Hi All from SEQ

[seeka]

First of all thanks to the contributors, there is a wealth of info here posting.php?mode=post&f=3#.
Been struggling away with a T500 for a couple of years and have never produced anything I would consider an enjoyable drop. If at first you don't succeed try, try and try again :crying-blue:
After trying various filters and essences I came to the conclusion that T500 reflux product was not for me and back to Dans for the JW red.
I recently purchased an alembic head for the T500 and produced a single malt wash. No sooner had I started the still run and it puked. After shutting down and organising max flow on the condenser it still seemed to be too much heat. I have read lots of info about fitting voltage regulators and decided to have a look at my boiler. I am/was a sparkie. The T500 has two elements in parallel so I scratched through the shed and found an old three heat switch. I fitted this to my boiler and the three settings give me High (parallel), Medium (single element - half wattage) and Low (series - quarter wattage). This enabled me to finish my run but now I need to do a couple of more washes to get enough to do a spirit run. The bit I have smells pretty good though.

Last time I used the reflux, I cooked the column nut and copper packers. I believe it was from too much heat but maybe because I took it up too high to extract as much as possible. I have never considered the tails being an issue on the T500. After reading the info on the TPW, I am keen to give it a go so I need to resurrect the reflux column (following the post from WJ). I have some photos of the now black nut and saddles but not sure where or how to post them???

Thanks again for the help so far.

Seeka

[Doubleuj]

Welcome to the forum Seeka :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Try this for adding pics

[Woodsy71]

Evening mate :smile:

[Minpac]

Welcome... sounds like you've been down a hard road so far. You're right, there's a ton of info here. Cuts are probably the most important place to start - are you making them? Have a look here: viewtopic.php?f=57&t=2859

Also, if you're still using turbo yeast, move over to what we call TPW with bakers yeast here: viewtopic.php?f=32&t=6167 for a vodka(reflux head) or CFW viewtopic.php?f=32&t=5444 here for a whiskey(alembic head)

Sorry, don't have any t500 experience, but plenty of others do...

[Professor Green]

Welcome Seeka.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

[Lowie]

Welcome bloke. I have had the T500's predecessor for over 10 years and made some pretty good booze. I was a poofteenth away from buying the alembic dome before I found this site. I'm now in the process of building a bubbler instead! Stick with it you'll get it going and if you use the alembic to strip and the T500 for your spirit run you'll make some pretty good vodka. :handgestures-thumbupleft: BTW, the TPW is so cheap to make you can make pretty hard cuts and throw away (or keep for your Next run) your heads and tails, that way young won't need to run your still so hard.

[seeka]

Thanks guys. I will give the photos a go.....Re - cooked T500

IMAG0020 (3).jpg

This is the packing as it came out. I will admit I had them packed in pretty tight (In the big industrial world you do this to prevent channeling). I have since put the copper saddles in a couple of changes of vinegar. They are now back to a tarnished copper colour. Should they be bright?

IMAG0022 (3).jpg

The burnt? nut. There were bits of the coating, (chrome, tin, ss or whatever? all through the packing). I spoke to the HBS about the burnt appearence and he said "yeah, mine is a bit discolored too!' The nut is now in vinegar. Should I reuse it (as copper) or buy a new one?

IMAG0029 (2).jpg

The column is a bit cruddy. Does this indicate that the wash was surging up into the packing?
I had to clean it out with vinegar once before when someone :teasing-blah: told me you don't have to clear the wash because the T500 produces clean product. Lesson learnt :angry-banghead:
Since then I have been pretty careful to settle and siphon off the top and have never over filled the boiler. I am pretty confident (hopeful) that now I have temperature control things will go better.

IMAG0030 (2).jpg

The fix! :handgestures-thumbupleft: Will probably go down the voltage regulator road eventually as this will enable smaller more controlled adjustments. Need to try the TPW and the single malt first.

Thanks again for your help. Hopefully this and your feedback may help someone else as well!

[Plumby]

She definitely got hot man. Lucky you didn't warp anything

[seeka]

Progress!

Kicked off a TPW and CFW and knocked up a parrot.

Both washes were slow to start but eventually made it. Following WJ's instructions I ran half of the TPW through the T500 and I must say I am impressed :handgestures-thumbupleft: Did cuts but only rejected 200 ml up front and 400 ml of tails. Is this usual? Saved the tails to run through next batch or should I toss it?

Ran the CFW through the allembic in two strip runs and one final spirit run. Has a nice smell and taste but it is very intense. Will time and oak knock this intensity down or should I look at blending it with a neutral?

Also as it has a burnt malt/caramel smell, I was considering that I may have siphoned the wash before it had settled sufficiently. It was still a milky colour but I did strain out all solids. Second generation is underway but still has only the occasional bubble after three days. I just added an aquarium heater to it as temp is down to 20 deg C.

Things are looking up :dance:

[Lowie]

always discard your first 200ml which is fores (You could go 100ml, but I'd rather go overboard for safety). Heads come after the fores so it sounds like you kept them. No biggy, it's really up to your own taste - and tolerance for hangovers :D . Leave your collection jars open for a day or so (this removes other unwanted leftovers) and have a sniff again. Bet it smells better. :handgestures-thumbupleft: I don't think having a bit of solids in your boiler have much of an affect, others may have a different opinion. By running your stripped wash through your T500 as a spirit run you've created a neutral (that's what T500's do) Cheers. Lowie

[Kenster]

Seeka, time is your friend man...as is oak, both will significantly improve the end result. BUT as with all of us in the early stages, we just cant get enough booze quick enough and tend to keep 'trying' it when it is too young. (the harsher stuff).
With the airing of the takeoff jars, as has been discussed in other posts, more than a day or so will not hurt, I leave mine in wine bottles without lids,(and dont close at all) and loose SFA to the Angels. Even the 'good' neutral will surprise after a few weeks of airing as is my experience.
Be careful not to overfill beyond the Max Fill level on the T500, that may be where you got all your overheating/corrosion probs.(spewing up the col.)

[Kenster]

Seeka, sorry, forgot to mention, best to have a pretty clear wash, particularly where exposed elements are used, no so much in your case with the concealed element so the burning of sediment around elements is reduced/not an issue.

[seeka]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I have always been careful not to go over the max line but must have had some foaming?? in the early days. Seemed to be a lot more controlled now that I have removed the ceramics and replaced with SS scourers.

Regards

[Doubleuj]

A few drops of olive oil will help reduce foaming :handgestures-thumbupleft: