CM Operation of Ugly Betty
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2022 1:19 pm
Good afternoon,
I am wondering how effective this design is as I bought this still from someone on FB Marketplace.
I have been running this setup in "Pot Still Mode" since I got it because I'm not very knowledgeable with CM, LM, or VM setups. I was doing some reading in this section of the forum to determine if the design is viable as the seller's practices and how he described running this still were questionable at best. He said he ran it with water heater elements (the elements he provided were only about 6" straight elements) and he ran it with an inkbird in a thermowell at the top of the riser before the lyne arm to control the heat.
I have since removed the thermowell and valve he was using and I'm wondering if I can use this as a CM still even though I don't have a "T" at the top to house the RC. The RC is the entire length of the riser. It appears to be a 1/4" copper coil that's double wound and soldered into the reducer that goes from 2" to 1-1/4".
My ultimate goal is to run it like this:
- Heat up the wash until I start getting drips from the PC.
- Turn down the PC, turn up the RC, and adjust heat input until I find equilibrium as I don't have a thermometer.
- Slowly turn down the flow to the RC until I start getting drips again
- Collect 150ml per 5gal of wash as fores
- Collect heads in a single jar until I start to notice late heads/hearts transition
- Collect hearts in liter jars until I start to notice early tails
- Collect tails in 1/2 gallon jugs and save for blending.
At a glance, are there any major flaws to my approach? Is there a more efficient way to tackle this?
Like I said, I've been reading through the various CM build threads as I figured since I'll be adjusting water flow this qualifies as a CM still. If I'm wrong anywhere in this, please let me know. The biggest thing that's hanging me up is the setup of the still. I don't know if I ruined the option to run as a CM still when I redid the plumbing or not as I haven't come across another still with this same design.
I am wondering how effective this design is as I bought this still from someone on FB Marketplace.
I have been running this setup in "Pot Still Mode" since I got it because I'm not very knowledgeable with CM, LM, or VM setups. I was doing some reading in this section of the forum to determine if the design is viable as the seller's practices and how he described running this still were questionable at best. He said he ran it with water heater elements (the elements he provided were only about 6" straight elements) and he ran it with an inkbird in a thermowell at the top of the riser before the lyne arm to control the heat.
I have since removed the thermowell and valve he was using and I'm wondering if I can use this as a CM still even though I don't have a "T" at the top to house the RC. The RC is the entire length of the riser. It appears to be a 1/4" copper coil that's double wound and soldered into the reducer that goes from 2" to 1-1/4".
My ultimate goal is to run it like this:
- Heat up the wash until I start getting drips from the PC.
- Turn down the PC, turn up the RC, and adjust heat input until I find equilibrium as I don't have a thermometer.
- Slowly turn down the flow to the RC until I start getting drips again
- Collect 150ml per 5gal of wash as fores
- Collect heads in a single jar until I start to notice late heads/hearts transition
- Collect hearts in liter jars until I start to notice early tails
- Collect tails in 1/2 gallon jugs and save for blending.
At a glance, are there any major flaws to my approach? Is there a more efficient way to tackle this?
Like I said, I've been reading through the various CM build threads as I figured since I'll be adjusting water flow this qualifies as a CM still. If I'm wrong anywhere in this, please let me know. The biggest thing that's hanging me up is the setup of the still. I don't know if I ruined the option to run as a CM still when I redid the plumbing or not as I haven't come across another still with this same design.