First attempt at distilling - Am I missing any info?

[kuraokami]

After lurking on youtube for a week and this forum for 2 weeks I feel like i'm close to being prepped. Unfortunately for this first run the tool for the trade I got was a t500 and a copper condenser for it.

What i'm distilling : Rice with Angel Yeast - Based on most things i've read this is about as basic as it can get.
Tools : T500 with the still it copper condenser.
Plan :

• Letting the rice and yeast ferment for around 2 weeks (will start measuring with the hydrometer for sg closer to the end)

• Running a test batch with just water to learn the still operation

• Running the still with some throwaway liquor to help clean and get a better idea of how real alcohol will work

• run a stripping run with the wash and then running a spirit run using 500ml mason jars to help cuts

Stupid questions:
1. I read the spirit run can roughly take 5 hours - How do I really tell it's about done? The ABV of the liquid ? The temperature? or the flow rate once it gets to a certain temp?
2. After the stripping run if I need to get more liquid to run the still I can just add water for the spirit run correct? (and even on the stripping run?)
3. I've read people referencing changes to the t500 that have made it safer. Other than copper outlet tube any easy to change things?
4. I've watched and read a million cuts videos. But any information that might make it simpler for a first timer?
5. Any tips on preventing surging?

Thanks ahead of time for the help!

[jonnys_spirit]

Hi, At the bottom of every page is the "Required Reading" box with four links... Reading through all that will invariably lead to additional reading...

1. Depends on how much power you run at but 3-6 hours maybe?. More power = more vapor. In general strip till total ABV of low wines is about 25-30% ABV. Fores low and slow then strip hard and fast. Same on a spirit run but instead of hard and fast turn up power until you get a pencil lead stream going...
2. You'll want to do a strip run and then a spirit run. Three to four strip runs one after another will produce enough low-wines to fill the boiler up for a full spirit run.
3. Not sure about the t500 specifically but maybe a power controller if it doesn't have that.
4. Read the Novice guide for pot still cuts below and also search look up a few other cuts guides here on HD - Forget about YT videos.
5. Slow down the cooling water.

*** Cleaning protocol should be first is a vinegar run followed by a sacrificial alcohol run..

Rinse & Repeat, Keep reading, and keep learning

Cheers and good luck!
-j

[CoogeeBoy]

As Cartman once said, there are no such things as stupid questions.......

Stupid questions:

1. I read the spirit run can roughly take 5 hours - How do I really tell it's about done? The ABV of the liquid ? The temperature? or the flow rate once it gets to a certain temp?

Your T500 will literally stop producing alcohol at the end and the ABV will start to drop off.
What I do to assist me with knowing how far through the run I am is to attach a digital thermometer to the boiler. As the T500 nears the end, the temperature of the boiler increases up into the 90C+. I use this as a guide only. Next you will taste the changes depending on your wash.

2. After the stripping run if I need to get more liquid to run the still I can just add water for the spirit run correct? (and even on the stripping run?)

You can add water to the still for the spirit run. The Spirit Run charge should be no higher than 40%. I found that running less than 50% fill on the T500 resulted in me spending a lot longer at the still per volume of output, I suspect the volume of air in the still affected the rate that the vapour travelled through the still. Less pressure?

3. I've read people referencing changes to the t500 that have made it safer. Other than copper outlet tube any easy to change things?

Add a digital thermometer to measure the temperature of the boiler and use that as a safety mechanism. I plug my boiler into the digital thermometer and set it at around 75C so if I get distracted and am not watching (which has happened), the boiler doesn't get carried away and start producing vapour which is inherently dangerous.

4. I've watched and read a million cuts videos. But any information that might make it simpler for a first timer?

Practice, practice and practice, then ask some of the old timers here on the site, they are typically very helpful, BUT ONLY IF YOU HAVE READ THE TIPS FOR NEWCOMERS / NOVICES SECTIONS

5. Any tips on preventing surging?

Don't overfill the boiler.


As Jonny says:

4. Read the Novice guide for pot still cuts below and also search look up a few other cuts guides here on HD - Forget about YT videos.

Just note that the T500 is a reflux still.

To do the stripping runs, you will need to unpack the column. The Stripping Runs are a lot quicker than the Spirit Run.

[RC Al]

Forget SG readings with Angel, it incrementally converts starch to sugar to booze, the yeast dosent wait for the enzymes to finish.
Have you worked out your sparging method? It will scorch if you throw it all in the boiler

You need to dilute back to 40% or less for any run in the still for safety reasons

+1 on the power controller.

Some smaller or lots of cut jars will be better, ive seen 20 jars recommend (sized to suit expected output), but that only gives you a 5% "resoulution" per jar, you will work it out wit time what suits you

Posting same time as CB
No experience, but pulling the packing can lead to a melted top on a t500? Have a search...

CB the boiler charge thing - its not the volume of air... I recon you will find its from prep and equalization times being similar, they will take much the same if your running 10 or 100 litres

[rubberduck71]

Another +1 on the power controller. Run your still by the output. Temp & ABV's are only a rough guide of what's going on, but I will say that as you get experience on your rig, you'll be able to predict what's going on cuts-wise & time left in run by the data.

You can use ceramic boil enhancers/raschig rings and/or anti-foam agents (both found in homebrew stores/sites) to help prevent pukes. Generally speaking, you don't want to exceed 80% of boiler capacity.

I've also done the rice/angel yeast & would recommend you get a stainless steel hop spider. These things are great for siphoning mash out of your on-grain ferments (which is what all your angel yeast ferments will be!).

I know it's generally "frowned upon" recommending YouTube vids, but Jesse from Still It has one about de-tuning the reflux condenser on a T500 to turn it into a pot still. It's a fine unit for both beginners & veterans, and when paired with a power controller will perform just fine. And you can also get a pot still head attachment for the T500 lid.

Good luck, have fun, & keep reading,
Duck

[kuraokami]

Hi, At the bottom of every page is the "Required Reading" box with four links... Reading through all that will invariably lead to additional reading...

1. Depends on how much power you run at but 3-6 hours maybe?. More power = more vapor. In general strip till total ABV of low wines is about 25-30% ABV. Fores low and slow then strip hard and fast. Same on a spirit run but instead of hard and fast turn up power until you get a pencil lead stream going...
2. You'll want to do a strip run and then a spirit run. Three to four strip runs one after another will produce enough low-wines to fill the boiler up for a full spirit run.
3. Not sure about the t500 specifically but maybe a power controller if it doesn't have that.
4. Read the Novice guide for pot still cuts below and also search look up a few other cuts guides here on HD - Forget about YT videos.
5. Slow down the cooling water.

*** Cleaning protocol should be first is a vinegar run followed by a sacrificial alcohol run..

Rinse & Repeat, Keep reading, and keep learning

Cheers and good luck!
-j

Thanks for the advice! I definitely do a vinegar run first. So even on a stripping run you start out slow? I definitely check out the guides. Been going through them slowly and taking down notes. Do you have a recommendation for a power controller? I've seen some recommended but when i find them on amazon there are a lot of complaints about reliability.

[kuraokami]

As Cartman once said, there are no such things as stupid questions.......

Stupid questions:

1. I read the spirit run can roughly take 5 hours - How do I really tell it's about done? The ABV of the liquid ? The temperature? or the flow rate once it gets to a certain temp?

Your T500 will literally stop producing alcohol at the end and the ABV will start to drop off.
What I do to assist me with knowing how far through the run I am is to attach a digital thermometer to the boiler. As the T500 nears the end, the temperature of the boiler increases up into the 90C+. I use this as a guide only. Next you will taste the changes depending on your wash.

2. After the stripping run if I need to get more liquid to run the still I can just add water for the spirit run correct? (and even on the stripping run?)

You can add water to the still for the spirit run. The Spirit Run charge should be no higher than 40%. I found that running less than 50% fill on the T500 resulted in me spending a lot longer at the still per volume of output, I suspect the volume of air in the still affected the rate that the vapour travelled through the still. Less pressure?

3. I've read people referencing changes to the t500 that have made it safer. Other than copper outlet tube any easy to change things?

Add a digital thermometer to measure the temperature of the boiler and use that as a safety mechanism. I plug my boiler into the digital thermometer and set it at around 75C so if I get distracted and am not watching (which has happened), the boiler doesn't get carried away and start producing vapour which is inherently dangerous.

4. I've watched and read a million cuts videos. But any information that might make it simpler for a first timer?

Practice, practice and practice, then ask some of the old timers here on the site, they are typically very helpful, BUT ONLY IF YOU HAVE READ THE TIPS FOR NEWCOMERS / NOVICES SECTIONS

5. Any tips on preventing surging?

Don't overfill the boiler.


As Jonny says:

4. Read the Novice guide for pot still cuts below and also search look up a few other cuts guides here on HD - Forget about YT videos.

Just note that the T500 is a reflux still.

To do the stripping runs, you will need to unpack the column. The Stripping Runs are a lot quicker than the Spirit Run.

When you say attach a digital thermometer to the boiler do you have a recommended one? And where exactly would it be attached? There is one on the condenser but from what i read it's not that useful. The longer with less volume makes sense. Unfortunately I got too excited and went ahead and started the ferment before reading more about the still's capacity (I have some experience with beer / other ferments). I only have two buckets which will probably be 1 bucket too little for a full spirit run after stripping. BTW do you happen to know which soft copper pipes are the ones to buy for the outlet?

[kuraokami]

Forget SG readings with Angel, it incrementally converts starch to sugar to booze, the yeast dosent wait for the enzymes to finish.
Have you worked out your sparging method? It will scorch if you throw it all in the boiler

You need to dilute back to 40% or less for any run in the still for safety reasons

+1 on the power controller.

Some smaller or lots of cut jars will be better, ive seen 20 jars recommend (sized to suit expected output), but that only gives you a 5% "resoulution" per jar, you will work it out wit time what suits you

Posting same time as CB
No experience, but pulling the packing can lead to a melted top on a t500? Have a search...

CB the boiler charge thing - its not the volume of air... I recon you will find its from prep and equalization times being similar, they will take much the same if your running 10 or 100 litres

Ugh no idea about sparging. I'll look into that, thank you for letting me know. I just read a thread about a member her having vodka have a burnt taste. I was just going to siphon /rack it it more than once. Jar wise i'll go ahead and buy another box of 12 makes sense. for the melted top..... I'll look into this.. i read that pulling the packing out is how you run it has a pot still.. I might end up getting the alembic condensor / top then to run it for the stripping run. I just hope with Xmas shipping it'll get here in time!

[kuraokami]

Another +1 on the power controller. Run your still by the output. Temp & ABV's are only a rough guide of what's going on, but I will say that as you get experience on your rig, you'll be able to predict what's going on cuts-wise & time left in run by the data.

You can use ceramic boil enhancers/raschig rings and/or anti-foam agents (both found in homebrew stores/sites) to help prevent pukes. Generally speaking, you don't want to exceed 80% of boiler capacity.

I've also done the rice/angel yeast & would recommend you get a stainless steel hop spider. These things are great for siphoning mash out of your on-grain ferments (which is what all your angel yeast ferments will be!).

I know it's generally "frowned upon" recommending YouTube vids, but Jesse from Still It has one about de-tuning the reflux condenser on a T500 to turn it into a pot still. It's a fine unit for both beginners & veterans, and when paired with a power controller will perform just fine. And you can also get a pot still head attachment for the T500 lid.

Good luck, have fun, & keep reading,
Duck

Hope spider bought! thank you for the advice. Did you siphon it multiple times? I am a little worried now about burning anything in the t500. Also how did you figure out when the fermentation was done in the mash/wash?

[Yummyrum]

So when you say T500 with copper condenser , do you mean this

2B8DCAD3-2039-42C0-8CDA-446E358A5323.jpeg (14.85 KiB) Viewed 3236 times

…… or this ….

218ADE2B-AF74-48E8-8ABC-69C9A821E949.jpeg (16.29 KiB) Viewed 3236 times

[CoogeeBoy]

As Cartman once said, there are no such things as stupid questions.......

When you say attach a digital thermometer to the boiler do you have a recommended one? And where exactly would it be attached? There is one on the condenser but from what i read it's not that useful. The longer with less volume makes sense. Unfortunately I got too excited and went ahead and started the ferment before reading more about the still's capacity (I have some experience with beer / other ferments). I only have two buckets which will probably be 1 bucket too little for a full spirit run after stripping. BTW do you happen to know which soft copper pipes are the ones to buy for the outlet?

Hi mate, I use this one
https://www.kegland.com.au/mkii-10-30am ... -cool.html you will be able to get one like it wherever you are.
Plug the boiler into the heating plug and I tape the temp sensor to the boiler but I use insulation so I can slip the thermometer in and out readily.

