It ran fine, but I knew that I wasn't actually getting the maximum takeoff rate figured out. Small amounts, guessing 25-35% of the total distillate would splash over the top plate no matter what I did. Worse yet, there was terrible channeling under the bottom plate which required a centering ring. I know this from pouring alcohol down the top of the leveled head in my sink, and observing what went where.Now to correct my error... I could have sized down and angled the initial takeoff tube before the needle valve. But I felt like doing it another way and here are the pictures. I used Hookline's http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =1&t=18873 as my inspiration
The results were fantastic. The head strips much faster and can now be clamped directly to the boiler without the needle valve. In pot mode a small amount of vapor slips into the takeoff, but the liebig throws it down before exiting the still. The lack of overflow splashing allows me to figure max takeoff rate, and thus the RR. In reflux, the returning distillate is perfectly centered above the packing while the overflow reservoir behind the valve is only 1-2 ml
I might even add a little SS scrubby to make that volume even smaller. I also insulated the takeoff tube with lots of pipe insulation then wrapped that in electrical tape, just in case your wondering what that synthetic crap is.