Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

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Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby ENTITY77 » Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:36 pm

The T500 is a popular entry level still, like most commercial products its a bit pricey but it does as advertised and it does it fairly well.

However the design of the still limits its versatility, not sure why the manufacturers have designed it this way but unfortunately they have.

One of the beautiful aspects of this hobby is that there is so much more to it than one could have possibly understood before getting involved. I guess the smart ones do some research and stumble across forums like this gem and get shown what questions they should be asking and an array of options that point them in the right direction. Other impulsive individuals (like me 8-} :D ) dive in head first and buy what appears to be the best product on offer.

Well this thread is most likely for the latter, who have bought themselves a T500 and realise they want to try some of those awesome recipes that you really need a pot or perf plate for to get those yummy flavours.

I want this to be considered a R&D thread for those who are interested in modding their T500 to make it more versatile instead of buying a new still to go on their boiler. What I have done is by no means the be all to end all way to mod the T500 but rather and example of what can be done (rather simply) to improve the T500's versatility. Perhaps if there is enough interest from fellow T500 owners we can collectively refine the modifications to a point that is optimal considering required time, cost and skill.

I'm starting this thread because its fairly easy to mod the T500 to increase its capabilities and because I couldn't find a thread anywhere else that discussed such a thing.

Also please keep in mind that I am relatively new to this hobby and haven't discovered all the flaws in my understanding of this hobby so bear with me. 8-} :teasing-tease: :-B


My goal in this mod was to make it capable of running as a pot still so as to be able to pull flavour over in distillation yet preserve its ability to produce clean neutral as a reflux still when required.

The main issues I found with the T500 being able to run in pot mode were:
1.The reports of the plastic head cap deforming and leaking due to increased temperature.
2. The inefficient design of the product condenser not being able to cope with peak vapor volume.

As far as I'm concerned these are both issues with the still as a refluxer as well. The plastic is going to degrade over time even if it doesn't deform from heat as with the new variants of the T500 that are capable of water distillation. Anyone who has done a spirit run with a T500 will understand how unsuitable the stock product condenser really is.

Now to the mod...

Was going to do a bit of a build dialog but don't have the pics to support such a thing. So for now I'll put up some pics of the finished product :-D .

b.jpg

Used stock reflux condenser for simplicities sake. Wanted to be able to return the unit to stock if need be so I left the reflux coil as is.


d.jpg

This was my first attempt at soldering copper and the cap was where I started. You can see where the solder ran into the cap due to my heavy handed application of heat. Not the best decision in hind site lol. Dremel removed the excess solder from the inside of the cap easily though.


e.jpg

Cleaned up the soldering with the dremel and a bit of a go over with steel wool... Million bucks!


f.jpg

Pinched the tube just below PC trying to bend it, even with a spring. Cracked the solder join as well :angry-banghead: :violence-smack: DOH!
All good now :-D


g.jpg

In place and ready to go! Need some copper mesh in the very top to stop the saddles going through into the PC when packing. Found that out the very frustrating way.

Thats all for now. will add to this to make it more complete.
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Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby Sinerjee » Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:43 pm

The main issue I had with mine was to get it into full reflux I had to wrap some thread tape around the temperature probe before putting it in. Otherwise the flow of water required to get full reflux would cause a leak at the temperature probe.
Once I fixed that up I ended up with a much cleaner product that I'm actually quite happy with.
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Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby ENTITY77 » Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:31 pm

Hey Sinerjee, Yeah put a couple of turns of teflon tape on mine as well.

On a side note I should point out that the mod requires the reflux and product condenser to be fed coolant independently. I separated the reflux and product condenser feeds from my very first use of the T500 so overlooked mentioning it. Knowing what I know now it was a waste of time with the stock setup lol.
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Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby Heef71 » Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:57 pm

Hey ENTITY77,

Inspiring write up! Will have to give the independent cooling thing a go. Sounds like a easy way to get full reflux at the start of a run to compress fores and heads. After that, do you still run your outlet water temp around 55 to 60 degrees?
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Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby ENTITY77 » Sun Sep 07, 2014 2:22 pm

Hi Heef,

Pretty much mate. For neutral with the above mod I let the column sit in full reflux for a half hour or so then adjust temp slowly until the fores start to come at a couple of drips a second, around 46 degrees for my setup.

After that I let the temp run up on its own through the collection of fores and heads then adjust to 51 degrees and start hearts. I usually have to adjust water flow to the RC a couple of times as I like to keep out put under 55.

When I detect tails I then let it run up to 60 degrees to use in sacrificial runs after cleaning ;)

Also I use recirculating water for cooling so the natural climb I experience in the output from the RC will be different that if your running straight out of the tap.
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Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby poompy » Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:00 am

mate that is brillant...i run a t500 and funds have been very limited. so would be keen for a cost breakdown if possible. Cheers mate
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Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby one-eye distillery » Mon Nov 03, 2014 11:35 am

Thats awsome mate.
Been thinkin of moddin my t500.
Been gettin some good neutral but keen to try some other styles.
Time to find some copper :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby one-eye distillery » Fri Nov 07, 2014 11:50 pm

Hey ENTITY77.
Almost finished my mods to my t500.gotta solder it all together soon.(about to do a reflux run)
Just a couple of noob questions if i may?
Do you use any packing when stripping in pot mode?
How much water (liters per min) do you use through the condensor and do you run water through the internal coil when pot stillin?
Also any tips or tricks for runnin the t500 this way?
Sorry for all the questions but very new to this hobby and cant find a lot of info bout running this way.
Cheers in advance for any help and happy brewing
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Posts: 19
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equipment: T500 reflux column
copper collection pipe not the crap plastic one

Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby BNS Bootlegn' » Sat Jun 13, 2015 12:54 pm

one-eye distillery wrote:Hey ENTITY77.
Almost finished my mods to my t500.gotta solder it all together soon.(about to do a reflux run)
Just a couple of noob questions if i may?
Do you use any packing when stripping in pot mode?
How much water (liters per min) do you use through the condensor and do you run water through the internal coil when pot stillin?
Also any tips or tricks for runnin the t500 this way?
Sorry for all the questions but very new to this hobby and cant find a lot of info bout running this way.
Cheers in advance for any help and happy brewing


Hey yeah I have a few too what's the deal with the t peices in the condenser? And could you run like a shotgun condenser instead?
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Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby WTDist » Sat Jun 13, 2015 6:04 pm

You would have to make the shotgun. its what im in the middle of doing to my t500 :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby BNS Bootlegn' » Sun Jun 14, 2015 1:17 am

Have you got any pics of it I pretty new to it all so keen to see what's out there
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Re: Turbocharging a T500 Reflux Still

Postby WTDist » Sun Jun 14, 2015 8:16 am

The link is under my posts
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