ProfessorDuck
(stranger)
07/14/04 06:08 AM
Temperature adjustment at high altitudes
High, I live in a country town in a slightly mountainous area and I am wondering if I should make some temperature adjustments for making my cuts (due to the slightly lower pressure). Water boils at about 97-98C here, so should I just shift down the recommended cut temperatures by a couple of degrees when distilling? (Eg. if making vodka cut the tails at 76 rather than 78 degrees.) If it's relevant I'm using a potstill.
______________________________________
Question reality...
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theholymackerel
(enthusiast)
07/14/04 11:22 AM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: ProfessorDuck]
A hydrometer or yer sense of smell would give better cuts than temperature and isn't affected by altitude.
Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.
-Mark Twain
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MyDBear
(stranger)
07/16/04 07:33 AM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: ProfessorDuck]
If you are going to use a thermometer instead of your nose then the answer to your question is yes. If you are going to use your sense of smell or a hydrometer like theholymackerel does then the answer to your question is no. It all depends on what YOU want to do. When you have a mixture of liquids, each with its own boiling point when pure, then the boiling point of the mix will lie somewhere in the middle, and this will depend on the relative concentrations of each liquid. Pure water boils at 212 deg F or 100 deg C, and pure ethanol boils at 173.3 deg F or 78.5 deg C, but a mixture of water and ethanol will boil at some point in between. And no the type of still that you use is not relevent to the temperature at witch a liquid boils. What does efect the temperature at witch a liquid boils is preasure.
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Yttrium
(member)
07/16/04 08:21 AM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: MyDBear]
Well, for most stils the boiling temperature is not dependant on the still.
http://homedistiller.org/equip/designs/vacuum" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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theholymackerel
(enthusiast)
07/16/04 08:39 AM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: MyDBear]
The most accurate way to make cuts is with yer nose...period. But if yer nose isn't up to the job a hydrometer is a MUCH better indication of where yer at in a run then a thermometer.
Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.
-Mark Twain
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puggy
(stranger)
07/16/04 09:07 AM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: theholymackerel]
I actually use the hydrometer, a thermometer, the smell, the feel when rubbing into my hands and a drop on my finger taste testing to make cuts. It really has not that much to do with science for me, it is just fun to sit around on the weekend and practice the hobby. I also like to light the foreshots and the start of the heads on fire to see the difference in the color when they burn. The thermometer actually does help a LOT for me when determining my reflux ratio. I usually collect at ~78.6 C at a constant amount of cooling water, and when the temperature starts increasing to ~79.2 I start turing up my cooling water to my though columns to increase the reflux (I am at sea level). Then I stop collecting when the condensate starts to have an off smell to it, which relates to about 80 C. This next run I am going to try the strip and slow go approach by first separating out the lower wines.
-puggy
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theholymackerel
(enthusiast)
07/16/04 07:40 PM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: ProfessorDuck]
I wanted to warn all the boardies to stay away from ProfessorDuck's home page. His home page will infect yer computer with the Trojan Horse virus called "SecThought.E".
The virus might be there without ProfDuck's knowledge, but then again ProfDuck listed his occupation as "Theif and confidence trickster" (his spellin') so ProfDuck likely placed it there himself with the intent of hurtin' our computers.
I just thought all the boardies deserved a warnin' about this guy and his web site.
Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.
-Mark Twain
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Fourway
(addict)
07/16/04 11:53 PM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: theholymackerel]
I emailed him about it and asked him to remove the link to his page till he got it sorted out.
The trojan is on his "freebies" links page.
"Dad was a drunk with a fishing problem". --Ben Willis
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Anonymous
(Unregistered)
07/17/04 05:46 AM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: theholymackerel]
Oh shit I didn't know about the virus. Sorry about that. I'm not really a thief or a confidence trickster by the way, it's just a joke. I'm not some kind of asshole who would deliberately try to give people viruses, I hate people who do that. I'd better re-upload the whole site after a scan of the files on my hard drive. Actually, I recall my virus scanner finding a trojan recently, and erasing it, so it should be fine when I re-upload. What did you think of the site by the way?
Anyway, I plan to mostly use smell and taste and possibly touch to determine the exact point for the cuts but also use temperature as a guide
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theholymackerel
(enthusiast)
07/17/04 05:55 AM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: Anonymous]
Glad to hear that the virus wasn't intentional.
Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.
-Mark Twain
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ProfessorDuck
(stranger)
07/17/04 06:59 AM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: theholymackerel]
Well, I've re-uploaded my site so you can now view it without worries of viruses. I should put a page about distilling in my schemes section. I just hope the police don't see it (or the page about cannons. Mmmmmm, cannons).
______________________________________
Question reality...
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AkCoyote
(journeyman)
07/17/04 09:17 AM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: theholymackerel]
I usually try to stay on topic but bear with me on this one.
Our computer was acting a bit squirrelly (sp) one day so I talked to a couple of the computer tech guys at work. They gave me a couple of spyware detection programs that fixed things right up.
In our conversation, they told me about how people hide viruses in photos. To try and illustrate, say a photo occupies a space of 1000 pixels. The resolution however is only 500. The remaining 500 can then contain data or more to the point, a virus or trojan horse. When you click on the picture, you're actually clicking on an executable file. In some cases, your antivirus won't pick it up because YOU were the one to give the OK to install it.
We're behind 2 firewalls, run McAfee and Norton intivirus and scan with Stinger and SpyBot daily. Still we intercept and stop 4 or 5 viruses per month. If I'm not told ahead of time that an email with an attachment is coming, it gets deleted immediately. So much for the carefree days of the internet.
AkCoyote
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." Thomas Jefferson
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Fourway
(addict)
07/17/04 10:12 AM
Re: Temperature adjustment at high altitudes new [re: AkCoyote]
Lets open a thread in offtopic if we want to have a virus and IT security discussion.
Nobody going through the archives later looking for info will be looking for a comp sci discussion in ->research & Theory->high altitude temps.
"Dad was a drunk with a fishing problem". --Ben Willis