Not sure on what copper pipes, just make sure they are 100% copper and clean them in an acid bath, vinegar should do it.

[rubberduck71]

Hope spider bought! thank you for the advice. Did you siphon it multiple times? I am a little worried now about burning anything in the t500. Also how did you figure out when the fermentation was done in the mash/wash?

Just once. I would also push the spider down into the grain bed, let it "settle" for a bit & use the siphon. Then you can either let the bucket you've just racked into settle for a few days or cold crash it overnight. It's cold here in Pennsylvania, so the great outdoors is a natural cooler.

I let the ferments go for 7-10 days. Leaning heavily on air lock to tell me everything is done. I "swirl" the buckets every few days to mix up the grains & make sure the enzymes & yeast can get to all the grains.

Duck

[kuraokami]

So when you say T500 with copper condenser , do you mean this2B8DCAD3-2039-42C0-8CDA-446E358A5323.jpeg


…… or this ….

218ADE2B-AF74-48E8-8ABC-69C9A821E949.jpeg

Hello. I have the first one but because of what i read here I ended buying the second too. Considering some members mention the top of the first one can melt if i'm running it in pot still XD

[kuraokami]

Progress report: Made it to the first vinegar cleaning run without messing anything major up
Things I've learned or slowed me down.

• It takes about 3x full charges of the wash to make 1 charge of the alcohol for optimal time savings (read this before but putting it here for any other newbs like me

• The inside of my alembic dome seems to have tarnished some after the vinegar wash and when i wiped it down with soap and water after i can totally see why you all recommend a good cleaning. I am still getting residue.

• If you have spray head faucet... no standard adapter is going to work (This is US). The male head you need is a 1/2 npt to be able to screw into the spray head's hose. I've had a hell of a time finding an adapter for this. Basically you need something like a 1/2 npt to some npsm or 1/4 or smaller barb. If i'm totally off on this (still got some adapters etc coming from amazon tomorrow) please let me know

• Damn colder weather is slowing down my ferment just past 2 weeks.... hopefully this doesn't really mess up anything

Next is the sacrificial run.. and like everyone recommends i wish i made some kind of sugar wash to be this run but i got 2 jugs of Carlos Rossi? partly for the jugs.

[Yummyrum]

The Only time you will see the inside if your copper still all pinky shiny Copper is when you buy it from the shop .

It will build up a natural Patina . No need to keep cleaning it .

I guess you can imagine how many times those big Scottish Pot stills get cleaned and shined up inside ….. that's right , never .

[kuraokami]

Some more learnings. Just did a trial run with some cheap Carlos Rossi wine

• As long as your vessel to ferment didn't get tainted, even after ferment is done you can leave it in there for weeks without worry. (From another post in this forum). I got worried since it's now almost 3 weeks since fermentation started but because of the weather it seems like it's FINALLY done

• A lot of water is used to cool the condenser! With the pot still I was way above the 2.5L minute. I'm guessing my water isn't cool enough?

• I should have just made my own water pump with a sub pump and a big barrel / bucket of water. Could have controlled water temp better and reused water easier.

A few questions i still need to figure out.

1. Does a hot and fast stripping run mean no cooling? When do I stop? Without a parrot do you all just collect in a flask and check the alcohol % then? Or is there a better way to check alcohol%
2. For the spirit run slow as it can go is it best to make it as cool as possible while having atleast a dribble come out?
3. I found the everlasting gasket. Is there any other clear mods i can make to the t500 to make it safer?

Thanks again all

[Yummyrum]

I am going to assume you are talking about using the Pot still head .
Yes , you always need cooling water flowing through the condenser .Hot and fast is often mentioned as hard and fast .
It just means run the element up as high as you can to get the job done quickly , but only up as high as the condenser can handle it .

Again with a Pot still ,on the Spirit run you turn down the element power to reduce the spirit output to a dribble .
It has nothing to do with temperatures anywhere , its all to do with adjusting the power to the element .

You mat be getting confused because you have the T500 reflux still that the manufacturer places a lot of importance on coolant temp. Something that we here don’t .

[kuraokami]

I am going to assume you are talking about using the Pot still head .
Yes , you always need cooling water flowing through the condenser .Hot and fast is often mentioned as hard and fast .
It just means run the element up as high as you can to get the job done quickly , but only up as high as the condenser can handle it .

