MR-E'S Mongrel Plate Still

[home_brewer]

Will be starting her soon gotta finish my vm first just gotta get a 1" valve and run it

[emptyglass]

Congrats on finnishing it off! I bet you feel better now. Good to see it bubbling!
I think you will benifit from a parrot. makes things just that bit easier

Fukers, wait till they need help changing a light bulb or changing a tyre :laughing-rolling:

The tech crew probably have an app for that.

[MR-E]

Congrats on finnishing it off! I bet you feel better now. Good to see it bubbling!
I think you will benifit from a parrot. makes things just that bit easier

Fukers, wait till they need help changing a light bulb or changing a tyre :laughing-rolling:

The tech crew probably have an app for that.

Cheers E.G, thanks for your support during the build :handgestures-thumbupleft:
A parrot is one thing on the to do list.

[MR-E]

O.K, the techs have done their job, so here's a quick vid of the cleaning run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wowARAMNlA

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bentstick]

Nice work on the bubbler, feels good doesn't it :clap: :clap: :clap:
Looks like ya have the sweet spot, pretty amazing watching this things run, wait until ya get some drinkables coming off it, you wont be disapointed! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Sam.]

Not sure how you can call that a mongrel mate, I would call it a pure bred piece of awesome :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MR-E]

Not sure how you can call that a mongrel mate, I would call it a pure bred piece of awesome :handgestures-thumbupleft:

That's one of the many names it got called during the build, some can't be repeated, even here :D

Nice work on the bubbler, feels good doesn't it :clap: :clap: :clap:
Looks like ya have the sweet spot, pretty amazing watching this things run, wait until ya get some drinkables coming off it, you wont be disapointed! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

It was exciting to watch the whole process for the first time :dance: ,second run was a batch of Bourbon Knock Off on Sunday night (first gen) :handgestures-thumbupleft:


I've still got a few things to do, in line parrot, water hose connections & probably be replacing the easy flanges with S/S ferrules, but I'll have more time to do those now that
I don't have to baby sit a Bok for 16+ hrs :laughing-rolling:

[MR-E]

O.K, I've had a few more runs with the new toy & I've decided I'm gonna fit J-traps to the d.c's.
I'm getting fluctuations on all the plates except the bottom one, which has a J-trap.
This will also allow me to go modular in the future :D
I'll post pic's when its done.

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[emptyglass]

Mate, don't rip apart just yet.
If I can get one to run with no downcomer cups, anyone can.
You may possibly have the same issues with cups if you havent got it set right. Got to find the sweet spot. When you made it that way, it was a good idea, it still is.
I had all sorts of issues with mine, and was nearly about to agree with the masses and install cups, then I turned the heat down. Hit the sweet spot.

With this design, you NEED to get it charging the plates from the top down. You will know if you are pumping too much heat in, it will fill the bottom plates first. The bottom J gets too hot and makes a vapor lock (vapor will flash off). Once collecting, you can ramp it up. Once all your plates are full and bubbling away, it will be nice and stable.

And collecting about 2 to 2.5 litres an hour @ 95%. Maybe more with the drilling on your plates.

Have you got fine control over deflag cooling?

[MR-E]

Mate, don't rip apart just yet.
If I can get one to run with no downcomer cups, anyone can.
You may possibly have the same issues with cups if you havent got it set right. Got to find the sweet spot. When you made it that way, it was a good idea, it still is.
I had all sorts of issues with mine, and was nearly about to agree with the masses and install cups, then I turned the heat down. Hit the sweet spot.

With this design, you NEED to get it charging the plates from the top down. You will know if you are pumping too much heat in, it will fill the bottom plates first. The bottom J gets too hot and makes a vapor lock (vapor will flash off). Once collecting, you can ramp it up. Once all your plates are full and bubbling away, it will be nice and stable.

And collecting about 2 to 2.5 litres an hour @ 95%. Maybe more with the drilling on your plates.

Have you got fine control over deflag cooling?

I've tried different heat settings on the gas burner to load the plates & mine load from bottom to top, regardless of heat input.
On a low heat setting the plates are stable in full reflux, but surge if I try to collect, which causes my output to surge as well.
I don't get the surging from the output if I apply more heat during collection, but get surging on the plates.
It looks like vapour is preventing the liquid from flowing through the d.c's properly.
Regardless of heat input the bottom plate is stable, just the amount of liquid on the plate changes with the heat input.
Another thing I noticed on the runs is my plates don't dry up, the sight glasses fog up as the alcohol is depleted from each plate.
And yes I have good control with the defuck.
I have no idea what my collection rate is, I just adjust it with the defuck until I get it @ 88-90% & its pissing pretty quick.
There are some differences between our builds, I have six plates with 140 x 1/16" holes & I don't have the flare in the top of the d.c's.
Its all experimental at the moment, so nothing will be done that can't be undone.

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[emptyglass]

Keep chipping away mate, you'll get it working.

I bet the product you have made, even with teething probs, is nice.
Even though you might be pulling a bit of hair out at the moment, its better than 13hrs of thumb twiddling, yeah?

