Running a Plated Column. the easy way

[M8Harry]

I love reading how everyone has a different method of doing the same thing.

I have 2 x 2400 watt elements going full noise then when the bottom glass is hot to the touch I kill the top element and dial the bottom element down to 80%
I let the system stay in full reflux for 30 minutes minimum and then aim for about 1L per hour output. That way there is wiggle room if water pressure changes and I dont have to stress too much while its running.

I could go faster but im in no rush.

Having my water recirculator I don't have water pressure fluctuation issues.
I built this bubbler to get a faster take off rate so I wasn't sitting in the shed all day watching the still when I have other things to do. my t500 was pulling faster take off rates than 1L/h if I run a low wines or feints its an 8-9 hr session at 2.5L/hr Including heat up.

Yeah i tend to sit up till just before dawn watching the still do its thing (im a night owl) I just put some youtube on in the background, i mainly listen to the documentaries while i watch the action through the glass. I could go faster but I find it kinda relaxing just watching chemistry/physics in action.

[B-Man]

Just ran 2 batches of of shiraz to turn into brandy.
thought id mix it up and ran one on 2400w the whole run the other at 3600w. see what differences etc it made.

I found running the 2400w was fine to start with at 90% but the abv dropped off a lot earlier and got down to 50% before I pushed out the tails where as the 3600w ran at 91% and dropped to 89% slowly near the end of the run until I decided it was time to push the tails out. im guessing with the 3600w it was overkill on reflux so it never really slowed down for tails? and because the extra reflux cause by more power keeping the abv up nice and high even well into the tails?
im thinking I should run until it hits tails (by look , smell and taste then just push them out nice and fast... rather than how I ran the pot where you would know it was tails by abv drop and slowed right down..

[GINKING]

Morning All,

Its been a while but finally firing up my 4" Neutraliser for a spirit run.

I haven't touch my still since August last year... so looking forward getting back into it.

I did a few batches of Weetbix - Albran wash last year and still have the 95% neutral... but not fully happy with the smell/flavour.
So I'm going to re-run the neutral through one more spirit run to see if it can be cleaned up anymore i.e. less sweeter flavour.

Anyhow I charged her up at 6:30 and started boiling around 7:20am. I have 2x 2400W elements. I run one at 100% and the other one via a controller.
fyi I did add water to the neutral to bring the overall ABV down to about 35%.

As soon as it started boiling I was getting product (drops) over even when in full reflux. I had to completely turn off the second element to be in 100% reflux.
Maybe the voltage is a bit hight at my new place.

I'll try and keep her in reflux mode for about an hour or so before I start collecting. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference in flavour by doing a second spirit run or if it was just a waste of time. I'm trying to run her as slow as possible...

Ginking

[Sam.]

I'll try and keep her in reflux mode for about an hour or so before I start collecting. It will be interesting to see if there is any difference in flavour by doing a second spirit run or if it was just a waste of time. I'm trying to run her as slow as possible...

Ginking

It should definitely help as long as you did decent cuts on the first run and you do decent cuts again :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[BigRig]

What percentage was the controller element at when it was still dripping ?
Are the cooling hoses valves fully opened ?
Are the valves fitted on the inlet or outlet on the condensers ?

Sorry for questions but i found when running my 4 plate bubbler the rig runs better with the gate valves fitted on the water outlets as opposed to the inlets (how it was setup initially). I am able to close the gate valves enough to slow the water exiting the defleg, with the extra hang time it allows the defleg the chance to do its thing, condense the vapour.

Maybe it has a lot to do with my high water pressure but previously with the gate valves on the inlets the water was still cold when it was exiting the defleg, almost like it was bypassing the vapour before cooling it. I would get non stop drips even with the 2nd element switched off.

With the defleg working more efficiently now i can hold full reflux with the 2nd element at 30% and get a toothpick stream at 45%.

[GINKING]

What percentage was the controller element at when it was still dripping ?
Are the cooling hoses valves fully opened ?
Are the valves fitted on the inlet or outlet on the condensers ?

Sorry for questions but i found when running my 4 plate bubbler the rig runs better with the gate valves fitted on the water outlets as opposed to the inlets (how it was setup initially). I am able to close the gate valves enough to slow the cold water exiting the condensers allowing it the chance to do its thing, that is condense the vapour.

Maybe it has a lot to do with my high water pressure but previously with the gate valves on the inlets the water was still cold when it was exiting the condensers, almost like it was bypassing the vapour before cooling it. I would get non stop drips even with the 2nd element switched off.

