Can you stop and start a reflux still???

[Chris tom]

Hi all I have a still spirits super reflux still and halfway through my run i had to stop and head out (family emergency) its now three hours later. Can i take the head again and crank it back up or will stoping it have hindered my efforts???

[Kimbo]

Hi Chris,
How about calling in to the welcome center and introducing yourself ;-)

[crow]

It will pick up where you left off and +1 on the intro, we like to know who we're talking to ;-)

[Chris tom]

Hey cheers peeps, i have added my welcome post now sorry about that, too eager for help, my bad. :doh:

[Sam.]

Yes mate just get it back to full reflux wait a little bit then start collecting again (prob chuck a little bit of the first bit out to be sure ;-) )

[kiwikeg]

Hi Chris absolutely no problem switching OFF still and restarting it later, like someone above said take the foreshots again to safe.
I have had to stop runs and I wrap the boiler in a blanket to try to stop it cooling down too mych while I am away, :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Chris tom]

Thanks for all the help, I started her again and took another 150ml to throw and continued on the same putting out 86%.... now for the next batch :-D :text-thankyoublue:

[crow]

No worries but you need not have taken so much. what ever was left would have ordinarily been in your finished spirit so yeah if there was unwanted conpouds left they would have been compressed but it would have been bugger all. Halfway through :think: maybe 20ml to be safe and that may well be 15ml to much.Doesn't matter but keep it in mind next time :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Rolls912]

How long can you leave the still off for? Say I run it one evening. Turn it off at midnight. Then crank it the following evening.
:ugeek:

[RC Al]

Wouldn't be a drama on stripping runs (Discarding fores again as mentioned), but it would screw with cuts on a spirit run
Run less in the boiler?

[Sam.]

Just keep doing cuts and keep what you normally would, your just wasting a bit more power heating up your boiler twice

[YarraRanges]

I have occasionally had to stop my reflux still halfway through and finish it off the next day. I've never chucked out the first 20 or 30 mls on the second run as I always do a complete job of getting rid of the fores initially. I've never noticed any more fores coming through and I've never had a failure doing it.

[Boomgate]

In theory the fore's should be completely out during the start of the run.... considering the boiling temp of fores is lower than the boiling temp of hearts.... but I guess better safe than blind...

[db1979]

Acetone and methanol will have been removed.

Esters however are formed by the reaction of alcohols with carboxylic acids, both of which are still present in the boiler. The best conditions to form esters are during reflux. So even if you've removed fores and heads, best to discard just a little bit as it will be heavier in esters. There will be esters forming through the run (regardless of whether it was one continuous run, or stopped and restarted) and these benefit from airing your cuts jars. You could minimise these esters by neutralising the pH of the wash as esters are produced faster in pHs lower or higher than 7.

[stillts]

Is a “little bit” the same amount as the fores you threw out before switching still off?

So if I threw out 500ml, should I throw out 500ml after getting boiler back up to temp?

Thanks,

Stillts

[stillts]

Ps running a pot still. Not sure if it os the same method

[Wellsy]

200 ml would be more than enough I believe stilts.

Don’t get to hung up on fores volumes if you are making reasonable cuts mate. Even if you made no fores allowance they will be discarded when you throw out your heads. Still good practice and habit to toss them. It is just the actual volume Iam suggesting you don’t get over anxious about.

[stillts]

Cheers Wellsy!

[crow]

If you see the post/diagrams in the old cuts and fractions post from :think: maybe kiwistiller? You get rudimentary idea of how fractions come off in an order determined by the boiling point of each compound in your kettle. What this means is if you have stopped at a point where certain compounds have been exhausted you can start up basically where you left off. That said pot stills do smear a little by nature so and residual lower alcohols commonly called heads will be the first cab off the rank. If you didnt stop these would have possibly not been removed so not making this cut would not be the end of the universe as we know it but as most of us are chasing the best result we can achieve it would make sense to collect it separately even if just to check its ok. If hearts were starting before shut down and your boiler is under 100 ltrs 50 ml should be loads but if in doubt collect a few cuts of that amount to test afterwards to maximise your yield without compromising your end result :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[The Stig]

Welcome back Crow :teasing-neener: