SS Reflux mods - the ones we know work

[Phantom]

Ho ho ho! Well that's the power controller, "Y" piece splitters, taps, 5 metres of 8mm reinforced hose and the plug in power meter ordered (the power meter might take a while as Maplins list it as "pre-order" as they're currently out of stock).
So when that lot turns up, I'll be able to have a play.........
Excellent. TVM to the more knowledgeable and adventurous here abouts. I'm looking forward to the first batch of 90+ already......
regards
P.
p.s. Oh, and while I\'m thinking about it, does anyone actually know how much power the SS super reflux draws as standard i.e. what rating is the heater element

[MrCat]

In my uk unit it\'s a 1.3kw element.
There may be variations about though as I\'ve seen other posters on other forums giving different ratings.

[Opus 27]

Mine runs at 1360 watts, SS info says 1400 watts so I guess thats pretty close also the pulse switch might be loosing a few watts.
Opus 27

[Phantom]

So that means mine is the same then. Excellent.
Now it\'s just a case of waiting for the bits too arrive :-D

[Opus 27]

Just finished running 16 litres of wash got close to 2.5 litres at 93%
Opus 27

[Opus 27]

Discovered that insulation works! Started the still this morning but the garage was down to about -1c. Wrapped two anoraks around the still and zipped them up. Refluxing leveled out far more quickly and I was able to drop power down to 650 watts (normally run 750-800). Produced about 2.25 Litres in 3 hours so far at 90% ABV at 8c so allowing for temperature correction thats 93-94%. Now need to find a proper insulating jacket that fits.
Opus 27

[optic]

Opus

would the camping foam mats that I have used to insulate a mash tun for AG brewing be any good they are cheap enough to buy at Millets.Also B&Q do rolls of insulating material that is designed for putting behind central heating radiators to reflect the heat back,it is basically 2 sheets of tin foil with a layer of bubble rap sandwiched between them.A layer of camping mat with this over the top makes a superb job on my mash tun and HLT.
Optic

[Opus 27]

Cheers Optic

I\'ll Be over to town to have a look. Unfortunately grounded by Doctor at the moment and no alcohol allowed either, life\'s pretty miserable at the moment. Tip don\'t be a cardiac patient it sucks.
Opus 27

[andyt]

hi

i,d like to introduce myself i,m andy , i,ve just joined the forum , but have been following the site for well over a year now , since i bought my air still last year .

i have now upgraded to a super reflux still (as sold by wineworks) so i,ll cut to the chase as to the question of power control on the super reflux still, has anyone tried using the thermostat off a ritchie or electrim brewing bucket the type used for mashing grains , because the ritchie thermostat plug will plug into the reflux power socket i tried it today but i didnt have an meter to test the wattage but it does seem to work with a tweak here and there , so i thought i,ll run my 25 litre rum wash and see if it works which i think it did , the run gave me the following quantity which i collected in 370 ml glass jars
740 ml @ 84 %

370 ml @ 85 %

370 ml @ 86 %

370 ml @ 70 %

200 ml @ 60 %
starting gravity for the wash was 1080 and had a final gravity of 1000 ,which gave a total quantity of 2050 ml (ran out of time to finish run tonight ) of very clean sprit with a faint sweet smell of molasses which i,ll let lie for a couple of weeks and see what happens to it .

[Phantom]

Well, I\'m not sure if I need to be more patient with my Super Reflux or less, and say fuck it......
So, I\'ve moded the pipes as per the suggestions, I\'ve built a power controller for it and got a wattage/power meter to plug it into when I want to run it.
I\'ve yet to try the \"tesco\'s stainless scrubbers\" as the ones I bought might not be suitable as they\'re the size (and shape) of rubber door stops, and as yet I haven\'t seen if it\'s feasible to try and unroll one to try and shove it in the reflux chamber.
Now I still have some copper mesh that could be used but changes to the amount or packing density have proved unsuccessful in trying to work out just how long a piece of the copper mesh I\'d need to use or how hard it needs to be packed in....... which is a bit confusing as I have to presume that those two points are relevant as to the amount of reflux surface area on the mesh I\'d get.
Anyway, I did a run yesterday/this morning (vodka star). Initially, I just let it all heat up, before starting any meddling. Once it was all up to working temperature, I closed the tap to the condenser about 1/4, to try and make sure that there was enough cold water going to the reflux jacket, then I started playing with the power controller to reduce the wattage (which shows as 1433 when it\'s at full power) to try and control the temperature. The lowest that seemed to give enough power to get some output was about 800 watts.
Throughout the course of the run (about 10 hours yesterday and 3 this morning) I changed the amount of power and/or varied the amount of water flow etc. Fair enough, I wasn\'t actually putting much thought into this and in the end, I just said bollocks and opened up the tap to allow the water to seeming put the same amount through the reflux collar and condenser and just left the power up on full.
I\'ve ended up with just under 4 litres of spirit. This evening when it has cooled sufficiently I was tidying up and thought \"Ok, as I haven\'t taken any strength measurements, I wonder what it\'s at?\" Baring in mind that the spirit will be let down to 40% and re-run when I\'ve got enough for a full charge of the boiler.
Well, bugger me sideways with the rough end of a pineapple! 87% ABV from straight wash. Oh and that\'s with the reflux chamber full of rashig rings (well up to about the top of the reflux collar).
I\'m amazed.
While this run as seemed to have gone well, I\'m still confused as to what it is that I need to do to be able to repeat this as the bloody still seems to be so inconsistent and/or variable as to the strength that comes out of it......
Now I haven\'t put any thought to it yet, as it was more of a trial thing really.....
Any advice or suggestion as to what I need to be looking into (other than whether I can unroll 3 of the stainless pot scrubbers and get the shoved down far enough into the reflux chamber would be very welcome.
After all, if I can make the bugger perform consistently, then there\'d be little point in coughing up for a T500, though in truth I\'ll probably still get one as I understand that they\'re considerably more efficient and work much faster......
regards
P

[MrCat]

That is great - looks like you are really getting somewhere
I'm not sure what shape/size a rubber door stop is!!
The S/S scrubbers I get from Tescos are a couple of inches across and look kind of doughnut shaped (without the hole). I just pull either side a bit to elongate it and then stuff it into the hole at the top.
Three scrubbers seems to be the optimum amount.
I'd suggest running it like this.
1. Fill urn with wash, clamp lid on.

2. Check water flow to ensure both pipes are working about 50/50.

3. Switch power on to max

4. When column temp hits 40 turn the water on (the col temp will drop back to about 30)

5. When the column temp hits 70 degrees drop the power controller to about 800 watts.

6. Twiddle thumbs for a bit

7. When the colum temp climbs back up to 70 degrees increase the water to the reflux jacket and let the temp drop a little.

8. Let the col temp should stabilise somewhere about 70 degrees. Let it stay under 70 degrees for about 20/30 mins. This is to ensure the foreshots come out first and to compress the heads as much as possible.

9. Carefully reduce the water flow to the reflux jacket just a little bit and let the column temp rise a little. This is the really really crucial stage where you want to take care and pay attention.

10. Repeat step nine until you get some output.

11. Throw away your foreshots.

12. This is where you decide how fast/slow you want to run. You can either reduce the power to slow the output (I ran as low as 500 watts one day but found it difficult to maintain) or increase the water to the reflux jacket. Both have the same effect. The slower the output the higher the abv but the longer you'll be running. It's a fine line. I used to aim for a drop every second which meant long run times but high purity.

13. Monitor the column temp - it will rise but as it does increase the water flow to the reflux jacket to counteract it. Small changes on the water are needed!
I'm not discussing about taking cuts etc (heads/hearts/tails) as they should be covered elsewhere - this is merely what worked for me running my SS reflux.
Provided you do roughly the same thing each time then you should get roughly the same output. If the wash in is roughly the same ABV then you should get roughly the same output each time. If the ABV of your wash changes from run to run then you need to adapt.
I hope this helps.

[Phantom]

Yes, that\'s brilliant MrCat. I\'ll print it off and use it as a guide.
The \"doorstop\" type scrubbers are about the size and shape of a very large cotton reel, plus I think that the actual \"swarfs\" that make them up are larger from the ones you mention. Probably about 0.25mm thick and something like 2 to 2.5 mm wide (not gonna unroll one to try and see how long it is ;-P ).
Funny really, as I\'m also intending on using the \"column extension\" I experimented with before and make it into a pot still tube and condenser. That way I can just do full sized stripping runs, but it would be good to see if I can get the still, set up as a super reflux to do more than 90% - failing that, I might just say bollocks to it and throw some money at a T500, then at least I know I should be able to get high strength and it being reasonably efficient (I mean quick, well quicker than the Super Reflux anyway)........
Again, TVM for the \"running order\" that should be excellent to follow........

[Keystone]

Hello from a longtime lurker. TVM for the tips to wring out the most from the super reflux. I just had my best run of 87% as corrected for temperature. I used a plug and play router speed control like this one rated for 15A: http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/ordersta ... ntrol.html to control the heating element with a power meter, the Kill-A-Watt. And I gladly replaced the SS analogue thermometer with the Essencia digital thermometer.
I packed the column with two stainless steel scrubbers plus a copper scrubber at the top. SS Triple Distilled, Turbo Carbon and 7 kg dextrose comprised the wash which yielded 3.1 liters at 87% before the column temp reached 82 C. Power was maintained in the 790 to 815 W range. I had originally set the cooling water for 500 ml per minute until the slowness of the run proved that this was too much. After this adjustment, I really did not need to fuss with the water as the column temp held steady until the higher alcohols pushed the temp up to 82 C. This was a welcome change to the factory super reflux setup, but the run did take much longer.
I have only owned the super reflux for two years; so, I can\'t, at this time, justify a T500. I hope the router speed control idea may prove useful to some.

[Keystone]

This is not so much a mod as it is an adaptation - using the reflux chamber as a gin basket. In making gin, the still head can be used first in pot mode to do three strip runs, second in reflux mode to obtain hearts from a 30% spirit run and then third in pot mode to make gin from the hearts by loading the reflux chamber with loose gin botanicals or a muslin bag filled with same (keep botanicals below pipe leading to the condenser).

The initial take off will be oils but the balance will be spirit that is to be blended to make the gin.

For low wine runs greater than 20 liters, the still head can be triclamped to a beer keg or milk can by using a 1/2" male to 2" triclover adapter.

[billmcc]

Keystone you have just hit the beauty of this site(many hands light work). i read most days then a post as yours appears and one thinks why on earth didn't i think of that. great idea mate it will be in use from now on i have been trying to fit a stainless mesh to the top ring but now its not required
Cheers to you

PS another plus for the old reflux,