My first cleaning run, what I did, what I learned.

[Catahoula_Hank]

So I just completed my cleaning runs on my new six gallon coper pot still. The first was two gallons of white vinegar mixed with two gallons of water. I ran the pot for six hours on a Walmart purchased singe burner hotplate, (more about that in a minute). After the six hour run I was able to find where all my leaks were and where I would need to use my one to one mixture of flour, water, and wheat bran to seal it up. What came out of the worm was a light blue, so I assume the vinegar and water did its trick.

Next day I took two 1.75 liters of cheaper than dirt vodka. I added an equal amount of water to it and I poured it into the pot. I charged the doubler with water. I filled the doubler up so the in take line was just under the surface of the water. I filled the worm with mostly ice and some water. I replaced the ice throughout the run. When I turned on the hotplate the pot heated up to about 180 F(it wouldn't get any hotter). When liquid came out of the worm it was clear and it proofed out to 170. After running for four hours I only recovered about 230 ml. I think part of the problem was the hotplate. The hotplate would cycle up and then shut down. Also I noticed that was alcohol vapor coming out of the worm long before it started to drip. I ended up sticking a piece of coper wire into the worm, bent down, and the alcohol started to flow immediately. After I shut the heat off and everything cooled I tested the liquid in the doubler. The doubler liquid proofed out to about 15% alcohol. The mixture in the pot proofed out slightly higher than what was in the doubler.

Questions

Will a more consistent heat source yield better results?
Was the alcohol content of the thumper typical/?
I plan on doing a five gallon run of sweat feed mash for my first stripping run. How much alcohol can I expect to recover from that?

Thank you in advance for your constructive criticisms and advice.

Catahoula_Hank

[fizzix]

See you hanging without any responses, Hank. "Yes" to consistent heat source. I can relate what I've read and done here about hot plates. (Not smart enough yet to answer your other questions)
Wire past the hot plate thermostat. Mine was like a switch that kicked on/off. One wire IN and one wire OUT from the variable thermostat. Cut & tie them together and wire nut the splice.
Did that myself and my plate has worked perfectly for months now.

Please. Mine was easy. If you are confused by the wiring or have apprehension have someone electrical do it for you.
Last thing I want is an electrical or fire hazard for you!

[still_stirrin]

Questions back atcha’...

1) What size ID is your worm? It sounds like your vapor velocity is too fast, ie - pushing vapor out the spout before the product comes out. You said your cooling water in the flake was cold from the additional ice you added.

2) Do you hear a “huffing & puffing” sound at the spout? That’s the result of shock cooling and too high of vapor velocity (too small of tubing diameter).

3) How big is the hotplate element (watt rating)? You obviously have cycling, which causes the vapor production to “pulse” and that won’t give you consistant results into or out of the thumper. Also, it sounds like you don’t have enough power to get the thumper “online” or hot enough to pass vapors through to your worm. Running a thumper takes more power than a still without a thumper.

Insulating your thumper would help it to come online quicker as well as stay online longer. But a steady heat source with a little more power would help you too. Shoot us a photo or two of your rig so we can see what you’re working with.
ss