MY SEXY GIRL

[LWTCS]

I use clear tubing to observe my flow.

I also charge both my condensers with water before I come to temp. Then as she approaches temp I divert all cooling to my def-tomatoe and let her 100% reflux for a goodly period of time....then reduce def-tomatoe cooling (dephlegmater,,,,,,,couldn't resist )accordingly.

Once you get familiar with her behavior at different settings it will get easier to read her.
,,,,she really will just about stop dead in her tracks after hearts.... And with the right adjustments she will likely reduce output at the end of heads.....just gotta find those sweet spots.

Get your heat adjustments and you'll see.

[mash rookie]

I use clear tubing to observe my flow.

I also charge both my condensers with water before I come to temp. Then as she approaches temp I divert all cooling to my def-tomatoe and let her 100% reflux for a goodly period of time....then reduce def-tomatoe cooling (dephlegmater,,,,,,,couldn't resist )accordingly.

Once you get familiar with her behavior at different settings it will get easier to read her.
,,,,she really will just about stop dead in her tracks after hearts.... And with the right adjustments she will likely reduce output at the end of heads.....just gotta find those sweet spots.

Get your heat adjustments and you'll see.

That’s pretty much how I run her Larry. This time I didn’t have enough flow to the dephlag at the start to keep her at total reflux immediately but was able to get that under control quickly.
I am pretty convinced that my dephlag gets siphoned off periodically and causes the fluctuations. I have a flow restrictor in the exit line but not a vent for a siphon break.
I think the long hose full of water might be pulling the dephlag dry periodically.
It is the only reason I can think of for the erratic behavior. Baaaaad girl.

[LWTCS]

Are you discharging your defleg from the top or bottom.....

I think counter flow for the dephleg is over rated.

[mash rookie]

You can see by the pictures that both lines enter at the top. The cold pipe feeds to the bottom of the dephlag. Hot water exits at the top of the dephlag. Plumbed like a product condensor. Did I miss something in my Flutes 101 class? Do you think I should reverse the flow?

[guittarmaster]

That's how my delph is rigged..... cold in at bottom, warm out at top.... But that being said vapor hits the delph differently than the product condenser I.E. vapor hits the delph from the bottom while it hits the product condenser form the top. I haven't been following the threads enough to get a clear view in why some people are having problems with their delphs but i have read over in the delph thread that some people are having better results running them the other way.... I.E. cold in top and warm out bottom.

I since i dont' remember people having these issues with the older style delph that used a single 1"or 2" vapor tube i suspect the problem lies in the shotgun design being too efficient at knocking down vapor. just my 2cents though.

GM

[Barney Fife]

You've got it plumbed correctly, as far as I see it. I don't like the idea of restricting the flow -out- of the dephleg. Can't put a finger on why, but I just don't buy into that idea. I do have a length of clear tubing on the input and output end of my dephleg, so I can see if it ever gets air bound or not. So far, it never has.

Edit: GM, good point on the dephleg "seeing" the vapor in the reverse of the product condenser. Hadn't thought of that. Mine runs fine, though, with no issues. But mine isn't a shotgun, but rather a 1-1/2" tube inside a 3" casing. basically, a large bore liebig. I also think the largemouth dephleg design might have final product flavor implications VS the multiple small bores of a shotgun, since a good amount of the vapor, when we're in the hearts collection, will "roll through" the larger bore without cooling and thus refluxing as much. Hmmm, this might also explain why few, if anyone, with a large-bore dephleg has reported issues with them being overly-sensitive to small changes in water flow. Didn't -all- the dephleg issues arise when folks started building shotgun dephlegs?

What we all need is for someone to devise a simple water flow meter. A clear tube and loosely-fitted ball would work; as the flow increases, the ball would be pushed higher up in the tube, and lowering the flow will lower the ball. If the ball fits the tube too perfectly and restricts too much flow, grooves can be cut in the ball, or tube(preferably the ball). Finding a suitable ball and tube has proven elusive for me, so far. But I am keeping an eye open whenever I am shopping....

