Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi Guy's.
I'm not sure if i'm on the wright track posting my question in this section but it relates to the still more than the wash. Basically I want to know If I'll be able to get rid of a sulfur smell with more Copper.
I've recently stopped using an all copper pot for my strips and D-tuned an old stainless reflux unit, originally taking out all of the packing and only supplying water to the PC. since my first runs I've added in SS packing just under the vapor collection with copper above it and some water to the cooling jacket to slow things down a little.
My question is about a strong Sulfur smell I got from my TPW. I've used that wash a bit and haven't had any trouble with the smell, even when I was completely D-tuned with no king.

1. No packing, no water, no smell but lost product out of PC as vapor
2. SS Packing under the vapor collection no copper, small amount of independent cooling water, had a noticeable stink within a few meters but seems to have dissipated after a week or two airing.
3.(From same wash as #2)The same as 2 but added copper above the SS packing and ran the reflux water inline with the PC rather than independently. Result: still had an odor but far less

All I really want to know:
Why am I getting that Sulfur smell
Is copper the answer?
where does this fit on the safe to drink meter? (another strip to follow before spirit run)

Cheers guys, any info would be good

sulfides you mean? you need an adequate amount of copper in the path weather the column is all copper or stainless. why were you loosing vapor? too small of a PC? not enough water in PC or you didnt use any water in PC at all?

Never heard of a sulphur smell coming off a tpw :think:
Have you tried other washes? Have you done a cleaning run throught the stills before use?

Still.. i would have thought for stripping, the copper pot would be the go. What was your reason for adjusting the process.?
As Aussie says, copper in the vap path is all you need, it acts to reduce the sulphides/sulphur smell.

aussiebrewer wrote:sulfides you mean? you need an adequate amount of copper in the path weather the column is all copper or stainless. why were you loosing vapor? too small of a PC? not enough water in PC or you didnt use any water in PC at all?

To small a PC is my guess. I've run my Little 750W pump all the way out with less than a few meters of hose leading to the still and had the garden hose full bore but it just wasn't cooling.
So as I mentioned the latest batch I used the same amount of copper as my spirit run and still had a bit of an off odor but defiantly not as bad as the first half. What variables influence sulfide levels during the fermentation? :eusa-think:

rumdidlydum wrote:Never heard of a sulphur smell coming off a tpw :think:
Have you tried other washes? Have you done a cleaning run through the stills before use?

I've done a few basic Rums and Whiskeys but nothing like that has been near the still in recent months.
Yeah it had a good clean before returning from retirement, a bath in steredent and a sacrificial run if I remember correctly, but that was months ago when I went back to using the original still for spirit runs.

also on my original post:
1. No packing, no water, no smell but lost product out of PC as vapor. 'No water' was referring to the reflux sorry

Sounds like you're overpowering the pc and causing some smearing. Very unusual for sulfur smell on tpw though.
Adding more copper to the upward vapour path will definitely help.

Kenster wrote:Still.. i would have thought for stripping, the copper pot would be the go. What was your reason for adjusting the process.?
As Aussie says, copper in the vap path is all you need, it acts to reduce the sulphides/sulphur smell.

I guess it was mostly experimental but partly due to the vapor loss being far worse with the last set up, I ended up with stubbies rotating through the freezer for collection and a pedestal fan blowing on the condenser.

coffe addict wrote:Sounds like you're overpowering the pc and causing some smearing. Very unusual for sulfur smell on tpw though.
Adding more copper to the upward vapour path will definitely help.

Would the sulfur smell usually be associated more with tails?

To be honest I haven't had a sulfur smell since moving away from tpw and air still. I can't remember what part of the run they were noticeable.

If you have never run a still with zero copper then you won't know what it smells like.

I can confirm a TPW run through just stainless with zero copper will have the hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg) smell, only take a small amount of copper in the path to remove this.

And as noticed above the smell does dissipate with time, not sure about safety for drinking, I know hydrogen sulfide gas in large doses can be lethal so probably not the best :-B

Sorry just reread my last post.

It should read since I moved away from turbo and air still. So no copper.

A coupla things. Reduce your power so you don't overpower the PC as its maxed out and frozen bottles, I'm assuming glass, and hot liquid are not a very good mix as the thermal shock can shatter the glass.
Also, try some copper if you can. Pack the column with it. As long as you don't run a RC it should still work as a pot.

Thanks for all your posts guys, I'll have to do some more research on the safety of this batch before it can come out of quarantine.
Also, I have another spanner to through in the works:

I have 2 x 50L TPW's in one brand of fermenter, started a few weeks back. As well as a different brand fermenter (the one that produced the first bad batch) with a TPW that I pitched a few days ago, I noticed the action in my airlock in the was pretty tame and checked the temperature, (25c) leaks (none) blah blah blah, I then got a face full of the hydrogen sulfide from my newest was.
I have checked the odor from the other two batches and as to be expected it smells more like crisp wine.

These 3 batches are all made with ingredients from the same bags of sugar, TP, Lowans yeast and citric acid (everything is bulk bought) except for 4Kg of major supermarket brand sugar that has gone in to the off smelling fermenter. Those 4KG and the fermenter its self (2nd wash in this one) are the only variables.
My question is: if the plastic in this one is poor quality is there a possibility it's causing my troubles?