StillSmart

Hi all, an absolute newbie here wanting some advice. Just bought an SS air still, made up the SS triple pack wash that came with it and now want to start my stripping runs.

QUESTION: Can I, when the first run is complete, just unplug it, tip out the waste and give it a swill around with some hot water, dump in another 4 litres and some conditioner and turn it on again. Or, do I have to let it cool down first and start all over again. I was also thinking of pre heating the next 4 litres to reduce time in heating up.I know it will be hot to the touch, but that's not a problem.

Welcome Vino-Tinto or should that be Cyborg,

I saw some negative comments to a very similar post on another forum, hopefully you will not get them here.

You do not have to wait between runs, but just be careful when you are tipping the Airstill up to empty it, we do not want our newest member scalded.

In answer to your other question - people do pre-heat their wash to reduce the warm-up time, Use a stainless steel kettle and when it starts to "sing" pour it into the Airstill.

Have a look round the site, particularly the Airstill section, lots of useful stuff there.

There no pulling the wool over your eyes YHB, sussed me out. Thanks for the advice. Can't make my mind up about a T500, is it that much better

Don't be in too much of a rush to write off the Airstill you can still have fun with it while you learn. You may decide that you want to go further in the hobby, you may decide that the Airstill does exactly what you want.

Enjoy the Airstill for now and keep on reading about other types of stills and what each type can make. When, and if, you decide to move onto the next level you will not be doing it in a rush and regretting any hasty decisions.

In the meantime if you have not stumbled on it already have a look at this board especially the link in the first post.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1216&start=90

YHB wrote:Don't be in too much of a rush to write off the Airstill you can still have fun with it while you learn. You may decide that you want to go further in the hobby, you may decide that the Airstill does exactly what you want.

Enjoy the Airstill for now and keep on reading about other types of stills and what each type can make. When, and if, you decide to move onto the next level you will not be doing it in a rush and regretting any hasty decisions.

In the meantime if you have not stumbled on it already have a look at this board especially the link in the first post.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1216&start=90

Thanks YHB, I have just read "Airstill, Best Practice and Results" from cover to cover, digested lots more info and am going to stick with the Airstill until I get it down to a fine art.

The liquid in the airstill is HOT straight after a run. Even the steam can scold. I would give it a minimum of one hour before emptying and even that needs care.

Keep in mind that you don't have to do all the stripping runs before doing a spirit run. I would do 2 strip runs, pour that in plus 250ml of heads (from previous spirit run) then top up to the 4L mark with water for a spirit run.

I've not used my airstill since getting the T500 because of the difference in quality. If the quality was equal I'd probably use the airstill a lot as it is so simple and needs less attention.

I asked the same question when I started using my air Still,, I find that preheating it with 3 litres of hot water and plugging it in while waiting for the 4 litres of wash to heat up works great,, it sped up the start time from about 60 minutes to less than 30.

WARNING!!!Use some good oven mitts when pouring the hot liquids!!
Be extra careful when heating the wash over an open flame!!!

Other than that use Mozr's guide to using the air still,,it is the best wat to get very good results

A good pair of heat resistant gloves are essential if opening the Airstill immediately after a run.

Once the top is off you should pour in ice-cold water back up to the 4lt mark as this makes it much safer to handle as the contents will be substantially cooler

Don't charge an Airstill with low wines stronger than 30%ABV for a Spirit run as the separation of Ethanol from the other contents gets a bit fuzzy if you do. It's one of the compromise elements of the Airstill design. If you stick to this you'll get the best results.

...and before anyone jumps in to say they put 50% ABV in their Airstill and it works fine...Yes! you can but you shouldn't because (a) you're not getting maximum efficiency of separation which will affect the quality of your end product*, and (b) high %ABV alcohol is more volatile and more open to explosive surge boiling which will lift the lid off an Airstill and chuck scalding liquid all over you and anyone else in the vacinity of the still

* apologies to anyone simply looking to make strong, cheap hooch to get drunk on as this obviously wouldn't be a consideration

AM

p.s. Mozr hasn't been here since last January, anyone know what happened, why? etc. After all, he's one of us, hope all is well.

Glad I read this I was going to run my 40% TPW stripped wash,, I will dilute to 30%