Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

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Harley
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Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

Post by Harley »

Hi guys,

I was wondering about using a conductivity metre to automate taking cuts during a spirits run - yes, there are a few ways to do this, but I was wondering about this method in particular.

There's not too much information online about this method. Conductivity is typically used to measure the purity of water. Anyone have any experience or knowledge here?
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NZChris
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Re: Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

Post by NZChris »

It probably can be used, but only after you have many distillations of the same wash and spirit run to get your data from. I doubt it's something that you can find using Google or searching distiller websites.
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

Post by Saltbush Bill »

I just have to ask why? Instead of relying on some fancy gadget to tell you how to make cuts why not use your nose......you can take your nose anywhere in the world and it costs nothing.........a gadget has to be packed into a suitcase and needs batteries or a power supply?
I really want to know the answer to why a gadget is better?...please reply.
Harley
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Re: Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

Post by Harley »

Saltbush Bill wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 12:36 am I just have to ask why? Instead of relying on some fancy gadget to to to tell you how to make cuts why not use your nose......you can take your nose anywhere in the world and it costs nothing.........a gadget has to be packed into a suitcase and needs batteries or a power supply?
I really want to know the answer to why a gadget is better?...please reply.
Completely agree with you. I've been using my nose for years, and I'll even be using it tomorrow to make my cuts from a spirit run doing right now.

This is just another automation and control measure that I'm interested in. Yes, it's over engineering simple solutions - but it's fun. And if it turns out that there's something to this idea, then its just more knowledge or another experiment to run.
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Harley wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 1:29 am Yes, it's over engineering simple solutions - but it's fun. And if it turns out that there's something to this idea, then its just more knowledge or another experiment to run.
:thumbup: :thumbup:
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Yummyrum
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Re: Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

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Measuring conductivity can only tell you the conductivity . It can’t tell you what is causing the relative conductivity .

So you can perhaps get a conductivity reading of absolute Ethanol . Yay …. You have a number .
But what does any number other than this mean ?

Its an interesting question . Somethings might have a lower conductivity than Ethanol , some will have higher . But once its all mixed together , the average could have a reading similar to absolute Ethanol .
One could be tricked by such a reading that the solution was Ethanol when it contained also a mix of other stuff that bought the average reading back to that of Ethanol .

My thoughts are its a one dimensional method that won’t work .

Also , tongues can detect things in parts per million , most conductivity meters I’ve seen measure to parts per thousand .
I could be wrong .
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jonnys_spirit
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Re: Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Does conductivity change with temp?
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Harley
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Re: Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

Post by Harley »

Yummyrum wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 1:52 am Measuring conductivity can only tell you the conductivity . It can’t tell you what is causing the relative conductivity .
I reckon you're right here. That's where NZChris said that it'd only mean something if you had a history of data using the same recipe. It could at least tell you what part of a spirits run you're up to, relevant to historical data.
Harley
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Re: Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

Post by Harley »

jonnys_spirit wrote: Tue Sep 14, 2021 4:55 am Does conductivity change with temp?
Yeah, these conductivity ratings will say something like "20uS/cm @ 20C." Though, they may have automatic temperature compensation (ATC) since some have a thermometer at the tip as well...
Chucker
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Re: Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

Post by Chucker »

Conductivity is a measurement of the inorganic component influence upon the electrical current carrying capability in a liquid solution. Things like salts and minerals. Anything organic that may even have an impact is not correlatable to the measurement.
In the case of making cuts it is all about the taste and smell of organic components; those things that cannot be quantified by conductivity.
I certainly understand where having an easy, on-the-fly test and a hard numeric value would be an attractive tool; we’ve had this argument for years with clients who wish to use it as a membrane performance indicator in water recovery applications. While useful in determining water hardness it doesn’t provide any realistic measurement of the organic components that are relevant to their application criteria. It’s a good tool, just not the right one.
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Re: Measuring conductivity when taking cuts

Post by Harley »

Thanks Chucker, excellent answer :)
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