[guittarmaster]

What we all need is for someone to devise a simple water flow meter.

why not simply time how long it takes to fill up 1 liter or 1quart as they are roughly the same volume and you don't have to worry about conversions into or out of metric or from US into Imp.....

GM

[Barney Fife]

Because some/many of us use a closed-loop system. Besides, it wouldn't be a instant, real-time measurement; you'd make your change, then have to time and measure the flow into your container. A ball-in-tube flow meter will respond instantly to any slight tweak at the valve.

read-my edit in my post above, also, for another thought.

[mash rookie]

GM
It make sense that it is upside down as compared to a product condenser. I hade not considered it that way before. With the size of these babies and considering it is a heat sink sitting in the vapor path as opposed to vapor traveling through a cold environment I am not sure how much it would matter. ??

BF
The reason for the flow restrictor was to keep a minimal back pressure in there so it would not empty to easily. I think a siphon break may work better. I will add one before I run again to see if that was my problem.

MR

[rad14701]

I'll interject this and we'll see what others think... As far as dephlegmators go it would logically seem like water going in the bottom and out the top would be the preferred method... Why...??? Let's compare a CM dephlegmator to a LM reflux condenser... With a LM reflux condenser we want to definitely knock down 100% of the distillate vapor so we want the top cooler than the bottom... Conversely, under normal CM dephlegmator operation we want a specific amount of distillate vapor to make it past the dephlegmator... So it would make sense that we want to knock down a majority of the distillate vapor at the bottom and then only allow as much to go out the top as required for proper plate activity and/or product %ABV desired... So the coolant temperature at the top of the dephlegmator is what dictates the resulting product...

[mash rookie]

To completely understand how they are working we would also have to take into account the flat surface area at the bottom the dephlag, tube diameter and surface area in relationship to the unknown water column pressure or speed of the vapor.

Clearly a substantial amount of vapor is stopped in it tracks by this cold surface while some lucky stuff gets to slip past up the slightly warmer tubes.
Using rads argument, this colder surface is the desirable way to plumb for max refluxing.

The question I have is, plumbed this way is it more sensitive to adjustment or more sluggish.

I would rater have a very sensitive control that although delicate to run would respond faster to my adjustments.
A less sensitive sluggish control that would have slow changes and might leave me operating poorly waiting to know what I have done.

They are powerful condensers. I think I am close. I will add the siphon break. If it still is difficult to control I will polish up a gate valve change out my ball valve.

A gate valve should give much finer flow control. I like Barney's flow monitor idea too.

Either way. They are a damn fine still. Rocket fast. Fun to watch and make some fine tasting hooch. Hail the mighty flute! Hail my sexy Girl!

[LWTCS]

So the coolant temperature at the top of the dephlegmator is what dictates the resulting product...

Sounds like a logical bit of reasoning without my really knowing any better...

But I do know that I don't have a bit of trouble getting my outfit to behave. And "in" through the bottom then "out " through the top is just a very simple way to prevent all the other PITA siphoning issues..

[rad14701]

mash rookie, more fine grained adjustments would be easier with either a gate or needle valve instead of a ball valve... With ball valves it is far more likely to initially open the valve further than needed only to have to close it back up a bit... I've never been fond of them for anything but an On-Off device, or crude adjustments only, for that very reason... Even a 1/4" needle valve will have a greater flow rate than most might think at mains pressure... You can fit a lot of water through a 1/8" hole at 40 - 80 psi...

[Prairiepiss]

What we all need is for someone to devise a simple water flow meter.

Not really a flow meter. But this is more of a flow indicator. They use them in industrial battery watering systems. I have 2 that I will be using when I get to that point. Basically the little pinwheel spins in the flow of water. The faster it spins the more flow you have. I don't know if it would help you guys out or not?

BFS_Watering_Flow_Indicator.jpg (1.62 KiB) Viewed 4633 times

[LWTCS]

I think that definitely can help PP. You source those??

[Prairiepiss]

I haven't tried sourcing them since I already have 2. I have a customer who breaks the part this attaches to. And we just buy the whole assembly. I just happen to end up with 2 clean unused ones. My sources sell them as assemblies with other parts. But I'm sure they are out there to be found. Google battery watering systems. This actually goes on the watering gun that is hooked to a water tap or tank. It's not on the battery itself. Sory I can't be of more help then that at this point.

