Home Distiller

is it advisable to construct a parrot and use it during the run to determine cuts?

frodo wrote:is it advisable to construct a parrot and use it during the run to determine cuts?

No. Proof, like temperature, should not be used to make cuts. It is best to use your senses for that. Smell, feel, and taste are your tools.

However there is nothing wrong with a parrot. It's a fun little tool when first starting out but it also looses it's novelty.

bearriver wrote:

frodo wrote:is it advisable to construct a parrot and use it during the run to determine cuts?

No. Proof, like temperature, should not be used to make cuts. It is best to use your senses for that. Smell, feel, and taste are your tools.

However there is nothing wrong with a parrot. It's a fun little tool when first starting out but it also looses it's novelty.

what your saying is now of the toys are necessary,,if you use your taste and feel since's

which comes with experience,,and the only way to get experience is to do the work

A parrot is a good tool for showing when to shut down and how your run is going, its more useful to some stills than others but it is a tool not a toy. The information it gives you is helpful but not for cuts, it helps tell you if to adjust power input or reflux

just for interest, I did a simple experiment with my parrot to see if smearing might be an issue. I used coloured water, it took many litres before the colour left the output.... i no longer use my parrot

Does your parrot have a dump valve at the bottom?

I like them, I used to use one all the time.

Now I don't, because I don't have one.

I can't say that I really miss it, I just use a trial tube instead.

I might get one again in the future....

bellybuster wrote:just for interest, I did a simple experiment with my parrot to see if smearing might be an issue. I used coloured water, it took many litres before the colour left the output.... i no longer use my parrot

it took me 10 minutes to catch your meaning,,i'm slow..

your saying the parrot, in your opinion,

was more or less mixing your tails together ?

this is just a thought,

if you drilled small weep holes in the bottom of the parrot ...and used the valve

to regulate the flow...you could force the liquid in the parrot to circulate, and replace itself

thus,,stopping it from mixing tails.

it could be as simple as counting drips..

5 drips per 10 second into parrot

5 drips per second allowed to exit

will, in theory, keep parrot full,

crazy huh?

If you're not dumping it each time it fills, you're smearing.

yeah your right,,,,,file 13,,,,,

If you've got a few grand to spare you could splash out on an inline process refractometer.

A 0-80% handheld is a lot cheaper. They only need a drop of alcohol for an accurate reading.

Personally, I only use my parrot for stripping runs to keep me amused and help me know when to stop collecting... A parrot merely tells you the %ABV of the spirits running through it but does not indicate the composition of those spirits... Therefore it cannot be relied on for making cuts... It's a tool with a specific purpose and no other... It can't help with cuts any more than an alcometer in a test cylinder can... Smell, taste, and feel are required for accurate cuts...

I don't use a parrot at all..one less factor that could cause smearing.
A graduated testcylinder is what i have to determine the ABV.

I collect in 200ml jars, all my smearing Is contain two one of them . It still would be if I didn't use the parrot

Depends on your still. my Plater compresses tails well, so when I hit.tails my alcmeter bobs up fast in the parrot. I make cuts in 250ml lots, heads to hearts don't matter much, I can blend later. Only really use it for tails, tails hits, collect a small amount then shut down. If your worried about smearing, get the smallest alcmeter you can, and build a parrot to suit. If you put a valve on the base and can dump fores, heads, tails into collection jars, your set.

Parrots do have their place and are useful in the distilling process. Not for making cuts though but for indicating ABV%.
I run a nixonstone reflux still and watch ABV to adjust the reflux amount. Mine is the smallest parrot you ever seen with a
Russian alcohol meter that is small and fits the tiny parrot. Any smearing is kept to a minimum.
I personally like to use it and watch it along with vapor temp so I know whats going on in the boiler, that's all.


Bent

An older discussion on parrot smearing here.........

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 5#p7070225

Have fun, stay safe, enjoy the ride..........