Again with a Pot still ,on the Spirit run you turn down the element power to reduce the spirit output to a dribble .
It has nothing to do with temperatures anywhere , its all to do with adjusting the power to the element .

You mat be getting confused because you have the T500 reflux still that the manufacturer places a lot of importance on coolant temp. Something that we here don’t .

Thanks Yummyrum , that makes a lot of sense.

Finally racked one bucket to a carboy to see how much it'd actually clear up.

How much should I wait for it to clear up before I transfer it in the still for the stripping run? Is it even necessary?

[rubberduck71]

How much should I wait for it to clear up before I transfer it in the still for the stripping run? Is it even necessary?

Wait as long as your patience will hold out. If you're in a cold climate, you can stick it outside to cold crash & make sediment fall out faster. You can see it starting already in the pic you posted. The ABV in it will prevent it from freezing.

For water conservation, I actually bough a big plastic storage bin (it has very rigid sides) from Sam's Club then I freeze gallon cider jugs (the plastic is thicker than milk jugs & won't split during freezing process). Then cycle them through as the defrost during my runs. Water is pushed by an inexpensive submersible aquarium pump.

If you haven't already, check out Brewhaus for their power controller (<$70) or if you have the means & expertise, just build one. Your off-take speed is the most important thing during a spirit run so that hearts aren't smeared with heads/tails. Nothing worse than all that time spent for a crappy end result.

[kuraokami]

Took your guys advice on waiting it out and i'm glad I did. It cleared up a lot.

Finally did my first stripping run! Again I have the T500 will Alembic Dome. I ran it without cooling until the vapor hit around 80+ and turned the cooling water on a little as i got nervous.

1 - This whole stripping run ended up to be something around 3+ hours. Is this normal?
2 - I ended up getting around a gallon of low wines (cut it off when abv went below 20% and vapor on the provided thermometer hit around 98C) from around 4~ gallons of wash.

One more stripping run today and finally after that a spirit run! THanks so much guys for helping me even get this far!!!!

[jonnys_spirit]

Congratulations - Sounds about right!

I'd probably run it a bit longer (25% to 35%'ish total low wines ABV) if you're going after a flavored spirit but plenty time to experiment with finer details.

Cheers,
j

[TDick]

Progress report: Made it to the first vinegar cleaning run without messing anything major up
Things I've learned or slowed me down.

• It takes about 3x full charges of the wash to make 1 charge of the alcohol for optimal time savings (read this before but putting it here for any other newbs like me

I realize I'm late to the party, and I hope it's going well.

One of the first things I learned with a pot still is 3 stripping runs = 1 spirit run.
More importantly, it takes almost no additional effort & minimal cost to make enough mash/wash for 3 runs as it does for one.
First time out, make enough for Four runs to include your sacrificial run.

Taking that one step further, if you have locked in on a recipe you like, completed wash will last for months.
Particularly when using a small unit like the T5, it's no trouble so don't be afraid to make up a 20 gallon batch.
I've used a fairly inexpensive 52 quart (13 gallon) insulated cooler for all grain or now 20 or 30 gallon Sterilite totes with a $10 acquarium heater during cold weather.

Sterilite 27.png (18.93 KiB) Viewed 2426 times

That also gives you plenty to practice & experiment with your technique.
Best of luck.

[kuraokami]

I realize I'm late to the party, and I hope it's going well.

One of the first things I learned with a pot still is 3 stripping runs = 1 spirit run.
More importantly, it takes almost no additional effort & minimal cost to make enough mash/wash for 3 runs as it does for one.
First time out, make enough for Four runs to include your sacrificial run.

Taking that one step further, if you have locked in on a recipe you like, completed wash will last for months.
Particularly when using a small unit like the T5, it's no trouble so don't be afraid to make up a 20 gallon batch.
I've used a fairly inexpensive 52 quart (13 gallon) insulated cooler for all grain or now 20 or 30 gallon Sterilite totes with a $10 acquarium heater during cold weather.
Sterilite 27.png

That also gives you plenty to practice & experiment with your technique.
Best of luck.

Thanks for this! Totally makes sense. I’ve been wonder what can be used to keep things warm as it’s too cold in my garage to keep a good ferment going. I’ll definitely try this next time. Do you set it in a table though to make it easier to move up for racking?

