Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi i have just brought a reflux still after using a air still for 13 months i have done 2 runs now and trouble with both of them was just wondering why on the first run i only got 2.125 litres @ 90% and just 1.900 litres @ 84% my temp was 78.5 on the first run then it wouldn't go below 82 on the second run just need to no what am i doing wrong.

You might not of done anything wrong mate, as what you get out is determined by what you put in.

How big was the wash you put in and what was the abv of it.

Bit more info and the resident experts might be able to give some ideas. Pop into the welcome centre and introduce yourself and what you are hoping to produce.

We need more info :greetings-waveyellow:
What kind of still ? And size ?
What wash ?
Was the wash done ?
How fast did you run this still ?
What size boiler ?
What elements ?
And location , things change between NT and TAS
Answer these and we will have a good starting point

thanks Stig i use a alcoengine reflux still with 30" copper condenser the wash was a 25 litre turbo pure yeast with 7kg of dextrose sugar reading of wash was 985 running at 1.2 litres an hour its a 35 litre digiboiler 2400w and i use a power controller i am only trying to make a good neutral spirit i live in morwell vic

Try pulling the packing out , clean it and repack it
See if that helps

Tuffy wrote:25 litre turbo pure yeast

A good neutral probably wont come from a turbo without carbon filtering your spirit but its a good starting point to learn.

Around 4 liters at ~87 % sounds pretty good from 7kg of dextrose.

As for temp, thats only a really short column and even packed with mesh it would probably struggle to produce 96% at 1.2 l/m.
My old PDA-1 had a ~30 to 40cm column with packed mesh before i got a 70cm extension an that usually could only produce 96% @1200 watts and 500ml a minute.
My 3" meter long mesh packed column produces only around 2.5 liters a min at 96%. Definitely clean and repack the column as suggested and next time you run try around half the power and slowly open the take off valve after youve given the column time toreach equilibrium. Close the take off valve and give it 10 mins from the first drops. Then see what the strength is. Open it until you Find the point it start to drop off and just under thats your maximum flowrate.
If you feel cocky you can increase the power a bit but again watch your strength. If you open up a bit more and the srength drops again you're overpowering it.
Its all going to be a bit of trial and error on your first couple of runs.
Good luck bud.
Warra

Just realised i was talking liters a minute. Imeant liters per hour.
Sorry for any confusion.