[MR-E]

O.k, I did a run tonight of 2nd gen Bourbon Knock Off & had the new d.c's with the j-traps in.
It wasn't a very good run, I had surging & huffing from the output tube the whole run, didn't matter
where I had my heat settings at. :angry-banghead:
I'm gonna have a run next w/end & if I have the same problems I'm putting the old d.c's back in.

I don't know why the output is surging & huffing as the product is cool too touch :think: , any thoughts :?:
I didn't put a vent in my output where it connects to the shot gun condenser as I don't have a parrot, could that be the problem.

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[emptyglass]

Bang the equivelent of 3 x 1/4" holes just under your product condensor. Get rid of any possible issue with it.

You just need to make freinds with an old enemy. Shake hands and get over it.

Remind it that you have the power at you disposal to crush it into a little itty bitty chunk of copper scrap. Remind it that you are the maker. And you made it to work.

Now, try a different tact. Talk nice, tell it how much you like it, its fantastic morning glory, and any thing else to flatter it. Tell it you even like the face it put on this morning.
You know how it goes, if you want action, you gotta talk nice.

Check out the vids I posted, your still works. Its not the still. Get some shit fermenting bloke, you need a good few practice runs to get it singing,
but it can. Dont jump to conclusions, you have done the work, you just need to work out how to drive the beast.

And the only reason I hepled you is because you made a still like mine. And the fact that if you can get yours to work, it proves the "no cups" idea.
And if i can get mine to do the job, you can

I reckon the key is in the heat up. go too fast, you accumulate too much heat down low, and it dosn't have time to travel.

May I suggest doing a run slower than you think you should. See what happens.

Tortise and hare. You will win in the end

[MR-E]

I've got three more fermenters ready to go, so no problems in that department.
I did the slow heat up tonight, took it real easy, plates loaded from the top down, let it settle for 15min &
slowly collected 150ml of fores.
Put it back into reflux for 15-20min & then slowly collected the heads & then adjusted the reflux to start collecting
@ 88-90%.
The heat input was still low at this stage & I was getting the huffing & surging from the output.
I tried different heat settings on the burner & it only changed the action on the plates & the speed of the output.
Nothing I tried stopped the erratic flow & huffing of the output.
The runs I did with the no cups d.c's were more stable & the output only erratic if the heat input was too low, so yes the no cups
on the d.c's works.
The plates behaved the same way on both sets of d.c's, fucked if I know why, is the surging/fluctuation of the liquid level a normal thing on plated columns :?:
Anyway the stuff coming out is all good, been doing a lot of sampling of the the stuff coming of the still & would be happy to drink it
without oaking :D

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MacStill]

is the surging/fluctuation of the liquid level a normal thing on plated columns :?:

Only time I ever had that was on gas, when the bottle got below half full using a BBQ regulator

[Swede]

EG is right, you don't necessarily need cups or traps on your downcomers. I built a still with wier type downcomers and it ran fine. These type of downcomers have no baffle/downcomer cap at all. Here's a shot of how they fit together take during the build. You can see that there is no vapor lock, the liquid in the tray acts as the lock.



It takes a while to learn how to drive on of these stills, but with a bit of practice, you'll find its damn easy. Surprisingly, I found mine ran opposite to how EG recommended, I use more heat, and control output with the reflux. Mine is a bubble cap unit, not a perf plate, so that could be the difference. Bottom line it, play around with it till you find out what works for you.

BTW, it's a nice lookin still, no mongrel, that's for sure...

[MR-E]

Thanks for the input guys, I'll get it sorted in the end. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[emptyglass]

If your getting huffing and surging with 2 different plate setups, it probably not the plates causing it.
Is the heat source fluctuating? Do you have some headspace in the boiler?

I agree with what mac said, when the gas gets low in the bottle, its not as stable as a full one. I use a 45kg bottle, but when its low, all sorts of funny things go on. Don't know if thats it though.

Maybe try swedes way and go heaps of heat, but I think you might have done that.

[Kimbo]

is the surging/fluctuation of the liquid level a normal thing on plated columns :?:

Only time I ever had that was on gas, when the bottle got below half full using a BBQ regulator

I run on Natural gas, No reg.
Mine surges constantly, I've just learned to ride them out :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[MR-E]

If your getting huffing and surging with 2 different plate setups, it probably not the plates causing it.
Is the heat source fluctuating? Do you have some headspace in the boiler?

I agree with what mac said, when the gas gets low in the bottle, its not as stable as a full one. I use a 45kg bottle, but when its low, all sorts of funny things go on. Don't know if thats it though.

Maybe try swedes way and go heaps of heat, but I think you might have done that.

is the surging/fluctuation of the liquid level a normal thing on plated columns :?:

Only time I ever had that was on gas, when the bottle got below half full using a BBQ regulator

I run on Natural gas, No reg.
Mine surges constantly, I've just learned to ride them out :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks guys, I'm running on gas with a standard regulator & it sounds like that's the cause.
I'll be running the still next w/end & I'll keep the L plates on :D

Cheers :handgestures-thumbupleft: