StillSmart

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-22T01:56:25+00:00

Started one here : http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=55

Statistics: Posted by Jimmy — Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:56 am

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-22T01:45:50+00:00

I have had 2 overflows, both when i had not degassed, and i had rings in both times......
May i suggest having an overflow post/page Jimmy so we can write into it whenever any of us has the problem, instead of all of us putting it in different topics, we can keep it in one place for us all to come back to and tell our problems with it.......

????????????

Statistics: Posted by pi55ed — Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:45 am

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-22T00:50:03+00:00

I've never tried it myself, but I think Phantom has - I believe you just get it from the homebrew shop...?

Statistics: Posted by Jimmy — Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:50 am

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-22T00:25:25+00:00

Hi jimmy iv got the boiling chips plus a dozen or so of 15ml bits of copper tube in the still .i de gas befor every run and only put 3ltrs in. it runs ok then now and again as a funny do.iv not tried distillers conditioner were can i get it from

regards alan

Statistics: Posted by alan — Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:25 am

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-21T23:40:52+00:00

Hi all,
If anyone gets the lid popping over, can you please let us all know whether you used :
Boiling chips

Degassing with a whisk, etc

Distillers conditioner

How much you put in, 3 or 4 litres
Hopefully between us we can narrow it down. As it stands, I don't think anyone has had this trouble when using distillers conditioner...?

Statistics: Posted by Jimmy — Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:40 pm

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-21T22:08:29+00:00

isnt there some sort of cleaning stuff that can be bought from smartstill?

Havent even finished my first wash so havent worried about cleaning it too much othere than a wipe out.
Have you tried adding more saddles?

Could try putting in say 3.0 or 3.5l instead of 4L?

Statistics: Posted by HangOver — Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:08 pm

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-21T21:37:55+00:00

Hi all i did 3 runs yesterday no trouble, first 1 this morning poped the lid up wash all over the place. just finished second run no trouble, all from the same batch all well degassed i ran it every day last week with out a problem

Statistics: Posted by alan — Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:37 pm

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-21T21:06:05+00:00

Although im very new to this after my wash was finished I syphoned it into smaller 10L containers with about 6-8L in each. Before I added the wash to the still I just shook the smaller container, this would do the same job wouldnt it?

Statistics: Posted by HangOver — Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:06 pm

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-21T16:57:46+00:00

Dont let the water splash on the sparks of the drill though....... BOOM !!

Statistics: Posted by pi55ed — Sun Dec 21, 2008 4:57 pm

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-21T16:38:22+00:00

The "Still Spirits" instructions state that before adding finings to clear down the wash, you should stir it vigorously to de-gas it. As it helps the finings to clear it quicker.
Because you'd normally be making the wash in larger, more open containers, there's no reason why you couldn't just get a cheap plastic stirring stick from the HBS and put it in the chuck of a drill.
There's no real reason why you might need to buy a more expensive "whizz stick" that has folding blades, they're really for using in DJ's etc with wine, because you can't get a plastic stirrer in a bottle or a DJ.

Statistics: Posted by Phantom — Sun Dec 21, 2008 4:38 pm

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-08T19:40:58+00:00

It's not stupid at all - yes it would help, and I've seen people with adapted drill attachments for that kind of thing. I don't have a whisk though, but I'll try to do something next time! Filtering will help if there are particles in the wash, it'll help gas a little too as it's splashing about from one container into another.

Statistics: Posted by Jimmy — Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:40 pm

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-08T00:58:13+00:00

May sound stooopid of me but if you whisk the wash for a bit before putting it in the still would that get rid of any gas left in the liquid wash before distilling????????
would filtering the wash through coffee filters help in anyway????????

Statistics: Posted by pi55ed — Mon Dec 08, 2008 12:58 am

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-01T21:44:34+00:00

The man from my local hbs warned me to make sure all the gas was out of the wash by stirring vigourously as often as possible at the end of its fermentation. He told me that it would bubble up and lift the lid if this was not done (so I did and all was fine with mine). So another clue to the problem methinks lol

Statistics: Posted by quietman — Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:44 pm

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-12-01T04:32:21+00:00

Gas sounds like a good theory, which of course would work by degassing - what does the distillers conditioner actually do? Is it related to CO2 in any way, or does it do something different? We're closing in on it!

Statistics: Posted by Jimmy — Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:32 am

Smart Still - over boiling ? How to stop this ???

2008-11-30T11:17:46+00:00

Hi Phantom
That last 4 litres was still a little cloudy which I degassed with a degasser that you attach to a drill just before putting it in the still so got rid of all the gas, the distillation went perfect and on opening the still afterwards there was a layer of sediment on the base so it has to be the amount of gas in the wash, but saying that itâ€™s a non exact hobby so I hope Iâ€™m right.
Please donâ€™t prove me wrong.

Statistics: Posted by bluecap — Sun Nov 30, 2008 11:17 am