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