FLUTE TALK

[Ben Stillin]

Hey OD, How do you bell out that copper pipe? Are you using an exhaust pipe expander or something else. Im just trying to figure out if I need to find a new fab company or just take it to the exhaust shop.

[olddog]

Hey OD, How do you bell out that copper pipe? Are you using an exhaust pipe expander or something else.

I personally did not expand or fit the ferrules to the tubing, this was done by Dolikeadrink, he fitted the ferrules to the tubes and then sent them to me for the flute build.


OD

[olddog]

Well after a frustrating day yesterday, and having made an obvious mistake, I disconnected the parrot from Stumpy and replaced it with a piece of 1/2"tubing so it was a direct output with no restrictions. I diluted the result from yesterdays run including the feints and lit the boiler. GUESS WHAT, i got a nice even stream of product coming off without any surges.

Although I had surges in a big way yesterday, the product was coming off at 90 ABV constantly though the hearts, and only dropping when the temp started to increase for tails takeoff, so I am going to declare Stumpy a success.
Stumpy is now for sale at $699 + postage, but will not have the integrated parrot.


OD

[kenfyoozed]

Glad to see you worked it out. How is the flavor coming off , with stumpy being a 2 plate , say vs other 4+ plates you have run.

I just love the look of stumpy. Would look right at home on a pony keg. Should be a nice lil setup.

[Thorn_veritas]

So od so stumpy is a bubble plate. How do you think it would go with just perforated plates?

With the take off so good on a 2 plate.bubblier and aslong as the.flavor profile comes off similay to the bigger plated models it would he a dream come true. I know you cant expect miracles but what im trying to say is gow does.it compare.too your original flute?

Im amazed I can read the.screen. God bless weekend off work. Ha ha

[Austin Nichols]

here's the 3/8 double wound 4" helix coil I'm going to try on my new build, it'll replace the dephlegmater.

I hope it works

[bgrizzle]

I wonder if you could run a cold finger up the middle. That may prevent any vapor that tries to sneak up the middle.

[Austin Nichols]

I wonder if you could run a cold finger up the middle. That may prevent any vapor that tries to sneak up the middle.

Actually I want vapor to get past it, that's the whole idea of having the 2" center in the coil, and I reckon it will be able to achieve 100% if and when I need it to

[bgrizzle]

Right on... that's why I had Kentucky Shinner build mine... because I really dont know anything about them ... I was just thinking that maybe it would not achieve 100% reflux without the coldfinger. But maybe it will, and like you said, if it doesnt you could add a coldfinger.

[djc]

With the thermometer right under the dephlegmater, do you have some sort of a cover over the thermometer to prevent false reading from the condensate falling on the thermometer?

[olddog]

With the take off so good on a 2 plate.bubblier and aslong as the.flavor profile comes off similay to the bigger plated models

To be honest, I could not notice any difference with the flavor between perforated plates and bubble plates, the only difference between Magic and Stumpy, is the takeoff speed is fractionally slower on Stumpy, but only fractionally.


OD

[Austin Nichols]

With the thermometer right under the dephlegmater, do you have some sort of a cover over the thermometer to prevent false reading from the condensate falling on the thermometer?

I cant speak for others but yes I did exactly that.

Cheers.

[kenfyoozed]

Do you think a 2 tray perf plate would give the same as stumpy? That would bring down cost drastically. Good to hear the great results.

[olddog]

I did not notice any difference with the flavor profile when comparing the 2 bubble plates and the perforated plates in the Magic Flute, the only difference I noted is that because the bubble plates will bubble even when all of the alcohol is taken, you do not get the automatic cut off when the hearts come to an end like you get with perforated plates. You have to keep an eye on the thermometer for this and when you see it rising, you will know that the hearts takeoff has come to an end.


OD

[prdbrissy]

G'day guys

As my Flue build slowly progresses ( I will posts some pictures soon) I am wanting to learn more about what is happening when you run one of these. So I would like to state the following and open it for discussion.

