last nights run..

[bowhunt76]

Lets hear your thoughts on my exact process good or bad from last nights run.. running 3"x 48"oal packed column

This wash consisted of ten gallons of sweetfeed already cleared,and a run back of a combined approx. 7l of 40% from a previously shut down run (due to running out of gas). I measured the abv of the wash to be 12%.

615pm started fire on low, knowing on previous runs it would be at least a 90min warm up on med-hig and was still finishing up dinner and waiting for my helper.

900pm was trying to equalize at 170 as per the instructions here http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 63&t=15508

this is where i actually got it to run.

temp on right is target temp on left side is actual.

and the top temp.

once "OL PETE" settled in at this temp I ran 100% reflux for 30 mins.
I then cracked the take off and took 1 cup of fores out the bottom dump of my parrot.

After pulling the fores i closed the bottom dump and refluxed for another 15mins and with everything settled in opened the take off first drops out of the parrot where at 10:05pm

As the first drops were hitting the jar this was my proof

I would read that as 184p - 92% reading just under the liquid line.
From here things ran steady down to about 140p when i changed out 10gals of cooling water and re-equalized the column for about 10 mins. I then collected down to 120p and changed out another 10 gals of cooling water and re-equalized again for about 10 had to fiddle with heat a little. By this time i was pushing 180 degrees and was starting to see some vapor out the top of the column.
At this time I'm still collecting 120p although at a slower pace. All previous collection was a fast trickle with methodical spurts about once a minute ran the whole time like this. I was planning on taking only down to 80p as im pretty confident in my cuts to suit my tastes by now. I ended up plugging the column vent with flour paste at about 100p cuz i could no longer keep vapor from escaping with take off or heat control. Once I did this she ran out 1 more pint from a 100p to 80p. After changing one more jar I immediatly noticed the change in smell clarity and abv all drop and this jar only finished out at half pint at 60p.. shut it down..2:50am total run with extended warm up time approx 8 hours.

Leaving me with a total take of 7.5 pints

After tasting my way thru this entire run I felt confident that what I would have cut as hearts was with the second bottle all the way thru to jar#7. After this is when she really started showing tails. Any ways heres the pics of the product about half way thru the run.

After letting them sit since last night covered in coffee filters i batched down to 100p with distilled water and filtered .

leaving me with a total take of 5l of 100p. Plus another half a pint of the same.

Please let me know how i f'd up as it seems i ran pretty well although im really starting to think i need more volume of cooling water or a bigger reflux coil although my coil is as of yet unpacked. (column is packed 3' of stainless mesh.

thanks for reading.

[bowhunt76]

50 views and 0 comments ....lame

[mindmap57]

Can't say one way or the other how you did, I don't know anything about running a rig yet. But it looks to me you are running a VM.........that is what I am building right now.......I'm hoping to have a good run at mine like this soon...........product looks nice

Anyway, just thought I would give you a

PS...........funny I noticed I joined almost exactly 1 year latter than you..............the same day of the week just off by one day's number!!!!

[Prairiepiss]

50 views and 0 comments ....lame

That generally means you did good. Congrats.

[bowhunt76]

haha that is funny i did not even notice that was my anniversary lol..

[Butterman]

Sounds like you did fine.
If you want some comments then ok :>
When proofing you should check the temp of the distillate as with my 2 alcoholometers/proofers anything above or below 60 degrees I need to subtract or add to the reading respectively.
Then instead of changing out water for your condenser and having to 'equalize', transfer that heat to the air out of your water with a radiator and a fan.

Butterman

PS Oh and how about some photos of your whole set up, instead of just close ups, while running of course :>

[bowhunt76]

Sounds like you did fine.
If you want some comments then ok :>
When proofing you should check the temp of the distillate as with my 2 alcoholometers/proofers anything above or below 60 degrees I need to subtract or add to the reading respectively.
Then instead of changing out water for your condenser and having to 'equalize', transfer that heat to the air out of your water with a radiator and a fan.

