wanted to improve one I think you'd need more of those cooling tubes, and a needle valve for better control, if you did that though you,d then have to run a separate water supply to the Product condenser. more tubes would also make packing the column a pain in the quoit.

by **finners** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 2:26 pm

All this talk of column cooling,would it be advantageous to uninsulated it so it can naturally cool or is it better to keep constant temp?

by **tipsy** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 3:12 pm

finners wrote:All this talk of column cooling,would it be advantageous to uninsulated it so it can naturally cool or is it better to keep constant temp?

Keep the constant temp. I tried running my LM without insulation outside, it was a bitch.

by **ozybottler** » Tue Jun 11, 2013 8:59 pm

I did my first the other day my still is different style it has condenser at top with 2 collection plates and a water jacket condenser I only got 3 ltrs of heads and hearts my self but ran well buy only got 85 abv with out working out temp I blame my wash
OZYBOTTLER