Home Distiller

When you are running a CCVM you can feel where the effect of the reflux condenser is greatest by feeling on the outside of the column where the sharp temperature gradient occurs. If you are in total reflux you’ll want this “boundary” to be at or below the offtake otherwise some place above the offta...

I’d be interested to know whereabouts on the outside your column that you can feel the sudden change from hot to cold. Here’s my 2c, the hot vapour is hitting the really cold RC and suddenly condensing. This sudden decrease in volume in the column creates a slight vacuum at the top of the column tha...

CCVM may achieve very high purity product. They are cheap and simple to construct and easy to operate.

I use 1/3 cup of shell grit in a 24 L wash. There is very little left at the end of the ferment.

A mate up here in FNQ uses a wheelie bin for his coolant reservoir. When the water starts to get warm he drops in some 3 litre milk containers which are full of ice. He’s running a beer keg boiler on gas with a 2” reflux column

I agree with the CO2 suggestion and in a very cool distilling location

From what I've been told, all food grade / "Human Consuption" here is what is extracted from the raw sugar at the plant where they refine raw sugar to white sugar. This is the stuff in the photos that Yummy put up on page one of the thread. As I know it there is only one other grade of molasses in ...

Plenty of us here, myself included, have stories about bad things that happen, in the shortest time imaginable, when you are running a still. You really shouldn’t remotely monitor your still.

Hey Berserk, how big is the offtake in relation to the column? If the offtake is the same size of the offtake you’ll get a minimum 1:1 reflux ratio, but if the offtake is smaller the minimum reflux ratio will be higher.

By all means weave SS scrubbers in and through the reflux condenser coil to maximise contact between it and the column walls. As far as other packing goes leave about a 6” gap between the top of the packing in the column and the lower edge of the outlet for the offtake.

Gday, If you don’t already have a power controller, I can recommend the Kegland one.

I feel bad that I am somewhat to blame for this thread being hijacked. I am happy if the moderators want to move the tail end of this thread to the condenser controlled column thread

When the RC is above the offtake, you can change the flow of coolant but the result is the same.

No, but you are changing where the reflux is occurring (in relation to the offtake). A similar discussion about the nature of the CCVM design took place in 2013 in the Condenser Controlled Column thread viewtopic.php?f=17&t=41579

All good, looking forward to reading about more successful runs!

Might as well add CCVM to the list of acronyms - condenser controlled vapour management

The manual for the Kegland reflux still suggests output rates up to 1.2 litres per hour, assuming using the 1.0mm aperture restrictor
https://www.kegland.com.au/media/pdf/Al ... ctions.pdf

200 ml per hour seems very slow. Check that the orifice on the restricted valve is clear and that the breather hole is in the upright setting. Check that there is no PTFE plumbers tape obsctructing any of the connections.

I was only asking if I made cuts on the pot still using the variable voltage controller like someone mentioned that a slower pass gives better cuts. The answer is still no. If you want better/ cleaner Spirit .....dilute what you have already run through the reflux back to 28-30% with good clean wat...

Not sure I agree about not needing a power controller for T500’s on reflux runs. They can be a nightmare to operate if you have a fluctuating water supply and with no way to reduce vapour speed.

It sounds to me that there is too much cooling at the reflux condenser, try reducing the water flow to the reflux condenser.

I am happy using SS scrubbers. I have been using the same ones for years, with no rust.

There is such a thing as beet molasses, has anyone tried using it?
https://www.feedipedia.org/node/711

Coopers

Yes RC in highest position for maximum rate of output but minimum reflex. This assumes that your packing is at optimum amount, that the RC is knocking down all the vapour and that you are operating the boiler at optimum power level (just below the stage of flooding). You can increase the level of re...

gday Artooks, You need to increase the amount of reflux to get the higher ABV that you seek. If you want to have your RC wide open then you will need to increase power. Increase the power until you are just below the stage of flooding. The other way to increase reflux is to slightly lower the RC. Th...

Sorry to hijack this topic, but i have the same problem with the flooding and i have pretty much the same setup, it runs smooth when stripping but when i want to do a reflux run i get massive flooding. Even when i use only 1200W. Is it good to fill the column just under the sight glass with spp or ...

Carefully feel on the outside of your column where the boundary between hot and cold is. That zone should be above the offtake. It is the zone where the majority of vapour has condensed.

Probably the best thing to do for reinforcing your learning is to dilute the spirit you have collected and rerun it right now.

This is a great thread! Reinforces my belief that when you ask a question in the right way that support will come that is considered and generous - restoring my faith somewhat in our community of distillers