WTDist T500 Modification

[WalterWhite]

How are you getting away with so little coolant water? I would have thought 500ml a minute would be the minimum required to cool the vapour?? Or am I just totally missing something? :think:

[Sam.]

When a small bubbler is run properly there is bugger all water going through the RC, it is literally trickling through ;-)

[WalterWhite]

Wow, didn't realise that. ive just been reading up on my CM and it recommends 3l a minute minimum! Good job I have just got hold of a super cheap IBC!

[WTDist]

Thats what i thought Sam, a trickle. i think my packed section was too short for this RC. The T500 originally had a single 1/4" outlet to the pc (1/4" in 3/4" 400mm liebig) with a lot of resistance so flow rate was minimized by a small cross sectional area in the 1/4" pipe and this new design has minimal resistance with it being 5 * 1/2" tubes 100mm long which is essentially 10 * 1/4" tubes.
2 *1/4" tubes has same area as 1 * 1/2" tube :-B

I set my bath depths at 15mm as i wasnt sure on the power but its looking like it has enough to push through SS scrubbers with low wines in a 560mm section. ill make it 25mm depth now but the side wall is 15mm so at the 15mm mark on the downcomer ill make a small incision so vapor cant come up the downcomer. the Idea is so if theres a gap on the side wall falling liquid will slow rising vapor but liquid will fall down the downcomer (slowly at the 15mm mark, all at the 25mm top) and down the side minimizing smearing... i hope anyway. all experimental and i still want drinkable booze :laughing-rolling: the extra packed section i think is a win but the plates are still up in the air on if they work or not :think:

main thing is being able to get full reflux. get this and im good, with a trickle. tonight had a lot of water which is why i think the packed section was acting like like a packed section on a strip run. High abv and large flow rate. i need more resistance, larger packed section

Told the missus i want to add another 80cm packed section :)) got the :violence-smack: treatment :))
Shes worried about it being on the floor :wtf: she wants it to stay on the bench :))

anyway the packed section will be added, 800mm may be to much but its something to work with :handgestures-thumbupleft:

If i keep running into overpower problems ill invest in a power controller. dont want to at this time though

Sorry if i am rambling, had a few scotch's :obscene-drinkingchug: cant wait to drink my own cut spirit again

[WTDist]

Had 3 scrubbers loosely in last night for my sac/test run. pulled them out and packed them in tighter and managed to get about 1.5 more in. They are big scrubbers from bunnings. i can still blow through so hopefully this will reduce the speed tonight for my proper spirit run :think: cant push them in tighter though

[mark-gabb]

awesome...cant wait to hear how it goes

[maddogpearse]

Told the missus i want to add another 80cm packed section :)) got the :violence-smack: treatment :))

haha! I seem to get this every time i mention anything about spending more money to make grog that she was already happy with! I've tried everything, from "it's better quality sweetheart" to "it's more natural and traditional" to "but babe, I really need to do this to feel like a man!"
I'm hoping if i just make the occasional $20 or $30 purchase here and there, I'll finally have all the bits and pieces to put together a RC and 5 bubble plates under my pot without her noticing!

[Mad]

whats the story WT hows it running!?

[WTDist]

Still running. about 4L collected @ an average ABV of 94/95% (watered down 6L of 88% to 16L). speed started at 1.6L per hour and gradually slowed down . Had the RC on full at start and now its down on about half to get the desired output but for the first 2 to 3 liters it was faster than i wanted. Usually i collect 1L jars at 2L through to 4L and small after that but it tasted headsy at 2.5L still although i have never tested off the still like i did tonight (same as i would in a cut session but off the still) so 48H may improve the earlier stuff. In full reflux atm (well nearly full, still dripping) after my 1L jar collection. Ill be happy if i get 2L of hearts but im not sure :think: normally i cut to get about 3.5L hearts

Defiantly need the extra packed section to take away the power. Just got too much volume flow rate ATM so more packing will solve this with draining the power and improve the quality of the product.

Did however hit 95% once the speed slowed. was 94 most of the time before hand. Im happy but just means i need to get more money past the treasurer :shifty:
3 Tri clamps/ seals and another meter or 2" so maybe $50 more :))

Speed on the 1L jar at the end

drip.jpg

not sure if its still 95% here... but it was there :handgestures-thumbupleft:

95.jpg

Once i hit tails and i can smell/taste it off the still ill make it go fast and save it all up for a feints run when i get the packed section again. Im sure ive smeared some hearts throughout the heads thats for sure. Still learning to drive this one and i need more parts :D

i did however have a drink from the middle of the hearts, put half a shot in some coke and couldnt even taste it at 95% but i knew it was there :D

[mark-gabb]

Great news wtd

What about upgrading rc?
Let me know if I'm wrong but if you want flavor wouldn't a packed section defeat the purpose?

[WTDist]

So far i have the T500 filled with scrubbers in a 560mm section. To keep being able to do nuetrals also i will need another 600mm or so to be able to keep the RC as is and utilize the power while gaining better product. If it proves useless than ill upgrade it but i think it will be fine once i use up more power. Ill have to get about 1.5m of 2" as im putting plates in the section i used tonight, the plates are not finished yet. I think it will be fine with 4 plates, im going to make the downcomers 1" high so it should use up the power by the time it hits the RC, worst case scenario i make the downcomers bigger.
This will prob be next week when i try this.

Ill have the 2 packed sections and a single section with 4 plates, making 3 sections. This is my aim anyway.

[WTDist]

Results are below. couldnt be bothered typing them up so its the quick ones on my pad. normally use the memo in my ph but oh well
they go...
jar number, amount in jar, total up to, ABV, and liters per hour

Didnt time all of them. Jar 16 was slow after i finally could control the flow.

