building vm reflux still, and got a few quickies

[piratesteve]

1. when im putting my reflux centering plate in, the easiest wat to do this will be to slot my 2" copper pipe so the plate will slide in and then solder????

2. with the reflux centering, does it matter if the surfaces or not completely smooth? as I am using 2"copper test ens, as they are easy to cut and very thin, but they are stamped.

3.For my packing, I have a roll of structured copper from brewhaus, how tightly should the packing be in the tube? (ie. loose or tight or somewhere in the middle)

thanks for the help. played hookey from work to get this thing set up, and cant wait to fire it up tomorrow, as i have a nicely cleared sugar wash(100L) to christen it with.