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Unusual T500 leak

Posted:
Thu Nov 21, 2013 10:08 pm
by Fenris
Received my T500 today. Had no issues putting the still together, seemed really simple. Fixed the inlet to my water connection with the pressure valve that's included. Upon slowly turning the valve open, water sprays out from the Thermometer hole. The Probe is pushed in as much as it is allowed but water sprays everywhere. Any idea what I'm doing wrong.

Re: Unusual T500 leak

Posted:
Thu Nov 21, 2013 10:26 pm
by vino-tinto
I take it you have connected the water IN to the bottom of the condenser on the right and water OUT to the temp probe housing on the left.
The needle valve is very delicate in it's adjustment, think of it as a clock face and rotating just 5 minutes makes a big difference.
Wrap the probe with some PTFE tape to secure it a little tighter to cure any leak.
Re: Unusual T500 leak

Posted:
Thu Nov 21, 2013 10:45 pm
by Fenris
Following the picture below
B my only probe (have the updated still)
D Water outlet
C water Inlet
E distillate

This is correct I believe?! I will try again tmrrw, maybe I was a little over reactive on the needle valve. I didn't think of the PTFE that's a really good idea

Re: Unusual T500 leak

Posted:
Thu Nov 21, 2013 11:08 pm
by vino-tinto
Yep that's correct. To test, time the flow into a measuring jug, try 400ml per minute just to see the flow rate, you'll see its a very small amount
Re: Unusual T500 leak

Posted:
Fri Nov 22, 2013 6:59 am
by Superslim007
You can use a little Bluetack to secure the temp probe if need be it works a treat
Re: Unusual T500 leak

Posted:
Fri Nov 22, 2013 1:22 pm
by Fenris
Thanks lowering the water pressure helped but still leaked a little. Found some bluetack and that worked a treat

will let you all know how the first run goes. Hopefully no more leaks
Re: Unusual T500 leak

Posted:
Fri Nov 22, 2013 5:56 pm
by Admiral Toad
Trust me when you do an actual spirit run you will find that the smallish water flow required to get the correct temperature is way less than will cause any leak at the outlet
Unless you live on Venus or Mercury of course >:(

Re: Unusual T500 leak

Posted:
Sat Nov 23, 2013 3:30 pm
by John51
I find it best to use the sink tap to adjust the flow to just a bit too much then use the needle valve for fine adjustment once the T500 has heated up.