StillSmart Home distillation made easy! 2010-03-22T16:57:06+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/feed.php?f=4&t=121 2010-03-22T16:57:06+00:00 2010-03-22T16:57:06+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=2240#p2240 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]>
Can you post your opinion on the Essencia filter as it looks a good bit of kit on the website,the one thing that conccerns me about it is how much the replacement cartridges cost,but it certainley makes the Z filter look a bit heath robinson in comparison.
Optic

Statistics: Posted by optic — Mon Mar 22, 2010 4:57 pm


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2010-03-21T18:51:22+00:00 2010-03-21T18:51:22+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=2237#p2237 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]> Statistics: Posted by bluecap — Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:51 pm


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2010-03-21T16:18:43+00:00 2010-03-21T16:18:43+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=2236#p2236 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]> Opus

Statistics: Posted by Opus 27 — Sun Mar 21, 2010 4:18 pm


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2010-03-19T19:20:42+00:00 2010-03-19T19:20:42+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=2218#p2218 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]>
tell me how they have used that information on the Z-filter e.g a brief description of events, as I whould like to put this e-book into practise but wanna find out what others have done first. Thanks.
B.O.R

Statistics: Posted by Bottleofrum — Fri Mar 19, 2010 7:20 pm


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2009-05-06T01:09:03+00:00 2009-05-06T01:09:03+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=1103#p1103 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]> I then put it through again today.
I know that all the guidelines say about being between 40 and 50 % for maximum performance etc, but the stuff I\'ve run through twice, now has a lot less of the slightly sweet, \"alcoholly\" type smell to it - when my neighbour took a smell this evening, he thought it was water......
If you check out Gert Strands site, there\'s a link for a free e-book/pdf (28 pages) all about \"Activated Carbon for the purification of alcohol\" (you have to register with the book selling hosts, and effectively \"buy\" a copy for 0.00$ when then directs you to the download link).
But with the suggestions/guidance, it\'s probably just a case of running a batch and then keeping it as \"raw\" spirit - then running it through the filter at the strength for drinking, even if you use bluecaps idea of the \"cotton wool\" technique.....
p.s. Oh and there\'s also the tip about \"rinsing\" the used carbon with hot/boiling (boiling is what I\'ve been trying) water to remove/clean out the \"collected impurities\". I\'d think that any technique that can be used to re-activate/revitalise it has got to be good to keep costs down.....

Statistics: Posted by Phantom — Wed May 06, 2009 1:09 am


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2009-05-05T21:07:59+00:00 2009-05-05T21:07:59+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=1102#p1102 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]> Opus

Statistics: Posted by Opus 27 — Tue May 05, 2009 9:07 pm


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2009-05-05T16:21:10+00:00 2009-05-05T16:21:10+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=1101#p1101 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]> On the subject of the Z filter I use the carbon once but I do use the alcotec one as it’s a lot cheaper than Z filers own but I use the filter with a small adjustment, I put a 2â€

Statistics: Posted by bluecap — Tue May 05, 2009 4:21 pm


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2009-05-05T14:52:09+00:00 2009-05-05T14:52:09+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=1100#p1100 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]>
All the guide lines say to filter at below 50%. What is the adverse effect if you filter at say 60-65%.
Opus

Statistics: Posted by Opus 27 — Tue May 05, 2009 2:52 pm


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2009-03-28T21:56:08+00:00 2009-03-28T21:56:08+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=859#p859 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]>

the taste test is the best way my filter uses about 200g and i put maybe one or at a maximum two washes through before changing it but I do run my spirit thought twice.

One point to remember is if you use your carbon too much you can actually put a bad taste into good spirit.
at which point, you put it aside and at sometime later, dilute it back down and then re-distil it!

Statistics: Posted by Phantom — Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:56 pm


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2009-03-28T20:24:30+00:00 2009-03-28T20:24:30+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=858#p858 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]>
One point to remember is if you use your carbon too much you can actually put a bad taste into good spirit.

Statistics: Posted by HangOver — Sat Mar 28, 2009 8:24 pm


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2009-03-28T19:38:09+00:00 2009-03-28T19:38:09+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=855#p855 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]> Statistics: Posted by Jimmy — Sat Mar 28, 2009 7:38 pm


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2009-03-28T17:43:15+00:00 2009-03-28T17:43:15+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=853#p853 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]>

Thanks for that Phantom,

When you say 5 and 10 litres at a time. Is that the total through one batch of carbon or 5 or 6 times that. I\'ve only just bought my filter as the small bottle top filter that came with my Air Still wasn\'t very efficient. The instructions don\'t give any clue as to how much distillate you can put through one pack of carbon.


Each batch of spirit is either 5 to 10 litres. So what I tend to do, is use 1 pack of the carbon, put it into the filter housing (as per instructions), then run water through it until it runs clear and any tiny carbon dust particles have been removed. Then I\'ll run a batch of spirit through it (usually 2 or 3 times).
The actual filter part of the above description, is repeated for 5 or 6 batches. Then I change the carbon, and start the whole process again.
I\'ve not had any problems doing that. It\'s entirely up to you how often you change the carbon. Though the more often you change it, the more expensive the process becomes.
As for boiling it, as Jimmy suggests, well the "distillers carbon" packs, are actually where it\'s obviously been crushed to dust and then "extruded" though a dye, so it\'s in the form of pellets, looking rather like tiny "animal feed nuts/cake". I\'d think that if you did boil it you\'d end up with black sludge. By just hydrating/rinsing it as per the instructions for the filter, it seems to work well.
I can\'t say if you used carbon that looks like it\'s just tiny pieces of broken up twigs. That would probably stand boiling, but I don\'t see the necessity for doing that. Though that\'s not to suggest that Jimmy\'s method is wrong, it\'s just how you\'ve found it to work best!
Hope that helps some (and makes sense of course)

Statistics: Posted by Phantom — Sat Mar 28, 2009 5:43 pm


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2009-03-28T14:30:30+00:00 2009-03-28T14:30:30+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=850#p850 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]> Statistics: Posted by Jimmy — Sat Mar 28, 2009 2:30 pm


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2009-03-25T19:17:26+00:00 2009-03-25T19:17:26+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=845#p845 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]> I think it can do about 10 of under 50% liters on one lot of carbon, but to be honest I will be trying the cheaper carbon from a homebrew shop rather than there own make at 4 times the price..
Here’s a link to instructions
http://stillspirits.com/webfiles/StillS ... 6May08.pdf

Statistics: Posted by bluecap — Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:17 pm


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2009-03-25T18:01:22+00:00 2009-03-25T18:01:22+00:00 http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121&p=844#p844 <![CDATA[Z Filter]]>
When you say 5 and 10 litres at a time. Is that the total through one batch of carbon or 5 or 6 times that. I\'ve only just bought my filter as the small bottle top filter that came with my Air Still wasn\'t very efficient. The instructions don\'t give any clue as to how much distillate you can put through one pack of carbon.

Statistics: Posted by Opus 27 — Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:01 pm


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