T500 2000 W or 1500 W

[daspooper]

Hello,

I recently purchased a T500 Boiler to use as a wort boiler and still. I plan to use a fractional distillation column which will be connected to the stainless steel lid via a cork stopper; I'll control the temperature at the top of the column with a 20 A variac. While looking over the device after cleaning, I noticed that there was a sticker on it claiming that it is certified at 1500 watts (see attached photo.) On the box and on the retailer website the device is listed as 2000 W. Does this mean that the still was mispackaged by the manufacturer? I don't want to run a device which is rated at 1500 watts but runs at 2000 watts (hence why I posted this in the safety forum.) Has anyone with a T500 had this problem?

Thanks

[Pikey]

So are you intending to build your own column to go on top of the coffee pot - or use one of theirs ?

[Edit - I don't know the answer to your question about the 1500 - 2kw issue, but if you plug it in , it will draw the correct power and you can control it fine with a variac - I didn't know they still made those ]

[Edit 2 - my old variac would go fine from around 1.5 v to 450 v - I used it for powering up repaired tvs to try and avoid the "Christmas tree effect" - But I'm unsure it would be capable of out putting 1000 watts or more - a power controller may be more useful. ]

[NZChris]

I hope you are not thinking of using composite cork.

[daspooper]

Pikey
No, I already have the glassware for a fractional distillation setup; my intention is to bring the two together with a cork stopper with an appropriate hole to seal with the glass. This may not be feasible, but the original intention of the boiler was for beer wort; if it can't perform this extra function, I won't be too upset. I'll just have to wait to distill until I get some safer apparatus.
The retailer contacted me verifying that the product was mispackaged at the production line. Now I get to find out if 1500 W is enough or if I need to return and keep searching.
I think the variac I'm looking at will handle the load; the retailer claims the unit is rated to 20 A or 20 KVA. Thanks for the reply!

NZChris
I don't think so. I had seen on another thread to stay away from rubber and composite cork stoppers. I'm looking at extra select cork stoppers from widgetco; I think those would be my best bet, and I would probably get 5 of them to see which had the best chance of sealing; do you have any suggestions for other cork suppliers? Thanks for the reply!

[Pikey]

That little pot is sold as part of a still. If it will boil wort it will cook wine ! I say just get a stainless steel bowl and some copper, make a pot head for it and it'll be as good as any other tea urn ! - if a little pricey

I don't have the knowledge or experience to comment on a glass extension to cope with 2kw of boiling ethanol - I would put it through copper and failing that stainless as a poor second.

There is a HUGE difference between 20 A and 20 kw (20 KVA) - One of those is wrong !

[still_stirrin]

...do you have any suggestions for other cork suppliers?..

+1...I order natural corks from WidgetCo. Reasonable prices..quick delivery...excellant products.
ss

[daspooper]

Pikey
Cool, hopefully I can get it to boil water in a reasonable amount of time.
By my calculation 20 A * 120 V = 2400 W, so 20 kW isn't so dissimilar; maybe the device maxes as 2 kW or 20 A whichever comes first?. This is the item I'm considering. Please let me know if you think it is inappropriate.
https://www.circuitspecialists.com/vari ... _cQAvD_BwE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

still_stirrin
Thanks for the reassurance!

[still_stirrin]

FYI-in the fine print it says this, " Variacs are not compatible with most GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter) wall outlets. We have found that the inductive load that the Variac represents is not compatible with most GFI circuits and they will trip the breaker."

Is that going to be a problem?
ss

[Pikey]

......By my calculation 20 A * 120 V = 2400 W, so 20 kW isn't so dissimilar;.......

2.4 kw is quite different from 20 kw.

It seems that litte piece of kit maxes c 2 kw - your pot can run 2kw so you'd be running the variac flat out for 5-8 hours at a time.

That alone wuld make it inappropriate - and Still stirrin's observation about the inductive loads confirm that. We all have made or bought little power controllers from China for a few dollars or from the still suppliers for considerably more. Reinventing the wheel might be fun, but why bother ?