Edit: I found this company they sell spare parts. But no pricing. Scroll down to the parts and you will see it.
http://forkliftbatteryonline.com/Automa ... stems.html

[LWTCS]

But I'm sure they are out there to be found.

So far similar devices are on ebay.

25 to 50 bucks seems the range for that type of simple device.

Can't seem to find that one that you have display'd,,, which seems to be the better of the choices really.

[Prairiepiss]

I looked at flebay and didn't come up with anything. Check out the link I added to my other post.

[LWTCS]

Check out the link I added to my other post.

Hmm,,,Kindalike buying fish? What ever the market bears that day???

Shoot,,,,,, I betcha I moe build one (similar) now that I seen it.

Can do the one with the 3 lil balls in a snap I bet.

[hackware]

this mite work...

Water FLOWMETER - ROTAMETER 2-16 gpm

[Barney Fife]

The difference between a flow meter and a flow indicator is that the flow meter will show you how much water you're flowing, while the flow indicator only shows you that you have flow.

Big difference....

We want to know how much water is flowing....

Hackware's devices are what we need. But I know we can make them for a couple dollars, if we put our heads together. We really don't need to know the exact flow numbers, just need to know that the flow changed, and being able to mark the flow rates needed for heads, hearts, tails would be neat.

[Prairiepiss]

I understand the difference. That's why I said I didn't know if it would help.

But depending on the flow meter you get. It mite not show an indication at very low flow. Maybe a combination of the two could help. Because it doesn't take much flow at all to spin the pinwheel in the example I posted. I can't speak for the flow meters. I don't work with them.

And I seem to recall someone who built a flute style still that made their own flow meter. I'm having a hard time remembering who it was. (I don't think they are around anymore) I think they talked about it in their build thread. I don't think it was in the flute talk thread. I could be wrong on that? But I think it looked fairly easy to build.

[hackware]

as long as it is just for coolant flow, a simple flow meter can be made with clear hose, a marble, and a piece of larger pvc with cutouts for view ports...

works only if held vertically, but most here can handle that...

[Usge]

I think it was manu that made one using a couple of "T"s, some plastic hose in a loop, etc.

[Prairiepiss]

Sory I was wrong. The discussion was in the flute talk thread. It was Prdbrissy that did it. Here's a link that should go to his post?
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 3#p6888243

Edit: its the last post on that page.

[ebstauffer]

Bit late to the party but could this work:

http://www.waterfilters.net/Digiflow-80 ... meter.html

Edit: Might not -- in looking at the specs min measurement is 1.5 lpm

[hackware]

Bit late to the party but could this work:

http://www.waterfilters.net/Digiflow-80 ... meter.html

Edit: Might not -- in looking at the specs min measurement is 1.5 lpm

might not go low enuff... "0.4 - 2.0 gpm (1.5 - 7.5 lpm)"

or high enuff for that matter...

depending...

[Mr_Rice68]

I believe that Prairiepiss had unwittingly suggested a name for her. I mean, if you think about it, she provides the means for medicinal, mental health and sedation purposes. So why not just call her "Nurse"? It makes sense to me.

[mash rookie]

I believe that Prairiepiss had unwittingly suggested a name for her. I mean, if you think about it, she provides the means for medicinal, mental health and sedation purposes. So why not just call her "Nurse"? It makes sense to me.

My girlfriend is an ER nurse, a damn sexy ER nurse. I have to be careful what I name her. Even calling her my sexy girl when talking with friends has caused some funny looks from my girlfriend. Just cant call her my "still" She is much more than just a still.

I am considering naming her after a local news girl that my girl friend knows I am hot for.

That way she can say, "that’s as close as you are going to get to Lilly” Of course I might get slapped for that one. Hmm…… decisions.

[Prairiepiss]

I believe that Prairiepiss had unwittingly suggested a name for her. I mean, if you think about it, she provides the means for medicinal, mental health and sedation purposes. So why not just call her "Nurse"? It makes sense to me.

Um yeah that's what I ment to say!