I did my first run today. 30L of 14% VodkaStar turbo. I reckoned that while waiting for my wash to come to a boil, I would work out the cooling lines. I was about halfway finished the lines when I felt a cold mist on my face. I was getting product squirting out of the top of my condensor.
I turned off the gas and finished the lines. I turned on the reflux condensor, and turned on the gas. I had read about folks only needing a "trickle" of cooling water, mine needed a bit more than that, it was a pretty steady stream, the condensor gate valve probably 1/2 open. It was using more water than I really wanted, but at least I was getting reflux. I let it equalise for a half hour, and started taking heads from the LM port. The needle valve is very fiddly to get right, and the lack of immediate feedback is frusterating. I would twitch the valve, and 30 seconds later I would see the result, usually either a gush of fluid, or fully shut off. Eventually I got it where I wanted it, 2 or 3 drops per second. I filled up my 150ml curry paste jar, and turned off the LM.
I let it equalise for a while, then cracked open the VM gate valve. Nothing happened, so I opened it more. A HUGE gush came out, completely missing my collection vessel and splashing all over the picnic table. It was that delayed reaction thing again. It was actually pretty easy to dial in the proper amount of output though, with that big gate valve.
I still wasnt happy about the amount of cooling water I was using, so I tried reducing the water a little bit. :violence-smack:
The water coming out wasnt that warm, I could comfortably hold my hand in it. As I was pondering the lack of heat in my outflow, I felt that familiar cold mist.
Yea, I got the ethanol waterfall again. Streaming down my column, running under my insulation. I quickly cranked the water back up, but it was too late. It ran down the side of the keg, and caught fire. I turned off the gas, but the fire hung out on top of my keg for a few seconds, then shot up under my insulation, melting and burning it. I sprayed it all down, and eventually put it out with the hot side of my cooling hose.
I've quit for the day. Need to reassess the situation, let the adrenaline fade.
Im gonna give my pot still head a go next time. Not so many things to go wrong, only one condensor. I dont really even like neutral spirits, prefer rum.
I need a better reflux condensor for the VM rig. This one sucks. What kind of condensor is best for the top of a VM rig? I need one with lots of knockdown. I think part of the problem was the regulator I was using made it so easy to dump heat into the system. I was probably running about 90kPA of gas at the time. What pressure should I be running my gas at?