[Yummyrum]

What sticks out as strange is that its an AS/NZ standard ( Australia / New Zealand ) which both use 230 V ac when the element is rated at 110 V .
I can see why you are confussed

[daspooper]

Pikey
I don't know why I wrote 20 kW, its clearly 2 KVA on the website.

I had thought to get around the GFCI problem that I would use a GFCI extension cable on the output side of the variac. This would shut off power to the still in the case of a short at the still. This wouldn't provide GFCI protection on the other side of the variac. I assumed the inductive load they were talking about was the load on the GFCI as it was going from the outlet to the variac; makes sense to me that this would trip the GFCI as the variac is running AC through a transformer which has minimum resistance.

My intention with the variac was to run it at about 100% until I see vapor creeping up the column (its glass so you can watch the evaporation/condensation cycle as it climbs); at this point I would turn down the variac to keep the vapor at the top of the column at a specific temperature depending on which cut I was on. I'm not sure how much below 100% this would be, but it would be less than 2 kW.

Are you referring to a PID/SSR controller? I was hoping to not build something like that, but I do have the tools available to put such a device together.
Or were you referring to a voltage regulator? After searching around HD for power controller I think I was able to find some useful search terms, and I found devices like this on ebay. Is this a better/safer option? http://www.ebay.com/itm/DROK-Micro-AC-1 ... Sw-0xYgItb" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

still_stirrin
Good catch. I'm not sure if my solution above is the safest, but I'm looking for feedback.

Yummyrum
Yeah, I was wondering if in AS/NZ they use some funny math where there is a hidden factor of 4/3 to get from 1500 W to 2000 W; alas, the product was simply mispackaged at the production facility.

[Pikey]

Something like this perhaps ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10000W-AC110V ... SwnNBXa7hM

Can we get a look at that glass column of yours ?

[daspooper]

ope I edited right when you were posting that. Those regulators definitely seem like a cheaper bet, and if everyone around HD is using them, then they must be pretty safe. Thanks for the suggestion. Woo saving money and being safe!

My column is packed away right now; no reason to have glass out waiting to be broken if its not in use. It looks essentially like this one, though.
https://www.ctechglass.com/ctech-2440-3 ... gLvMfD_BwE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
My old setup looks something like this illustration. I didn't use gas to heat previously, though. I have a 10 A variac and a heating mantle that fit snug with my 1 L round bottom boiler.
http://study.com/cimages/multimages/16/ ... aratus.png" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Pikey]

I see - so we're talking passive reflux only then. WHat abv were you getting off your previous one ?

Do you have one of these - to measure your abv directly ?

[Edit - oops - forgot one small thing

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Home-Brew-Spi ... xwLwm_O0aQ ]

[daspooper]

I never used a hydrometer to measure the abv; I just kept the still running at a low enough power that I would maintain a temperature at the top of the column of 78.5 C. My goal was taking cheap vodka and making high quality hooch. from the volume of liquor and the amount remaining in the boiler, it seemed like I was getting just about 90 to 95% out. The stuff in the boiler was definitely not pure water; the liquid would be cloudy which I assumed was because it was cheap vodka and there was stuff other than EtOH and water in there.

[Pikey]

Well you're doing something we don't know much about here. It is similar to what another new member was using and we started a
thread based on it.

Problem is we do say you cannot run a pot still by temperature and we're unsure quite what you have there.

Here's a link to that thread and if you would like to assist greatly, both our knowledge and yours, it would be good if you could get one of those alcohol hydrometers - we ALL have one or more - it's just essential !

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=67427

We would really like to know how well that glass stuff does at what we like to think we'fe quite good at !

Any questions on this stuff, please feel free to comment on the other thread

[daspooper]

Thanks, I am definitely going to post in that thread as I think there is a bit I can contribute; fractional distillation columns are a bit different from what I see around most of this site, but it never occurred to me that people who use stills wouldn't understand how it works. Thanks so much for all of the help; I think with this info I'll get one of those power regulators set up so that I can control the boil.