Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

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mannye
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Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by mannye »

I've been making lots of batches with my pot still, but I wanted to try some reflux for a few sugar washes. I see these "Sanitary Spool Tubes" on amazon that are 2 inches by 36 inches with tri-clamp flanges and they look perfect for packing with copper wool to get some reflux action and get the wash to spend some time reacting with copper. My still is stainless.

They are cheap at under 40 bucks. What do you guys think? anyone using them?
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Re: Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by greggn »

mannye wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 11:42 am I've been making lots of batches with my pot still, but I wanted to try some reflux for a few sugar washes. I see these "Sanitary Spool Tubes" on amazon that are 2 inches by 36 inches with tri-clamp flanges and they look perfect for packing with copper wool to get some reflux action and get the wash to spend some time reacting with copper. My still is stainless.

They are cheap at under 40 bucks. What do you guys think? anyone using them?

Without a link to the product all we can say is "Yeah, it sounds right" and, at $40 (USD ?), that is a good price.

... but just adding a tall spool, without adding a reflux condenser, is not going to produce reflux.
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Re: Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by rubberduck71 »

I use one in both pot & reflux modes (I have different heads for each process). However, w/o a dephlagmator to push vapors back down, you'll only get some partial reflux from one packed with copper mesh.

You may sniff 80% on a 2nd distillation of a sugar wash, but never above 90 on a pot still set up. And it will drop as the run progresses. Reflux/dephlag heads will hold 90+ for the bulk of the run until the end.

What type of system are you running? Self-made or purchased? There are a lot of threads on here to make your own (albeit beyond my skill level & tools available), or if you purchased, there may be a reflux head avail.

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Demy
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Re: Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by Demy »

Any stainless steel tube or copper will be ok but you need a reflux coil at the top of your column otherwise it is almost useless for what you want to do.
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Re: Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by shadylane »

Sanitary spools work great for a column.
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Re: Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by mannye »

Thanks for the responses. It's a store bought stainless milk can still with tri-clamps and those white silicone gaskets.

I'm actually OK with not getting full reflux right now as I am also trying to make better whiskey from malt, Remember, I just want "some" reflux :)

I'll order one up and report back. The reflux column for my still costs A LOT of samoleons. The worst that can happen is I get more copper contact during a run, right?
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Re: Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by Sporacle »

By packing your riser with copper scrubbies you will introduce more copper contact into the vapor path, you won't achieve reflux as you need something to push the vapor back down. You could also add copper offcuts to your boiler.
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Re: Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by squigglefunk »

trust me, I added a 48" x 2.5" spool to my still and it might have added 1-2% if any. It will do very little without the dephlagmator to induce reflux. really all it seemed to do was make it take longer to heat up.
mannye
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Re: Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by mannye »

squigglefunk wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:17 am trust me, I added a 48" x 2.5" spool to my still and it might have added 1-2% if any. It will do very little without the dephlagmator to induce reflux. really all it seemed to do was make it take longer to heat up.
Can confirm. After trying it out, it didn't make a whole lot of difference in percentage HOWEVER. I'm now drinking the first really good whiskey I've ever made and I think it's in part due to the copper packing I put in it. I also got my hands on smoked barley malt concentrate which I'm now having trouble finding.
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Re: Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by Deplorable »

Without even knowing it, you're working to build a modular rig. Keep buying pieces one at a time until you have all the pieces needed to make a reflux column. The milk can boiler, and a 20-inch SS spool is all that's left of my original off-the-shelf still.
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Re: Sanitary Spool Tube.... Good for reflux?

Post by kimbodious »

Modular rigs are the bomb. I have a whole heap of clamps and those gaskets and pieces of shiny shiny stainless steel to construct whatever configuration I need. Check out the links in my signature for some examples of my modular stills.
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