The boiler in my case is 50lts heated with 2300 watts of elements ( I may add more latter).
The plated column I am contemplating is 4" and will have 6 perforated plates in separate modules as per Condensificator's Bubblifier. I may try bubbles plates latter.
The dephlegmater will be 9 X 3/4 tube 175mm long.
The product condenser is 9 X 1/2 tubes 350 long inside 3" tube with an open to atmosphere spout.

With a constant power input and let's say a constant natural heat loss from the column surfaces and no dephlegmater cooling and sufficient product condenser cooling ( pot still mode) the output % of the alcohol is determined by the wash % and the still design and build quality. Please tell me if I got this wrong.

If I then add cooling water to the dephlegmater sufficient to condense some vapour, I am then starting to reflux the column. Please tell me if I got this wrong.

If I then add cooling water to the dephlegmater sufficient to condense all the vapour, I then have full reflux of the column. The temperature reading at the head of the column should be say 78deg C. Please tell me if I got this wrong.

If I now slow the cooling to the dephlegmater so some vapour passes to the product condenser and maintain the 78 deg C head temperature then I should get an alcohol % somewhere close to 96. Please tell me if I got this wrong.

I am hoping to encourage some discussion so I can better understand how to run my new still when it is completed.

Regards

[olddog]

maintain the 78 deg C head temperature then I should get an alcohol % somewhere close to 96.

I think 96ABV could be a bit optimistic, but it will certainly be around 90ABV depending on the alcohol content of your wash, my results vary from 90ABV to 94ABV which is the highest I have managed from a single run from fermentation. A higher ABV could possibly be obtained if you water down a previous run to 40% and then re-run it, but that was not the primary objective of the Flute design, as it was designed to get a high alcohol content with flavor and run at potstill speed from a single distillation.
I hope that helps.


OD

[prdbrissy]

maintain the 78 deg C head temperature then I should get an alcohol % somewhere close to 96.

I think 96ABV could be a bit optimistic, but it will certainly be around 90ABV depending on the alcohol content of your wash, my results vary from 90ABV to 94ABV which is the highest I have managed from a single run from fermentation. A higher ABV could possibly be obtained if you water down a previous run to 40% and then re-run it, but that was not the primary objective of the Flute design, as it was designed to get a high alcohol content with flavor and run at potstill speed from a single distillation.
I hope that helps.


OD

Thanks OD it does help. Are the other statements of operation I made correct or not.

I would hope other will offer something as well

Regards

[Austin Nichols]

Yippeeeeee!

Done my first real run today with a rum wash I've been saving for a special occasion, everything went very well, and I'm over the moon with my new still.

After all the research, reading, looking and trying not to ask too many questions about building the flute, that satisfaction of doing it yourself is an unreal feeling.

I'll let a few pics tell the rest of story

Rock solid

Nice stream

90 ABV

Shut down the dephlegmater once the temp moved and collected the tails in no time.

AWESOME!!!

[olddog]

AWESOME!!!

Congratulations on a good run. it looks like we have another winner


OD

[LWTCS]

I just tried a lo wine run and hit 95 abv through out hearts at 56 deg out put temp...

WTG Rock. I wanted to post "how many people have run a 40%" charge cuz I just know this thing will run like a scalded dog.

Very disconnected from the reality of how this thing will behave over yonder.

Can you please characterize the difference in behavior with a low wines charge for the audience?

[Kerry]

Yeah my flute was surging through the parrot too during the vinegar run, it had me buggered for a while after I frantically tried adjusting everything, but could only get a decent output when the dephleg was shut down.

I put a vent in the bottom of my shotgun condenser after the product exits it, and that fixed it straight away, it worked like a charm during todays junkahol run even tho I still gotta learn to drive it proper.

Hope you get stumpy sorted soon, and that it's a simple fix like mine was.

Cheers.

Hello AN,

Do you mean that you placed an atmospheric tube directly off the condenser output line... and for what purpose? Pressure build up?

[Austin Nichols]

Kerry,

Yes, just a small piece of 1/4 tubing to allow the distillate to flow freely.

The vent is needed on a direct connected parrot to allow the distillate to rise up the parrot smoothly.

[LWTCS]

even with the boiler set at a low setting and the dephleg running good

Yes, exactly.
Less heat needed with proportionately more cooling water per abv.

That implies clean likker. How clean? I know I'll never know how clean your likker is.
Certainly not for someone that never ran one of these rigs to suppose.

Bet if you bumped the heat to produce more reflux and adjust your cooling accordingly you will get a more clear picture to help you conclude if this design is capable of legitimate double duty,,,,,,,,,,,at potstill speed

[bgrizzle]

I'm running 12 gallons of Rads All Bran right now... I got the temp on my MK5500W at about 3/5th power. I have a 5500W element. I've got the water to the dephlag running real slow. My likker stream is about half the size of the water stream flowing out of the dephlag. I dont know the pace just yet because I'm just now hitting hearts. Temp is at 78.2C. My ABV is 91%. This one K.S. 6 plate flutes...

[bgrizzle]

I just pulled 1 gallon of hearts in 54 minutes. This is reading 91% but it's on 56 degress F. My alcholmeter is calibrated at 68 degrees F.

[bgrizzle]

Right on! I'm going to cut it and run again this afternoon. These flutes are amazing! Cheers OD!

[LWTCS]

Hope you got some drankin stock.........Cuz I was hoping you might deviate just a bit from your normal adjustmets and share the experience with the forum.

Or if you don't want to bugger up your run,,,just take close care to make a mental note of the behavior of the still with a proofier boiler charge,, then share your thoughts with the forum.

Thanks dude
WTG
Larry

[bgrizzle]

OK Larry. Here is how my run has gone so far. I turned on the heat this morning and ran on high for about 40 minutes. When I first turn on the element its quite loud. I can tell when its about to start boiling because the keg is so quiet. I turn off the water to my shotgun condenser and run all the water through to dephlag. Once it starts boiling, I cut the heat back to around 2/3 power or a little less. I let the flute reflux for a good hour. Then I turn the water on to my shotgun condenser to full blast. The I SLOWLY turn back the flow to the dephlag.

Once I start collecting, I took the first quart which was fores and some heads. I do this kinda slow. You can watch the temp rise as your fores are coming off. For my still the sweet spot is 78.2-78.3 degrees. If I increase flow to the dephlag, the temp will drop, output rate slows, and the ABV increases. Once I hit this temp it steadies out and can smell and feel that I'm in the hearts. For the first gallon, and didnt make any adjustments. I was getting 91-92%.

On gallon 2 of hearts about halfway through, the temp started going up. I felt my recirculating water drum (55 gallon), and yep it was getting a little warm. So, I slowly increased flow to the dephlag. What do you know, the temp dropped back down, and so did the alcohometer! As the run nears to a close, I am going to reflux 100% for about 10 minutes and see if I cant compress the tails.

At the end of the run, I will cut off the water to the dephlag and run 100% flow to my shotgun condenser. I'll let it run down to about 20-30%.

I know others on the site probably use less power than me. I like to keep the heat up so there is more bubble action and more reflux. Buy controlling the ABV using water flow to the dephlag, I am able to get a high abv, more neutral spirit, at a fast rate! I think the difference here is that I am using more heat, and more water to the dephlag so I think this is increasing my reflux ratio.

I'm going to dilute this back down to 25% or so and run it again. I will run it in much the same manner, but maybe a tad slower. My ABV on the second run should be a point or two higher. I results turn out like my last run, I'm going to have some topshelf vodka!

Cheers Larry! Hopefully I dont run out into my garage to smell the tails run all into my hearts jug!!!

[Austin Nichols]

Doin a rum feints run now, charged the boiler with 40L of 30% ABV.

Just starting to take heads now, will be interesting to see how much tails it compresses out of a mostly tails charge.

[Mr.Spooky]

did you dilute it to get to 30%, or is that just what it ended up being? if you did dilute,,, what did you use???
thanks
spooky