Home Distiller

Finally got around to building my top-fed parrot, thought I'd share the build with you guys.
Jumped up in size from my old parrot, this one is 1" pipe with 3/8 (OD) tube, Reducer is 2"-to-1", etc........
Decided to cope the collection tube a little whereby I could bend the end downward once inside the 1" pipe to direct the flow downward thus (hopefully) not interfering with the alcometer.
I tried her out with water and she seems to work well. Will give her a good run in a couple days.
As I've mentioned before, my old parrot gave me erroneous readings due to the upwell flow of product coming up from the bottom, etc, etc. So, now I'll see how my readings come out.......
First pic is how she sits on my column ........(had to edit that pic = too much info LOL)....

Hmmmm..... I see that being problematic.

OK, did a little stripping run today.
Parrot worked like a charm = cut off flow = reading stayed steady = I'm happy .....

Washashore;
Would appreciate a bit more of your opinion other than, "I think it's problematic",
care to elaborate ????
That's what we do here, we don't just point out flaws, we also offer solutions, etc, etc...........

It looks like that little bend you put into your intake tube might fix what i believe washashore is talking about. I would be concerned that the liquor coming out of the still wouldn't mix enough with what's in the parrot to get an accurate reading. But if you were having problems with your old parrot and this one seems to be working well, then way to go . Nice job on the soldering either way!

Is there a loop-de-loop in your tube coming off the condenser right before the liquor drips into the parrot? It's my understanding that one shouldn't allow the liquor to pool anywhere...

WB

Looks good. But what I see is the product will never really get mixed up. The stuff at the bottom will stay there. While the new product will just over flow. Because it will be blocked by the hydrometer and it won't have a reason to go downturn there. This will lead to smearing of product across the run. Unless you dump it out from time to time.

Where a bottom feed parrot. The product has to flow all the way through it to get out.

Its my experience that alcohol mixes pretty quickly affecting meter levels. It should work accurate placed anywhere in the tube where it can mix well. Having a larger volume tube slows response somewhat as compared to a smaller tube that may be also affected by up swell. Having a good vent hole before a larger down tube to the bottom will give the most accurate readings.
MR

"Bend in the intake tube" = ya lost me there ....
Yeah I have a small Flake stand/worm to cool my distillate before it enters my parrot, and, as Husker (in his PDF drawings) suggests, I have a loop
in my copper tubing for vapor trap, etc.
I'll say this = The readings I take at the parrot when I remove the collection vessel are definitely different (4-5 ABV) from testing distillate in a
separate cylinder. I attribute this to, as I'm doing the last of a stripping run. to the rapidly decreasing abv, therefore = reading in the parrot
will be lower from the 475 ml previously drawn in the collection vessel.
(That sound right ?????)
Hey !
Appreciate the responses guys, the thing works better than the last one.
I really ain't into micro changes (I drink my heads = )
We good here ........
Tx's for your input ........
Oxbo

I was referring to what Mr. Piss has already elaborated on as well as the bend in the intake tube.

You will get a reading of the averaged total SG of all the liquid in the parrot. This doesn't mean its mixed up. Just means if you were to stop at one point and mix what's in it at that point it would read that SG.

So this doesn't mean all the liquid in the parrot is that ABV. The stuff at the top will be closer to what is feeding it. The stuff at the bottom will be closer to what fed it to begin with. In the middle will be a mix of the two.

That's one of the reasons it reads different in another test cylinder.

I'm not an expert on Parrots, but I don't think its an accident that all the Parrots I've seen have two inlets into the main tube, one near the top and one near the bottom.
Pretty piece of equipment though.

BG

P.S..........
I did notice that as the stripping run progressed, the ABV did seem naturally to decrease as one would expect.
I surmise, as in the old parrot, there was sufficient flow to push up the alcometer up by several AVB points, the
downturn in the inlet tube of the new parrot probably also forced sufficient new product downward to mix and
somewhat stabilize the mixture at a pretty near reasonable reading, etc, etc, etc.......

This is what I do -> I got a 6 gal wash, I toss first 300ml, keep first 475 ml (1 pt) as heads, then I consider the
rest as hearts till I get to 50% ABV when I shut her down.
I keep these hearts till I get enough for a 6 gal 40% spirit run.
The heads (pt jars) I keep on my bench on the back porch and sneak out there every morning and add a bit to my morning coffee,
as the wife is inclined to frown on me imbibing at anytime.
And, the heads (as I call em) are a little rank, I make due, and never have a headache from them. As a matter of fact
I get a good buzz for awhile, then it subsides, and I'm no worse for wear than ever, etc.....

This is just what I've figured out, and I certainly don't claim to be any expert on this stuff. Anyone willing to give me any
enlightenment is surely welcomed to......................


You guys have lost me as to the "bend in the inlet tube". I got a loop -te-do to the parrot, but can't figure this "bend in the inlet tube"
Maybe I'm missing something .....................................

EDIT --> OK, OK, OK I see what you're talking about = bend in the inlet tube = coped out piece inside the 1" pipe, bent down .......

You could try, at any time in the run, record your parrot reading, pour out the entire contents of the parrot, shake a little, pour some into a test cylinder and see if that's the same SpGr.

oxbow..what kind of rig you running? it seems to me you are wasting a whole lot of drinkable product by shutting it down at 50% ABV...I usually run down to 20% or until the fussel oils start to make it cloudy. that is my stripping run...then when i get enough for a spirit run I collect and save it all down to about 30-35%. all is not drinkable, but I save the tails and add it to my first run of UJSSM...the first "sweet" run. I find I get a great tasting hearts jar right in the middle of the run at about 55% abv. i always keep one L and oak it for about 8 weeks and get a great Canadian style whiskey...the rest I save for the spirit run.

I run a simple pot still, 2in copper, 16 in rise ..reduced to a 1/2 take off..1/2 in in 3/4 in 4 foot liebig...make nice tasty stuff!

Heartcut -> Aha ! yes, will do that in a few days, just test the parrot contents only, in parrot/in cylinder ...........

Beelah -> I've got an approx 48" LM/VM with a crossflow condenser on top (see avatar).
Have only been interested in obtaining neutral spirits.
I realize I could go further down in ABV but just seemed to draw the line at 50% when I started this hobby.
This is my second summer doing this, feel better with the process nowdays,
should start experimenting a little I guess, etc, etc.....

Appreciate the info .....
Oxbo

Oxbo Rene wrote:as Husker (in his PDF drawings)

Sorry Hookline = It was Hookline's PDF drawings, not husker's .......
Will be testing the ABV of this new parrot in a few days ...............

OK, did stripping run this morning.....
Tested the TF parrot for accuracy = seems to be dead-on .....
Stopped flow, read alcometer in parrot, dumped contents in glass cylinder, inserted alcometer = same same reading.
I think the downward bend in the lttle piece indeed does send flow downward at a good enough flow to mix with
lower product and give accurate reading, etc, etc, etc..........
I'm happy .........

Congratulations on your out-of-the-box success.

I would like to see what the difference was. If you fed a bottom feed parrot with the output of your top feed parrot.

Prairiepiss wrote:I would like to see what the difference was. If you fed a bottom feed parrot with the output of your top feed parrot.

Well, as we touched on previously, the product contained in the
collection vessel is a couple ABV higher than that found in the parrot (continuously falling ABV = stripping run).
So, I would presume that the measurement in the second parrot would be likewise, etc....
I'm thinking, it's close enough to not be worried about a point or two.
My main thing was to eliminate the rise of the alcometer due to upward flow from bottom fed parrot,
and it seems to be pretty darn good = suits me much better than the bottom fed ........

I like the idea!! I've seen some with two feeds..one at the top and one at the bottom.. My first thought was to put one in the middle but then I figured it would probably have the same affect as a bottom fed one (not sure).... If the top fed is working with more accuracy, might have to build one like it!! Thanks for the experimental info!!

Ran mine again yesterday = worked fine, ABV decreased as run progressed, checked several times,
seems to be "A" OK.
But, I'm thinking, due to the run being a stripping run and having a good pencil-lead flow, the
flow indeed has enough force to send product down the tube and mix with the rest of product equaling a
good mixture.
However, during the "Spirit" run will be another story of which, I'll find out about in a couple weeks.
In that run there will only be a couple/three drops pr second, so, we'll see if there is good enough mixing of the
product in the tube or not, etc, etc, etc.......

If I were to do it again, I think I'd make the cope out cut extend at least to the opposite side
of the tube (longer) then bend down, might aid in better mixing, etc.....

Let us know how the spirit run goes... I'm curious... It seems to me that anything below the first inch or so would cause a bit of up flow.... I'm sure it can be calculated over time but maybe your idea is a fix??