StillSmart

So i cleaned and repacked my column, ran it, and it spewed alcohol out like crazy, assuming in packed my column wrong i started unpacking it, now first thing I noticed a ceramic saddle jammed between the coil and outside of column.

Then I'm staring at my column thinking, wait a minute didn't that coil used to be in the center?



It is meant to be in the center right? my memorys not failing me?

and how to get it back centered...

Mine isn't sat centrally - I wouldn't worry about it.

From my own thread about packing the T500
http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=441

and AT's comments on a more recent thread
http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1063

it seems the T500 is quite sensitive to how much packing ends up above the coil. When you pack the column from the bottom once you've finished turn the column the right way up and give it a shake/few taps so the packing drops back down the column.

Well good to know, i bent mine back to the center, or at least bent it far enough that its no-longer in contact with the column wall on one side.

Is there a dis-assembly guide anywhere? I can't figure out how to get the cap off, it looks like its only held there by that tiny little ring thing on the copper pipe.

Thinking my might pack atleast the coil with copper mesh like those people in the threads you supplied did.

Well i definitely packed my column correctly this time, 2.4lites of 94% in just under 3 hours. my beloved still is back in action.

I'm honestly surprised this thing still works after a year and a half in my care and what must be well over a hundred runs under Its belt.

I'm more surprised that YOU are still working if you've drunk that much, that's more than a run a week!

^ Two runs and week, with only the odd break, and no i drink a very small portion of it, mostly just the best cut each time after I clean my still, I'm slowly hiding away bottles to age to.

Mostly I just give it away, or swap it to my friends who hunt for meat, i know alot of people who hunt and it is so much better then buying in shop lol.

Oh yes and endless alcohol is great for bribery purposes, or birthdays, partys, pissups etc.

Nice work, very dedicated! I was only teasing of course, it's up to you what you drink but if you did have it all you'd probably end up pickled like Keith Richards!

shaio wrote:Is there a dis-assembly guide anywhere? I can't figure out how to get the cap off, it looks like its only held there by that tiny little ring thing on the copper pipe.

Shaio - don't remove the retaining clip unless you have something similar to replace it with, you want to remove the cap and the coil in one (ie still attached to each other)

the cap is held in place mechanically by the coil and the product condenser - If you want to remove the cap do the following after removing the packing.

1. Remove the 2 product condenser brackets 2 x 2 screws
2. Pull out the condenser from the cap
3. Unscrew the thermo port housing\cooling water output (it just unscrews anti-clockwise), then push the threaded pipe into the column.

The cap will now come away with the reflux coil still attached.