by PittStreetFarmer » Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:47 pm
Hi all,
I’m very much a newbie and have taken the plunge into the hobby with the purchase of a T500. So far, my results have been very mixed – a rollercoaster ride for sure. My T500 is one with a copper column with copper/ stainless packing (no ceramic saddles). Also, I’ve added a 2” sight glass with a copper bubble plate (from 5 Star). Apart from the sight glass, it is a stock standard T500.
So, my very first batch was used as a cleaning run (21 litres of Turbo Fast)- I figured that I wouldn’t be drinking it and I would probably stuff something up anyway. Turns out that I ran the T500 a little too fast and got an ABV of around 88%. My 2nd run went a lot better (slowed the output flow right down) and I got around 92% ABV the whole way through. I was pleased with the product and a happy little camper.
Before my 3rd run, I decided to clean the T500 column out. Gave everything a good clean and made up a batch of “551” cleaner. Repacked the column. During my 3rd run, I experienced “flooding” big time. I was unable to keep the temp constant during the run as I had in my earlier (pre-cleaning runs). I got massive surges of hot (steaming) product from the outlet tube. The ABV was around 70-75%. I just collected what I could and figured I would add the (crappy) product as feints into future runs.
After the disappointing run, I had a careful read of the helpful comments in this thread and forum which indicated that my ‘flooding’ problem was due to over-packing the column. I then took all the packing out of the column and re-packed, making sure not to tamp or shake the column while repacking. I had much success! My 4th run went smoothly with a good quality (92% ABV) and amount (>2 litres). I was confident I had slayed the T500 “flooding” beast.
However, I hit a major roadblock last weekend during my 5th run. Constant flooding all the way through, even though I had not messed with the column after the 4th run. I ended up turning off the boiler and repacking the column 5 times during the run and each time I had the same problem – nothing made a difference. At one stage, I left about 2 handfuls of stainless steel scrubbers out of the column and I still had flooding. I was sure that I had not over-packed the column as I could hear the scrubbers move inside the column when reinstalling onto the boiler.
So, I seem to be in “flooding” hell with this T500. To give context on how I re-packed the column, I took out all the stainless and copper packing and separated them. I then took the empty column and held it at a slight angle to allow the copper packing to slide in first. No shaking or jiggling. Then did the same with the stainless packing until the column was filled with about 4-5cm of empty space at the end.
I’m pretty sure I’m not getting puking up the column as I can see a gentle boil in the sight glass. Also the output is crystal clear. I’m at a bit of a loss to fix this issue given nothing worked last weekend. I did notice in my earlier runs that I had quite a lot of dripping (almost like rain) in the slight glass returning to the boiler. I didn’t see this during my last run, but I did notice some liquid returning to the boiler down the side of the sight glass. I’m also not sure if the ambient temp might be causing the flooding. It was 37 degs last weekend during the run, but one of my better runs was done on a 39 degree day.
Anyway, sorry a bit of a long post. Any hints, comments or suggestions to fix this flooding problem would be very appreciated.
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