insulating a T500

[Berserker_75]

Hi all.
Ive been using a T500 and after being told off for stinking the house out with alcohol I have no choice but to run it outside.

I live in Tasmania so its quite cold, and ive noticed that when the wind picks up while im running the still the temp drops quite considerably. I am thinking of making an insulation jacket out of carpet or something to combat the fluctuation in temperature. At the moment ive just got a few towels and a wet weather jacket draped over the boiler and column as a temporary solution and it has fixed the issue

So the question is, shall I insulate the boiler + column or just the boiler? ive also read somewhere that the insulation can go right up to the bottom of the condenser coil in the top of the column ( so 6 inches or so of the column is un-insulated ) so im not quite sure where to stop with the insulation.

Any help is great

Thanks. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Atreu]

Hi mate,

While I didn't have quite the same issue, I recon the solution I went with will work for you to.

http://aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8167

Hope this helps :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[coffe addict]

Good reading on the link.

I use old woolen blankets eight wraps thick, works a treat. Wool also won't burn even with a fire. Cut my heat up times down by around 45 mins.
I also wrap my fermenters with my 200L one I run a heater too as it had to go outside. I use a boat in line bilge pump to get it in and out of the boiler. Residual heat from the first run cuts another ten minutes off the second run of the day.
I insulate all the way up to my pc!
Hope that helps and welcome

[scythe]

Insulating your boiler will help with heating times, doing to column will help the reflux be more consistant through the run.

[bluc]

Looking at doing the t500 boiler also Atreu did you use the self adhesive abaflex? Any problems? Should I insulate all the way up to the condenser on a pot head or just the boiler? My pot head is just a short two inch pipe into a leiberg condenser.Cheers

[Berserker_75]

Cool thanks for the replies everyone :)

[thedarkmesh]

Good reading on the link.

I use old woolen blankets eight wraps thick, works a treat. Wool also won't burn even with a fire. Cut my heat up times down by around 45 mins.
I also wrap my fermenters with my 200L one I run a heater too as it had to go outside. I use a boat in line bilge pump to get it in and out of the boiler. Residual heat from the first run cuts another ten minutes off the second run of the day.
I insulate all the way up to my pc!
Hope that helps and welcome

Was that with a T500? Dam if I could cut the heating time down by 45min it would only take about 30min to get up to temp. Curently takes a 75min for fores to start.

[coffe addict]

That's With a 50L keg and 2000w element. Another advantage of using woolen blankets is they are a natural fire retardant so in the event of a bad day at the office they won't burn.

[bluc]

Thedarkmesh i did my t500 boiler with the ableflex foam will do lid tomorrow. When my current washs are ready i will take note of heat up etc and post back. I couldnt find details of the adhesive used on the sticky back stuff, temp range etc, so just used the regular non sticky one and some duct tape cheers

[thedarkmesh]

Thedarkmesh i did my t500 boiler with the ableflex foam will do lid tomorrow. When my current washs are ready i will take note of heat up etc and post back. I couldnt find details of the adhesive used on the sticky back stuff, temp range etc, so just used the regular non sticky one and some duct tape cheers

Let us know how it turns out!

[bluc]

Thedarkmesh i did my t500 boiler with the ableflex foam will do lid tomorrow. When my current washs are ready i will take note of heat up etc and post back. I couldnt find details of the adhesive used on the sticky back stuff, temp range etc, so just used the regular non sticky one and some duct tape cheers

Let us know how it turns out!

53mins switch on till fores :handgestures-thumbupleft: left the lid uninsulated was bit worried bout overheating.

[bluc]

Thedarkmesh i did my t500 boiler with the ableflex foam will do lid tomorrow. When my current washs are ready i will take note of heat up etc and post back. I couldnt find details of the adhesive used on the sticky back stuff, temp range etc, so just used the regular non sticky one and some duct tape cheers

Let us know how it turns out!

53mins switch on till fores 23l charge :handgestures-thumbupleft: left the lid uninsulated was bit worried bout overheating.

[WTDist]

Thedarkmesh i did my t500 boiler with the ableflex foam will do lid tomorrow. When my current washs are ready i will take note of heat up etc and post back. I couldnt find details of the adhesive used on the sticky back stuff, temp range etc, so just used the regular non sticky one and some duct tape cheers

Let us know how it turns out!

53mins switch on till fores 23l charge :handgestures-thumbupleft: left the lid uninsulated was bit worried bout overheating.

53 mins is good, usually takes me about 1h15, i think that was my last runs anyway, been a while.
How long did it take for you before and do you fill to the MAX line or go above/under. Im going to look into this for my column n boiler soon

[bluc]

Today was my first two runs with this boiler/still, I ran mac rum. First run I put in 23l just below fill line and it puked :angry-banghead: second run put in 20L and it puked again but no where near as severe. Next round will do it in lots of 15L or look into using some defoamer have read cooking oil works but no idea how much to use. 8-} .

[thedarkmesh]

Today was my first two runs with this boiler/still, I ran mac rum. First run I put in 23l just below fill line and it puked :angry-banghead: second run put in 20L and it puked again but no where near as severe. Next round will do it in lots of 15L or look into using some defoamer have read cooking oil works but no idea how much to use. 8-} .

I've been using my T500 for awhile now and never had it puke once. I generally fill it up to the MAX line when doing stripping runs, and 3 fingers width below the MAX line for Spirit Runs.

Did you make sure that the wash you put in had completely completed fermentation?

[WTDist]

:text-+1:
I think if sugar is left in the wash this can make it foam or puke also, from what i have read
Is there a reason for the 3 fingers thedarkmesh or is this just a precautionary measure to make sure it doesn't puke and is good product? ever gone to the line?

[bluc]

Perhaps i should have left it longer, i ran it on day ten the air lock was bubbling about once every two minutes, the wash was bitter but still slightly sweet.
I got 5l low wines from each 25l wash which i thought was about right from my first attempts at this.

Got another two on and will leave it till all activity has stopped completely.

Now that i think about it i also didnt degas like i did with first two i did :angry-banghead:

So thats probably two very good reasons why it puked. Will be sure to be more patient and degas on next lot and fill to 23l again to try and see what happens :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bluc]

Today was my first two runs with this boiler/still, I ran mac rum. First run I put in 23l just below fill line and it puked :angry-banghead: second run put in 20L and it puked again but no where near as severe. Next round will do it in lots of 15L or look into using some defoamer have read cooking oil works but no idea how much to use. 8-} .

I've been using my T500 for awhile now and never had it puke once. I generally fill it up to the MAX line when doing stripping runs, and 3 fingers width below the MAX line for Spirit Runs.

Did you make sure that the wash you put in had completely completed fermentation?

How come you use less in spirit run then stripping run, i thought it would be more prone to puking on strip run :geek:

[bluc]

T500 boiler strip runs didnt puke second time round fermented out completly +3 extra days didnt degas all went smooth :handgestures-thumbupleft: