Everything went wrong last night

[pistachio_nut]

I wound up with nothing, but worse than that... I had safety issues I didn't realize I had until late in the night. My cooling water hose came loose from an attachment point, another hose wound up loose at the top of the still, and late into the night I realized a gasket was out of place on top of my keg. The loose hose at the top left a trickle of water running down to the top of the keg which steamed up, so I didn't notice the alcohol vapor hissing out the side of the column/keg junction until after I fixed the trickle. That was enough for me. I pulled the plug and went to bed VERY late into the night. There was no time to let my rig cool down and pull the column, so there it sat in all its glory all morning until my wife woke me up to take it down.

I could have addressed the keg/column issue if I had broken it down properly before setting up for the run, so that'll be a part of my process now. I still don't get why the hose on the top wouldn't clamp down right. What's so hard about tightening that ring? It always worked before... I don't know.

I also realized that my flashlight is way too bright. I'm charging up the batteries for my headlamp now so I don't wind up flashing my neighbors' windows.

[blind drunk]

There was no time to let my rig cool down and pull the column, so there it sat in all its glory all morning until my wife woke me up to take it down.

I have a pair of heavy duty welder's gloves just for that purpose.

[pistachio_nut]

Everything went right tonight. I learned my lesson. I bought extra clamps, tightened up everything, monitor for steam anywhere, keep my fire extinguisher handy, make sure it's all blacked out. Tonight went MUCH better.

I figured out a couple other tricks that make things go quicker and smoother, too. I'm sure you guys know them so I won't bother repeating them.