StillSmart

Aftica wrote:The biggest issue is that we can't get a really strong boil with a ton of vapour coming off when using the 110V.

Insulation then. Tightly wrap a silver camp mat around it.

I do not understand the relevance of Mash's post, but as always, I am happy to stand corrected.
Might I suggest here that your thermo is cheap and at fault?
I do use some cheap thermo's, but batch buy and run side by side, looking for the one with a sweet spot that seems real.
Just another thought.

Robert.

Yes seems unlikely that it would be producing at 40, try only putting the probe in lightly and not pushed right down.

Perhaps should have deleted to 110v bit.

220v is not always consistent. Working outside in a shed means lower ambeient temps.


Insulation makes a tremendous difference to heating times in big kettles. There is a surprising loss through the thin walls.

This affects the 'up to temp' time and the amount of leccy used on longer runs.

Not saying it will cure all ills, but I would certainly give it a go and its easy to try.

Curmudgeon wrote:Ethers, methanol and other nasties that we dispose of or certainly don't drink have a lower boiling point than ethanol, which is obviously why they come out first.

I'd say your turbo yeast has produced a particularly impure brew with more stuff with a lower boiling point than usual.

Yeah, I understand that in theory but I don't think that's quite right in this case. The first wash I put through my T500 was a kale one which, the consensus seems to be, is a fairly pure one, yes? Why then, did my T500 perform in exactly the same way as domasj described?

I didn't worry too much about it and adjusted the output to a steady drip by adjusting the water flow. And there's the thing, the T500 thermometer reads purely the temperature of the cooling water not what's going on in the column. The SS instructions and temperature guide is there for a single run. I could be wrong but I reckon that during a spirit run the distillate is coming off at a much lower temperature and hence the cooling water temperature is less. There was nothing wrong, whatsoever, with the neutral I got. The same thing happened running a Vodka Star wash, and the results were fine with that too.

I wonder if other T500 users have found a similar thing going on during a spirit run? Or maybe my thermometer isn't working correctly either? Strange though, it reads correctly when stripping.

This post makes less sense the more that I try and read it.
Maybe it is me.

Robert.

is it possible to shut down and restart mid run ?

Yes just start of where you stopped