VM take-off, velocity & design

[Stillbilly]

Hello,
looking for any feedback b4 I run some solder on my first still.
Building a 2" VMs with a packing column of about 48"/120mm long. Using a 2"x2"x2" T with a 2" condeser on top. The 2" take off reduces to 1" at the valve and then to 1/2" through the liebig.
I heard some had good results with similar builds but was inconsistent due to no restriction to speed up vapor.
I was thinking of installing a 2" copper washer (where the pen is in the pic) with a 3/4" or 1" hole in the center of it and solder or braze it in place; or should I just let the restriction from the valve help vapor velocity?
The washer would be an easier install just below or above the take off inside the T because of a circular ridge in there.

Thanks much,

[rad14701]

I think you'll have better luck if you install that reducer plate above the VM take off branch, using a 1" hole... By doing so you should get essentially the same effect as using a 1" T instead of the 2" T...

[Stillbilly]

sounds good, I'll put it on top and try to install it snug so that I can be removed for future mods.
Thanks,

[Stillbilly]

Thanks tons to many for helping me get to where Im at today! Just curious about ABV from my rig.
I ran two runs through her so far and looks like im pulling 84 abv from middle of the run. Im curious if tweaking my set up to hit 90 - 95 range is worth it or not..
Propane fires it up. built a 54" VM with about 48" of copper mesh inside. The 2" copper pipe runs straight with no reducer at the T and no washer reducer inside. (2x2x2 T) Have plenty of knock down from the top coil and the flow from the product condenser is very steady. Comes off real clear other than some white floaties from (i assume) using dough to seal the column to the keg with a tri-clamp, (removed floaties with a coffee filter). Used Rods All Bran recipe on two runs and have a hybrid of that recipe bubbling now (corn, lemmon and lower SG). I have 25 lbs of rice that will be getting wet next and like what Im reading from Uncle Remus' thread.
With my extra parts, Im building a short neck stripper to help speed things up.
So Im curious, is there a big difference or advantage having a reflux still that kicks out 95 over 85 abv?

[astronomical]

I got white floaties on my cleaning runs. It was from the flux or something. I wouldn't drink that stuff until you're sure what those floaties are.

That still should be able to easily achieve 95%.

How much packing did you use?
How many scrubbies or how many pounds of mesh?
Input wattage?
Boiler size? How full was it?
Low wines or fresh wash?
Head temp?
Time spent in full reflux?

ummmm.. Other stuff?
This info will help you get the answers to run that rig to its full potential.

Cheers
A

[emptyglass]

So Im curious, is there a big difference or advantage having a reflux still that kicks out 95 over 85 abv?

Depends on the drink.
Check parent stie again.

Vodka/Gin or Whiskey/Rum?

This will be you answer.

You don't want to take too much funk out of your whiskey or rum, but you'll want all funk gone for neutral.

Astro has a good point- are your floaties carring on? Or has it been only for the first run through a new still? Did you do a vinegar run, and the other cleaning stuff? Good chance the floaties come from an uncleared wash.

[Stillbilly]

Thanks for the feedback,
Yea, did a water/vinegar cleaning run, then made a sugar wash (10%) and ran that through to clean it, then discarded.
Inside column looks real clean and I did see some crud come out during the cleansing runs.

Made an 8 gal batch, 11% wash about 9-10 days old, racked it once and ran it the following day. It was mostly clear. Put it into 100% reflux for an hour then bled off 200 ml. Starting gravity was a little high, 1.09

Im taking better notes on my current run.
Im again using a small amount of dough to seal between the column and 15 gal keg, then tri-clamp it (heating with propane). Also some dough near the T for tear down.
Im running a (7.5 gal) wash today, I will post later what it looks like. Im also slowing it down a bit, I may have rushed it earlier.. Thx!

[Stillbilly]

Today's run was aprox 8 gal. stilled a version of Rad's All Bran wash @ 10.8%
I did run the wash a bit early, it was only 5 days old and final gravity was at 1.002 so... sorry yeast.. your gonna bake.. but I did thank them.
I did have some white particles at the bottom of the first L collected and a little cloudy, after that it was really clear.
Here is a break down of how it ran:
(52" VM Column, 48" packed copper mesh, propane heat, 56 L keg)

1:oo pm fired it up. digital temp probe is on the take off T. 12.7 c
2:00 pm 77.7 c Letting it equilibriate
4 pm 76.8 c. thought the temp would drop to around 73 c but did not so I began collecting foreshots
5:30 77.3 c. collected 150 ml of foreshots (yes, very slow)
closed valve, turned heat up a bit, let equlibriate for 5 minutes, opened up a bit wider and collected another 150 ml over 30 minutes
6:00 77.3 c by 6:00 I collected another 150 ml of heads
6:30 77.4 c. 500 ml of hearts collected
6:50 77.5 c 1st jar is now full at 800 ml mark
7:32 78.7 c 2nd jar is now full, 800 ml collected ABV at 88.5
8:45 81.5 c 3rd jar full, 800 ml 82 ABV
9:40 84.6 c 4th jar at 500 ml marker, 76 abv
10:30 86.1 c 4th jar 700 ml marker, 74 abv
10:55 slow drips,shut her down, 4th jar at 750 ml mark.

Does this look like a normal run?
I think I want to build a stripping head..