Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Is your boiler insulated? Is your column insulated? Some of the heat gets lost to the surroundings if it's not well insulated. Insulating can be just as effective as increasing power, but you'll save money long term.

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Biggest single impact on run quality and efficiency is removing the environmental influences like wind and the cold!
I finally have a brew room so the temp around my boiler (which is insulated, but not the still head) is stable and it’s shown straight away in my collection, in the quality of the collected product and essentially the controls!

With packing,I am not a fan of mixed materials ,after trying many runs with ceramic rachi rings and saddles with copper mesh ,I found the all copper mesh to give the best results,and by that I mean flavour not highest ABV%,wich is the goal right ?,highest ABV% can be a big distraction and does not equal perfect spirit.3600wt with a 40% load wash should be the base for giving results,collecting at 2lt/hr ,your still has a head start with the 40% load so getting closer to 95% for it is easier than with a 10-12% wash wich is going to require more regular cleaning of packing,than it dealing with stripped wash.With copper packing I had to adjust the tightness of rolls 2-3 times by adding more mesh ,to find the best result,weighing each roll to get them the same,yes a few runs and re-running the same load may seem like a pain in the ass ,but you will only get the best from any reflux still that way.I would get another 4inch section instead of the reducers it will help with % increase ,yes I hear your brain thinkin of the extra cost of that and all copper mesh,but with a beast like that all the packing height you can get will give results with every future run,or you could add 2 or more copper plate tee sections on the bottom ,just another way to the same point ,use some of the parts from the carter head ,and you will be set for rum and whiskey.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

db1979 wrote:Is your boiler insulated? Is your column insulated? Some of the heat gets lost to the surroundings if it's not well insulated. Insulating can be just as effective as increasing power, but you'll save money long term.

Thanks. Yes she’s insulated.

hillzabilly wrote:I am not a fan of mixed materials ,after trying many runs with ceramic rachi rings and saddles with copper mesh ,I found the all copper mesh to give the best results,

Ok, I’ll give it a try. Speaking of which.... when I citric the rolls the liquid goes blue. I then rinse under a tap for 5 minutes or so. I like to clean the mesh after every run- it’s easy and gives me peace of mind (what’s left of it). How do I ensure the copper stays in ultra clean condition ready for the next run? Should I put it in baking soda or something?

Sounds like ya doing just fine with copper mesh cleaning ,I like to double distill for best results and always clean it between every run.Ifn the liquid is more blue I will give a second soak with fresh citric acid mix,on occasion when being fussy or if the packing has not been used for a while ,I will give it a light soak in the packed section (with end cap fitted) and rinse as usual afterwards, just befor fitting up and starting a spirit run,and I would not add the other stuff ya mentioned. cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

How did this go?