StillSmart

Hi guys,

In the last two runs i have done on my essencia still,the first hour or so have been a bit harder to keep a constant temp at 77-78 degrees,i am constantly adjusting water flow as temp tends to vary between 75-81 degrees,a bit frustrating but after the first hour the temp settles in at 77 and stays put until the end of the run.

I must add that the first time this happened i had forgot to add the distilling conditioner,and the second time i forgot to add again but remembered to add while it was warming up,so i opened the still up and added it,but by then it had a slight foaming already.wondered wether the temp fluctuating was due to this or just a mains pressure fluctuation.

I am now considering adding a simple ball-type valve to the cooling inlet to closely control flow regardless of mains pressure.

The spirit i am getting out is free of smells and i am still getting a good quantity so dont hink it is affected,but it is a bit off a pain having to constantly adjust for that first hour.

Anyways has anyone else found this along the way or fitted a type of valve to compensate for varying mains pressure??

Its probably something to do with the lower ambient temps of late.

Crusty was having the same problem through the week and I had the same last Sunday.

Dont forget that the water coming out of the taps will be all over the place till winter sets in.

Hi marc
I am a bit confused by your temperatures why can you not allow the condenser to operate up to 82c, only after 82c do you get the crap alcohols coming out I am writing this as a super reflux user and not a essencia but they don’t look so different

bluecap,

I think Essencia recommends a temp of 77-78 for collection of the best spirit. Up & over 82 I think is getting into the faster flow of spirit but far less purity.
Controlling the correct waterflow & monitoring temp with my first run of the T500 this week was a challenge. This still is quite different in operation as you monitor water output temperature & not the column temperature. Quite different to any stills I have used in the past. I found it very hard to maintain a constant temp & had to monitor the gauges for the whole distillation process. At times, temps stabilised & I periodically left the scene for 5-10mins at a time but wasnt game to leave for any longer. Our town pressure can fluctuate quite a bit depending on time of day / night. My wife also had the dishwasher on &that would of affected my flow as well.

Not such a big drama though, I enjoy the whole process.
Brian

Hi crusty I guess all stills are different. I would just like to point out I am not the slightest bit jealous that you have a T500 who wants a purity of 95% anyway…OK I AM.
But to run it you do need some sort of water pressure consistency, I just use a cold emersion heater, maybe some sort of water pump would work. To be honest its not something I have looked in to.

@bluecap

Yeah i still collect up to 82o as long as there is no bad smell and alc vol is nice and high,Essencia recomends to keep temp at 77-78,so im just trying to keep it there.Just warming up the next batch in the still at the mo,A alcotec48 and plain sugar wash.Will see how this one turns out.

Depending on your altitude the perfect spirit comes of at 79 degrees C.

I would doubt if anyone can tell the difference in quality from 79 to 82 ( the ethynol range). The other point to effect the initial fluctuation in temperature is the reflux action while it sorts it self out, I think it might be called stacking, it\'s whats happening in the column while the different products sort them selves out. This is why on the more elaborate stills they allow it to reflux for an hour before pulling anything off ie. 100% reflux. I collect upto 82 degrees at 92-93% and it\'s tasteless.
Opus 27