[kuraokami]

Finally got to spirit run after a lot of over analysis, waiting for some electronics to come in, and a busy holiday!

So from the pot still runs (2) I ended up with about 9-10 total liters of 40%. Here is the summary of my spirit run

Total 5~+ hours
Stick to 55~C most of the run until around the end where I had to push to 65~ to get anything beyond slow drips out. In total I pulled around 3.3 liters in 11 jars. The first 100 being tossed. I wish I measured the starting output better but hindsight…

The heads in the first 300 ml jar were obvious but by jar two it was already a big drop and didn’t smell that different from 3-4. Not that there wasn’t but by my novice nose I couldn’t tell as much. I had an even harder time where it came to tails. My first jar was firmly in the 93% abv range but by jar 11 I was only down to about 91ish %

In my case did I just not really get into the tails fully?

One big thing I regretted was getting the still spirits water pump. While it works , it’s very difficult to equalize the water coming in with the water it’s pushing to the still. I was almost standing for 5-6 hours fiddling with it the whole time. If you overfill the container it leaks and it can also run out fast if you are pushing more water out too fast. I’m going to dig in the forum for ways to make my own that is controlled better.

Also for a neutral spirit is it necessary to proof down slowly and wait 24 hours?

Thanks all for all your help!! It’s amazing how good the stuff you can make at home and I already have a ton of ideas of different variations I want to try to change the flavor some! I’ll summarize some of my biggest gotchas in a reply later incase someone finds this info helpful!

I have a voltage controller coming tomorrow for my next run!

[TDick]

I realize I'm late to the party, and I hope it's going well.

Taking that one step further, if you have locked in on a recipe you like, completed wash will last for months.
Particularly when using a small unit like the T5, it's no trouble so don't be afraid to make up a 20 gallon batch.
I've used a fairly inexpensive 52 quart (13 gallon) insulated cooler for all grain or now 20 or 30 gallon Sterilite totes with a $10 acquarium heater during cold weather.

That also gives you plenty to practice & experiment with your technique.
Best of luck.

Thanks for this! Totally makes sense. I’ve been wonder what can be used to keep things warm as it’s too cold in my garage to keep a good ferment going. I’ll definitely try this next time.
Do you set it in a table though to make it easier to move up for racking?

Definitely. In cold weather, gets it off the floor. And wrap a blanket around it to help maintain a temp.

[Yummyrum]

……
One big thing I regretted was getting the still spirits water pump. While it works , it’s very difficult to equalize the water coming in with the water it’s pushing to the still. I was almost standing for 5-6 hours fiddling with it the whole time. If you overfill the container it leaks and it can also run out fast if you are pushing more water out too fast. I’m going to dig in the forum for ways to make my own that is controlled better.

Is it one of these ?
I didn’t know they made such a thing .

From the blurb , it sounds like it should work OK

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead ... EB8&adurl=

[kuraokami]

……
One big thing I regretted was getting the still spirits water pump. While it works , it’s very difficult to equalize the water coming in with the water it’s pushing to the still. I was almost standing for 5-6 hours fiddling with it the whole time. If you overfill the container it leaks and it can also run out fast if you are pushing more water out too fast. I’m going to dig in the forum for ways to make my own that is controlled better.

Is it one of these ?
I didn’t know they made such a thing .

From the blurb , it sounds like it should work OK
E3764FBF-8656-4775-A09C-D2AAD2021617.jpeg
https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead ... EB8&adurl=

Yeah my problem is with my input into the pump. I have it on one of those sinks with a pull out head and a very imprecise lever. I can never get the right amount to go in while it’s pumping out and the basin is quite small. I can probably solve this with a needle valve but I’m having a hard time finding some to adapts to my 1/2 npt socket to the sink to a needle valve and then output to a 1/8 hose to go into this pump contraption. Right now I have just a 1/2 npt barbed spout screwed in where the pull out head goes. Which means I’m just in a constant state of too much flow and too little flow to this basin

[Yummyrum]

I just started a topic here . viewtopic.php?f=2&t=85964
It might give you some ideas on making your own version of a float tank reservoir system . Although mine was run of my tank by gravity , I think you might find that your kitchen sink faucet has enough pressure to operate the 1/2” float very well .