Kept jar 16, 17 and 18. Way les than i used too. 1.4L @ 93% :scared-eek: my jars are approxamate so im usually out 50 or 100ml

2015-09-10 17.13.54.jpg

Had a few drinks off the still when i was in the hearts too, thats not in my notes :))
Everything will get rerun with CFW fients after the first plate run, and if the plates prove to little for the 2kW then it will all get rerun with the extra packed section. so either way ill get some good booze, flavored or not :smile:
Off to scrappy tomorrow for all the 2" i need and ill make the section up next week :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Treasurer isn't giving me grief :laughing-rolling:

[WTDist]

picked up a length of 2" at about 1.3m this morning for $10. stoked. Should have been 2kg, Think the guy read 1kg before it changed :think: . Kembla copper pipe and 1.8mm thick :scared-eek: still looks new :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Picked up 3 more Tri Clamp and 3 EPDM seals which i need to shave like the silicon ones. Going to add a Tri Clamp after my PC and cut the bottom of the T500 column to make a flange like Macs T500 adapters :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Packed section is just around the corner. Might make it 1m since i have the copper :D

Might have to put on 45-50L of WBABW in a 55L tub so i can strip and add to my last smeared run to test out a long length of packing with the RC.

sloth.jpg

[WTDist]

1m packed section is done except for making a flange a tad bit thinner so the clamp fits better with the seal in. nearly hits the roof inside so no more bench top.

Just noticed i bent the top of the T500 pipe when i did the Tri Clamps up to bed them in and now its more oval than round so my plate sections wont work unless i put them in from the bottom but i dont think i care enough to put that much effort in as i only have one section made up complete.
Im still going to make a flange at the bottom so maybe i can go back to my original old plan and have one really large bath depth that i can change the depth of to suit the power.
Kind of like an inline thumper. Might do 6" depth and see how i go from there with low smearing. Prob wont work and at this point i dont care, at least i can do neutral again
Might get me by while I start a 4" plate sections and a 4" RC and once i get 2 sections done ill try run them on low wines till i get a keg.
I can reuse the bubble caps n risers etc ive already made.

Need to make a decision on weather to make my 50L of gen3 CFW a neutral or try the inline thumper bit :think:

Ill add a photo of the still later

[WTDist]

Havent done any work over the weekend but thought i would give a single 11% run a go.

Still too fast but i found that if i helped cool the top 5" of the column with a cool rag it will go to full reflux so i kept the cool water up to this in the heads and start of the hearts and voila i had 1.57L of good hearts from a 2.7L or so collected. took maybe 1L of heads and tails was only about 200ml for some reason and hitting all the way down to 0% when i stopped. only took a few mins to go from 80% to 0%.
When i was in hearts i finally hit azeo and on a single run so im guessing that when i get the power controller and the 2 plates in it should hit this all the time easily :handgestures-thumbupleft:
managed to drag it out to about 5 hours from start up.

At least i have 3.5L of vodka now instead of store bought heads 8-}

[WTDist]

Just thought i would post a pic of the still. Still need to sort out the water conncections so grey tape does it ATM 8-}
Also need to make the flange at the bottom of the PC instead of a nut clamp thing. not important ATM though, more pressing matters to attend to.
took this pic the other week.

still tall 2.jpg

packed section is 1.55m and it sits 2" from the roof

did a strip run today on a 9% wash, about 22L and it was pulling 95% off the bat with about 5 to 10 min refluxing and was going about 2L an hour. slowed after 1.5L collected and had to reflux to fill the column again. started stripping after a while.
i find i dont ever get more that 300ml of tails on runs :think:

still need my controller parts to come in so i can do low wines and slow it down.

going to make a flange 2" from the bottom so i can add plate sections ive been working on but i wont mention them until ive got them done, or nearly done. im taking my time now.

[xcvator]

Mate that rig deserves a polish up, :handgestures-thumbupleft: , try and get some "purple metal polish" a lot of truck places have it, drop some on some steel wool, give it a bit of a rub over and wipe it off with a towel, easy peesy and a brilliant shine :))

[WalterWhite]

Looks good mate! Congrats.
You will probably get more tails on your spirit run.... I find the tails just smear through the entire run when stripping :think:

[WTDist]

Mate that rig deserves a polish up

no point. its still not finished the way i want. the 1m packed section will be smaller as i will need the 2" for other crap/sections, im working on 4/5 plates and will need to use some of this 2" section. it will be a small 2" bubbler. it was shiny from an acid bath n sand once but now its tarnished and marked. i dont care about polishing it. as long as its clean and works thats good enough for me.

maybe when its finished ill polish it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[WTDist]

Bottom of my T500 column, or where it screws onto the lid has been a problem since i bought it. not all the time but occasionally it would leak. it was never a firm fit.
I was too dumb when i first got it to know otherwise 8-}

anyway i think i have fixed the problem. I fluxed the nut and all and soldered the base of the column onto the lid. i have it rising 60mm and then i have added a easy flange.
Dont know why but this was the easiest flange yet and quick to. copper to SS :think: just flowed like it was meant to be :))
i used at least half a solder stick and if it isnt sealed ill use a bit more. theres still room to fill in the seal as you might be able to see

still need to shape up my flange as i havent hard soldered the ring, and flatten it off with a good sand. might clean the SS up too, the flux tarnished it a bit. left it over night without a wash.

should be able to add a 2" 4 plate section in now :D plates are made, just need to put them into my pipe and solder them in. that will be fun i bet :angry-banghead:
ill post that later when i finish it off

pretty sure its sturdier too :think:

lid top.jpg

nuts not tight, still can turn a little bit but not much. not worried at this point. as long as i have it done up tight it should be sweet

2015-11-04 15.14.13.jpg

Cheers
WTD