With the condensors working more efficiently i can hold full reflux with the 2nd element at 30% and get a toothpick stream at 45%.

Thanks for your reply BigRig,
I played with it for a bit, it starts to drip when the controller goes above about 30%... I'm now at 45% (63V) and getting about 2 drops a second. So similar to you...
Cooling hoses are fully opened. Valves are fitted to the inlet on the condenser.

I have put a bypass on my inlet hose so I can adjust water pressure.. I'll try that.

Ginking

[Nathan02]

How many plates are you running? I dont understand these low abvs. 4 plates for me and once I hit 89% I'm in tails guaranteed.

[BigRig]

How many plates are you running? I dont understand these low abvs. 4 plates for me and once I hit 89% I'm in tails guaranteed.

Na we are talking about power controller settings, running a 2nd element at 30%. My take off is 92-93%.

[GINKING]

My take off is 95%+... I am running it slow...

My struggle is when my cooling water starts to warm up and then I need to slightly adjust the water to the condenser.
About half way through the run I need to empty my cooling water and refill and then try to re-stabilise take off rate...

Its been a long day.. still going.. up to my 11th jar @ 400ml per jar.

Ginking

[Nathan02]

How many plates are you running? I dont understand these low abvs. 4 plates for me and once I hit 89% I'm in tails guaranteed.

Na we are talking about power controller settings, running a 2nd element at 30%. My take off is 92-93%.

Makes sense :laughing-rolling: disregard

[Radnelac]

Hi all, how can I upload a video from my phone so I can ask if I’m running my bubbler properly.
It’s a FSD 4” visualiser. Just want to make sure I’m doing this right. Only running FFV + some old low wines I had sitting around from previous TPW stripping runs.

[BigRig]

Hi all, how can I upload a video from my phone so I can ask if I’m running my bubbler properly.
It’s a FSD 4” visualiser. Just want to make sure I’m doing this right. Only running FFV + some old low wines I had sitting around from previous TPW stripping runs.

Put it on youtube and post the link

[punjabiz]

I'm doing some my second rum batch soon. Just wondering if you would add rum feints from a previous batch to increase the alcohol content and would it ruin the overall flavour?

[BigRig]

I'm doing some my second rum batch soon. Just wondering if you would add rum feints from a previous batch to increase the alcohol content and would it ruin the overall flavour?

Yeah go for it. Flavour will be ok.

[The Stig]

Hi all, how can I upload a video from my phone so I can ask if I’m running my bubbler properly.
It’s a FSD 4” visualiser. Just want to make sure I’m doing this right. Only running FFV + some old low wines I had sitting around from previous TPW stripping runs.

Put it on youtube and post the link

Paste the link in this code
[youtube]####[/youtube]
Just take out the ####

[punjabiz]

I'm doing some my second rum batch soon. Just wondering if you would add rum feints from a previous batch to increase the alcohol content and would it ruin the overall flavour?

Yeah go for it. Flavour will be ok.

Thanks mate, did it today with 4 plates and can confirm the flavour turned out pretty nice. I must admit I took a lot of the spirit at 94% which mostly flavourless (neutral). I tweaked it to 91-92 and that carried a bit more taste and is beautiful.

[Wellsy]

That is exactly what you need to be doing mate, tweaking things so it works for you.
I bet you need to suck a lemon about now to get the smile off your face :). You followed the instructions and got your still doing what it should be doing, but did not like the output so you changed things :)
Nice work mate you will never stop tinkering now lol

[NFI]

I read somewhere on this thread that the onset of tails generally causes the bottom plate to fog (or mist up). In the past I could more detect tails by the back of the bottom tee drying up rather than a fog. Recently I have added a packed section full of copper and at the point where tails seemed to hit the top plate was fogged up all others were clear. Is this a symptom of something else at play - running mac4sg on TPW.

[lest1]

I read somewhere on this thread that the onset of tails generally causes the bottom plate to fog (or mist up). In the past I could more detect tails by the back of the bottom tee drying up rather than a fog. Recently I have added a packed section full of copper and at the point where tails seemed to hit the top plate was fogged up all others were clear. Is this a symptom of something else at play - running mac4sg on TPW.

im very green but in deep tails yes but not to use as any form to make a cut

[The Stig]

Personally I’ve never seen the bottom plate fog up .
For me it’s when the ABV jumps and I smell/taste/feel the tails