Butterman

PS Oh and how about some photos of your whole set up, instead of just close ups, while running of course :>

thanks I will check my distilate temps next run.. i can say it is not hot or cold just piss warm but have not actually checked it (add to do list)

i actually just pulled a 2 core radiator outta a ice maker today butterman pretty sweet even have the shroud and fan that works with it ill add on to the thread when i get it up in running

ps..whole set up pics are here ..http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 32&t=37116

[Butterman]

Ive read and commented on that thread, but I dont believe there is a photo of your rig running there.
That radiator sounds like it will be perfect :>

Butterman

[mindmap57]

hHey bowhunt, I didn't even notice till you posted the link..........I read your build thread a few times before........helped me with my build, other than mine being a 2" column it has a lot of the same features as yours.

I'm glad to see you get this good of stuff from it, I am really excited about mine now.......can't wait to get it done and running.

Also where is this radiator idea thread you guys talkin about?

[bowhunt76]

heres one thread http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=26430 bout the radiators..ive seen it mentioned several times over last year or so but never really seen any thing in depth myself ..just makes sense. small radiator, or maybe even a heater core from auto junk yard to route cooling water thru if you run a reservoir as i do..

[mindmap57]

Man that is a great idea........I even have a nice brand new Large trans cooler that I can use........I was also planning on using the water in my rain catchers to cool this thing, so I don't have to run up my water bill. That idea should work great......I was wondering about keeping the temps down.

[Butterman]

I use a motorcycle radiator with a small fan and this keeps 5 gallons at about 70-75 degrees for hours. I will sometimes do 'change outs' when doing a real slow run that last 5+ hours.

How did you plug your diesel flap with flour paste?

Butterman

[bowhunt76]

How did you plug your diesel flap with flour paste?

Butterman[/quote]


piled it in and closed the flapper cooks up almost instantly...that how ive been doing stripping runs actually

[bowhunt76]

ok so got my radiator home today and looks to actually be a 3 core. tried hookin the fan up 2 different ways and still turned the same way so its a puller fan sucking from open finned side into and out of the shrouded side.my only question is which way would you think best to plumb it? right now I have it plumbed coming in at the top back leaving front bottom.should I run into the bottom front row first? (closest to finned) I mounted everything roughly to my bench and ran the water into a small water bottle to check the temp differential started at 64.8F and within just a couple minutes dropped to 62.4f and stayed there .not much swing but its prolly more than enough to keep my temps down with 20gal res ...heres pics. thoughts?

[Butterman]

Thats a beauty :>
I would think that if you plumb it from the bottom so that it fills and then drains out the top it would stay in the system longer (hence losing more heat) as you could control the flow, if it enters the top you have gravity pulling it down and draining faster and not losing its heat as fast.
I fill mine through the bottom and drain out the top.

Butterman

[bowhunt76]

i kinda thought that too butterman but im only runnin a swamp cooler pump and have already noticed a slow down on the flow rate ..think ill switch to a sump pump..also wont have to worry bout the pump pickin up hot water sittin on top of the res. either.also think ill switch out all the 1/4" tube for 3/8"

[Desertrat]

It's all lookin' good. I have no idea what a VM is supposed to pull on ABV, or maybe I do but just can't remember, and I am such a newbie that it is only my 2 cents worth. My ABV will not run in mid 90's if I run too fast. ABV drops and does not taste good if I go fast, but then I find the sweet spot (by smell & taste) on temp, every thermometer and still is different, and hold it there by how fast or slow I pull product. I have never had to adjust my heat once. My ABV's pull good this way and no I do not chill it in the frig to get it down to 60F, as we have not had such cold weather in some time. So yes they are a little lower than I show, however my product runs out pretty nice on the temp; it's not hot by any means.

Which brings me to cooling water temp. All I can say is that I recirculated for a little while and the bucket gets too hot to fast. So I just hooked the garden hose up and just barely crack the valve and adjust until I have cool water coming out the exit line to the back yard. It is so simple and so effective that if the proposed system is a problem you can use the ol garden hose as a back up.

I've only had a pint, but I just gotta say it....if ya have ta, you can always put a few pounds of that good ol BBQ lava rock from Home Depot in place of some of the scrubbers you now have and you just won't believe the sweetness thereof.

[Desertrat]

Lot's of info here in this forum on Lava Rock