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So many people are running around dreaming up new fangled automation for running their stills. There must be something very wrong with my English (not my first language BTW). I never said anything about automation. I simply proposed heads-up when the heads to hearts cut point is coming, using a dif...

In my professional life I live and breath automation. I'm no stranger to it and will automate things most would not have thought possible. The complexities of a fluid system that is comprised of as many different compounds as a simple sugar mash makes automation of cuts near impossible. Your transi...

BTW, USB thermos are cheap now. Looking at a plot of temperatures in a cheese cave last night, my cheap USB thermo isn't as accurate as I had hoped it would be. The output is showing flat spots where I know there aren't any. I was hoping it would be accurate to at least 0.1, but it isn't. :( That's...

You would be better off with a thermometer in the normal position. And another lower in the column. That would give you more of a heads up. Thank you PP. Now I realize that you have essentially agreed to my proposed scheme. Two thermometers near the top of the column and watch out for the change in...

It shouldn't take a lot of runs to work out where the most valuable numbers are coming from. BTW, USB thermos are cheap now. I wish I can get my hands on those USB thermometers but it is not so easy to get over here. Plotting the temps during a good run can produce a lot of valuable information. Do...

. Lester, the solution is quite simple really. Order an iStill from Odin, he has all of the hard stuff already figured out for you. :twisted: :mrgreen: :wink: :wave: Thanks SBB. But where is the fun in buying ready made stuff? :roll: If Odin has already done it then I take it that it can be actuall...

If you are running a VM. And the temps start to rise. It's to late for the tails cut. That means the tails are already at the takeoff. And the tails cut should have already been made. And anything after that point. Is as kiwi said. Tails compression. Yes you are squeezing them a little more. But if...

Just asking. Because I know after I run the same recipe. After about the third or fourth run. I would know where to make the cuts at. i used to think this way also. But I use a gas burner and one time I ran it a little too hot during the heads take off. The result was not nice and I had to re-disti...

Your link no worky worky? I don't know why. Here it is again http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=15508 And if that still doesn't work you can follow the folders in this image to get to the actual thread. vm.jpg I thought I'd make it easy for everybody so I am pasting text from t...

All I have done is to put forward a concept to see if it makes sense to others here. Yes it is new. Yes it has not been tried before. Yes the old tried-and-true method of multiple jars work fine. I have not questioned any of those methods. Now if you will please try to read my proposal in a differen...

Are you trying to prove this works? I can reach at or near azeo with a steady temp at the still head, and get into the tails. With my reflux rig, making the tails cut by temps would be like taking driving directions from my doberman. I am not trying to prove anything. I am trying to design an exper...

I wouldn't say using a thermometer for tails cuts is an acceptaable accurate practice here? Here you go PP. For the tails cut, I didn't see anybody contradicting the procedure outlined in this thread so I took that as a well-accepted practice. But now you disagree. http://homedistiller.org/forum/vi...

I don't think you will get 0 diff. What about having only 4" distance between the 2 probes? What about having 2" distance? I need something I can measure repeatably. You would be be better off using lots of TTs to map the temp gradient. Then watch the next fraction climb the column. I tho...

When distilling for Vodka, a thermometer is used to accurately determine the onset of tails and this practice of using a thermometer is acceptable on this forum. So why don't we have the same instrumentation available for the heads to hearts cut? I imagine that the thermometer's resolution is the li...

I run a 2" VM column for making vodka and I don't really enjoy tasting for the absence of heads to determine when to start collecting hearts. Is there another way? I am considering the build of a highly-sensitive DIFFERENTIAL thermometer. It will have 2 probes: one probe about 4" lower tha...

.......... and the first plate was more full than the second ........... Hello Googe. Nice experiments you are doing. The column pressure diminishes as you go higher up the column. If you want to get the same liquid level on all plates then the gaps need to be smaller at the uppermost plate, relati...

If I may add........ Gas flow over the marbles is less turbulent and therefore more predictable. The boundary layers on the marbles are evenly exposed to the gasses and I think that is a good thing. Not so sure about flattened spheres though I think they will be inferior to a perfectly-round shape....

If I may add........ Gas flow over the marbles is less turbulent and therefore more predictable. The boundary layers on the marbles are evenly exposed to the gasses and I think that is a good thing. Not so sure about flattened spheres though I think they will be inferior to a perfectly-round shape. ...

This is the cleaning run. Loaded the boiler with 1.5 liters of Heads and Foreshots plus 3 liters of water, roughly 30% ABV. Stabilized the column for 10 mins and proceeded to collect the alcohol. I seem to get good separation of the fractions. Boiler temp at this time is 86 deg C and is climbing as ...

Besides the height of the column, perhaps we should also mention reflux ratios. A short column and a tall column can both attain azeo as long as the RR is sufficient, regardless of the packing. But the RR for a short column compared to a tall one will be significantly different. Since I will be usin...

I bought 3 liters of marbles (about 3,000 pieces) for my 2" VM column. Size = 11.2mm. These came off used brandy bottles where they were used as pour regulators. Got them from a junk shop for about US$16 total.

Will tell you how it goes.

I mentioned in another topic about how I have used marbles for several years in my short stripping column... I've used as few as a dozen with no extension up to a jar full in a 6" stripper column...

Rad, pardon my ignorance. What did the marbles do for you in a stripping column?

I "dress up" my 15-gallon fermenter in an old T-shirt and keep the T-shirt wet to cool my fermenter. My fermenter's lid has an indentation and I pour water in that indentation. The fabric will wick and the water will eventually wet the entire T-shirt. This is only good for about 3~4 hours....

Hey Lester Using this method have you had any problems with over foaming. I tend to make pretty large starters (too large for a stir plate) and have been thinking about making a shaker table but this looks like it would be a lot easier. I use air stones but really have to keep a eye on it or my yea...

That's gorgeous Badbird!!!

badbird wrote: Lately I have just been stripping using my 50l boiler as steam generator, mounting 4 bubble cap plates above it and feeding wash at the top plate.

Would be nice to see some pics of your setup.

Instead of a magnetic stir plate I have used this airlift pump with apparently good results, but I don't know how I can quantify what gains I've made in the yeast population. Started off with 1/4 tbsp yeast in 1/4 liter (quart) of water, aerated at first. Then kept on adding panela and some water da...

From the preceding discussions.........

........if a person has a VM or LM still and he removes the reflux column and replaces it with a very short tube to connect the boiler to the reflux condenser........it has now suddenly become a "World Class Stripper".

When gases are allowed to expand they cool down. When gases are compressed they heat up. This is a fundamental concept to consider in addition to gas flow and intimate contact with the condenser. I had deliberately made my condenser housing bigger so there will be a sudden pressure drop (interpret a...

Hello all. here is what I have been using to strip my washes (the continuous still project is temporarily on hold). So far I have stripped 240 liters on this set up. Posting this here cuz it seems consistent with what is being discussed. condenser tube is 3" SS while the riser is 1.5". The...