Running a T500, the Proper Way - Discussion Thread

[spudie]

The outlet water should be around 50 - 55 deg for a spirit run
For a stripping run I used to push it to 65 - 68 deg
And yes collect everything down to around 20%
Then put it all back in, dilute to below 40% , I used to go to 30% and do a normal slow spirit run.

Thanks - thats the data I was looking for.
Dont you just love being an idiot & having experience on hand to assist.

rgds Spudie

[The Stig]

Every day is a school day :happy-partydance:

[mcjas]

Hi all,

Newbie here so forgive me for maybe asking the obvious, but what is the reason you guys replace the provided plastic hoses with copper ones? :think:

I have made 7 runs now with my T500 and like the result already, but there is always room for improvement.

I have now about 5 liters of 92% lying around, made via the way the manual describes, only tossed out the first 150 ml, and then collected it all without making cuts, will it benefit the quality if I
make a run with that (diluted to below 40%) according to the way described here?

[The Stig]

Plastic will slowly dissolve in high ABV , leaching into the grog you drink .
Rerunning or redistilling will always improve the quality of your product.
Making cuts (correctly) will improve your product immensely.
You’ll end up with less product but it will so much nicer.
A wise man once asked me years ago “what did I want, Heaps of cheap grog or a lesser amount of fantastic grog ?”
I chose :music-deathmetal: the latter

[mcjas]

thx Stig, will be replacing the top hose and the exit hose with copper then.

So to see if I understood the difference between the manual and this way:

the manual's way:
I now put the wash in the kettle, and let it start to boil with the water flow controller closed. When I see the temperature come in the 60 C range I open up the flow controller and let it cool down to approx 55 C. This will take some tinkering with very small adjustments, but within 15-20 minutes I have it on a steady 54-56 C range. The first 150 ml I collect and set aside for cleaning windows etc. and the rest I collected all in one big jug, transferring it into bottles when room was needed.

The Proper Way:
Wash in the kettle, start boiling it, but now with the flow controller wide open. Wait until the temp is around 40-45 C and then the fores should start to come. Ditch the first 150 ml and then close the flow controller valve a bit until the temp is in the high 40/low 50 range with a bit more output, and collect 200 ml max in separate glass containers.
After 6 jars the valve can be closed more so the output comes back (what temp range???) until the smell becomes unpleasant, and the output will be lower as well since all the alcohol is taken out.
I understand the temp is only indication and one should look at the output, but since I am a rookie I would like to have a guidance from the temp gauge in order to have a clear understanding on what kind of flow I am looking for

[spudie]

Hi all.
Progressing along journey with T500, interesting difference when stripping run using as described above, especially the water cooling start timing. Copper tubing being made at moment.
Having internal discussion with Domestic Control as to power usage & costs. Help required pls... :think:

I'm an addicted FFV Brewer now and using 3 fermenters, does take some time to do the 3 strip runs then the spirit run.
Looking at doing costings for power usage & product ingredients especially with not using SS Turbo.

Eventual purpose would be using calculations to be able to justify a keg conversion to have 50lt boiler and Reflux / Pot still either self made or HBS.
Thanks in advance.
spudie Oz WA

[RC Al]

The ROI on a still isnt too hard to get back - if you actually use it.

Most of us with bigger stills (and spare time) end up being fairly generous with friends and family.

I recon the break even on a pot/boka setup in the first year is under a bottle a week ie if you buy a bottle of (even crappy) spirts most weeks, a still is worth while on the $$ front, Time is another matter (I see a bottle shop about twice a year these days and have a coronary most times, once you develop a bit of a taste for the good stuff life gets dearer in those places). Naturally a plater system is much more than that straight up, however after that if you stop buying equipment then life is very good. However you will always want that new shiny thing that will do x,y or z for you, so the $$ may keep flowing, you end up with a bunch of stuff at the end and way more booze than you can responsibly drink, not a terrible net result :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Every stiller needs a Pot still

FFv should be cheaper than turbo on the ingredients side, but that is a moot point when we are looking for quality. Turbo sure can be faster and give a higher abv for the given boiler charge and take less time overall because of that. Power is negligible spread across a per litre work out +/- 60c an hour for 2400w

[resist]

I did my last T500 run following these instructions. It works really well and I'll be doing all future runs this way.

My only issue came with using a power controller, which I've been setting to around 75 percent for previous runs. This time, at 75 percent power the output was ridiculously slow, like 1 drop every 5-10 seconds, something around 100ml an hour :laughing-rolling:

After 2-3 hours of this, I bumped the power up to 100, and then started getting a normal output.

I figure this method is intended to be run at full power, and NOT using a power controller? Or should I have reduced the water input, rather than cranking up the boiler?

Appreciate any tips, cheers

[MarkA]

Hi resist,

That's correct, these instructions are for running without a power controller.

[resist]

Cool, that makes sense, thanks MarkA!

Is anyone doing stripping runs with their T500? If so, I'm wondering how you'd go about it? My thoughts are to slow down the water input right from the beginning of the process, and aim for 65 degrees on the water output temp. If anyone has experience doing stripping runs with the T500, I'd really appreciate your guidance, cheers.

[The Dark Alchemist]

Cool, that makes sense, thanks MarkA!

Is anyone doing stripping runs with their T500? If so, I'm wondering how you'd go about it? My thoughts are to slow down the water input right from the beginning of the process, and aim for 65 degrees on the water output temp. If anyone has experience doing stripping runs with the T500, I'd really appreciate your guidance, cheers.

That's what I do - 65 - 70C as temp. Easy and simple, then dilute to 40% max and spirit run...

[resist]

Hi Dark Alchemist,

When doing a stripping run, do you run the water from the beginning, as soon as the boiler is turned on? Since we're doing a stripping run, and not worried about heads, my instinct is to switch on the water only once the column starts to warm up (approx 40 mins into the process). Am I on the right track?

[The Stig]

Whenever running any still, it’s good practice to turn on the water as soon as the still is turned on.
Doing this will allow for any issue that may arise such as leaks, cracks in hose or any other issue yiu can think of.
Cheers