T 500 tips and tricks?

[danmiz]

Hi all!
i just bought a t 500 and and am i ever very excited. ive read everything over and over and am wonder are there any tips out there that i didnt read about that i should know about the t 500? thans in advance!

[poompy]

run it cooler than what the instructions say. i usually run mine at 50-53deg

chuck out the first 200ml at least
read up on cutting
viewtopic.php?f=41&t=874&p=9951&hilit=kiwistiller#p9951

i have just recently purchased a pot still to run a couple of stripping to help clean it up more as well.

have fun :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[danmiz]

thanks for reply! i have an air still and have been running stripping runs to get ready for the t 500. do i need to fill up the 25 L t 500 with 30 % or so spirits or can it be less in the boiler?

[Brigand]

Volume is not an issue if you put enough in the boiler to keep the element submerged

Cheers

[QLD.Andy]

I have been running the T500 for almost 2 years now (maybe longer)
The low wines is the best way to go but I have also added extra copper in the column in the form of a second pack of the chips they give you and a small amount of copper mesh at the base.
I found after a number of run's the ceramic saddles would fall out and the copper stops that.
I also got into the habit of cleaning the ceramic's after every 4th run as they start to get smelly and this carries over into the spirit.
Cleaning them is easy:
Place 2 sterident originals in a bowl, chuck the ceramic's on top and cover with boiling water and leave over night.
Rinse well before using.
To clean the copper stuff I just submerse them in lemon juice for a couple of hours.
Running mine about 55 - 57 most of the time.

[NotBenStiller]

I wasn't present during your over and over reading so i can't tell what tips out there that you didnt read about :teasing-tease:

if you read around some more, you'll see that ppl say it's better if you separate the cooling into two lines - one for coil and one for condenser - instead of having cold water go up thru condenser then have that now hot water going to the coil to try get some reflux going - it's a stupid design :angry-banghead:
Also, remove the ceramic saddles and replace them with stainless steel 'giant' pot scrubbers from coles - can keep the copper saddles at the top tho

The T500 doesn't have in internal element so there's nothing to keep submerged - except for the bottom of the boiler - so i don't see any dramas with running dry unless you forget to turn it off. Any volume of wash can be run.

I seem to pay more attention to the column top temp - rather than the coil coolant exit temp.

[crow]

Tip: don't loose the receipt , some guy In Melbourne is telling ppl that these are all rounders and can be run in pot mode , truth is they can't . The temps needed to do that are more than the synthetics in it can handle and it will fail even the manufacturer I'm told agrees with this and I know at least 1 member who found this out bout the only trap I know with them

[danmiz]

Thanks everyone. Much appreciated!

[NotBenStiller]

Yeah as croweater mentions - i wouldn't run it detuned - unless you swap out all the plastic for copper (especially the column cap)
But then you won't need your receipt coz there goes your warranty :))

[danmiz]

Advice taken! Thanks!

[matty83]

Just a few things with the T500 as I have owned the unit for about 12 months now and run too many washes to count.

1) When people say there is no minimum volume. I've found that depending upon how much rock salt I use in the boiler(and if I'm triple-distilling) I can get surging which pollutes my final product from about 94% to 85% quite quickly. I dont use much rock salt, but it certainly makes a difference.

2) Be careful filling the T500 column fully with scrubbers as you may not be able to get them out without taking the top off. I fill mine with copper saddles & that ceramic stuff(I actually wonder if marbles would work better) until I get to the lowest point which the water exits so I dont get stuff caught in there. Also, dont pack it too tight, this can cause bad stuff to happen.

3) Once your confidence grows(like mine) venture into non-turbo mashes, cutting and hit up McStill for one of his beasts which he can make to suit the T500 boiler. It looks the goods and (from memory) is about 1.6M high.

Hope this helps

Matt

[QLD.Andy]

Why are you putting salt in the boiler ?

[matty83]

Rather than reword it here. Link here - http://homedistiller.org/distill/dtw/salt

[ledgenko]

Right this is a Noob question ... I have just finished my 2nd wash and distill .. very happy with what I have made so far .. esp considering that the boss said the Matty made product was the bought product when blind taste tested !! but one of the questions I have is with efficiency ... is the 65degree thing a "65 degree C difference between the water .. or should my max temp be sitting at 65 or less ... I have played around with the temps and found that if I sit at a genuine 65 deg I get no product .. but at 78 when water temp is 17 its not bad but at 79.8 its a good stream ... I think I may have answered my question but would love the advice ...

BTW .. I am 150% hooked .. love this new hobby / obsession ...

[QLD.Andy]

The top temp needs to be 78 - 79 the bottom temp needs to be 55 - 65 (lower is better)

[danmiz]

so far ive run it 3 times and it takes about 11 hours to get 4 liters of 955 or so running at 58 degrees. its annoying how long it takes. im going to running it hotter to see how much faster i can produce 4 l.

[MacStill]

so far ive run it 3 times and it takes about 11 hours to get 4 liters of 955 or so running at 58 degrees.

Something is terribly wrong here, I think you need to go back to the brew shop you bought it from and tell them what's happening.

It shouldnt take more than 90 minutes to get a full boiler charge to operating temps, and you should be getting around 92 to 93% ABV at around a liter per hour.

Have you downloaded the instruction manual ?

Cheers.

[poompy]

have to agree with mcstill.

It normally only takes me all up 4-5hrs.

[ledgenko]

ok.. Top and bottom temps ??? the temps i run it at is the top of the line is 78 degrees ... water going into the condenser is at apprx 17 degrees ... so i should try to run more water through - currently just over a pint a minute ... and my spirit comes out at 95% ... is reducing the temp going to make much difference ?? i ack its an odd series of questions .. i just don't want to destroy my new toy .... and or blow up myself at the sometime :doh:

cheers

[poompy]

my top temp normally sits on 78-79 and I keep by bottom temp at 53-55.