Still Spirits T500

by **Crusty** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 2:54 pm

Hi all,

Just picked up my new T500 this afternoon. I am filling the column with the included 100g copper saddles & made sure they are settled in nice & snug. On top of them is the included 1 litre of ceramic saddles. After filling the column, I have around a 50mm gap from the top of the saddles to the bottom of the threaded flange. I am a bit too scared to tip the column the right way up at the moment because it seems a little short on the ceramic saddles. Can anyone tell me if more saddles should be used or just go ahead & tip it up & continue assembling. The manual says you may need to shake the column to screw the flange in place & to add some saddles through the flange holes if needed. Maybe I have it packed pretty good & I ended up with a bit of a gap at the top. Maybe a stailess scourer could take up the gap?
Brian

by **Andy** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 5:21 pm

I did the same Brian.

I went to the HBS the next day to see if I had stuffed up or something, his did the same when he "built" his.

I have not had any problems with mine and am reluctant to change anything while its all good.
Edit: Congrats brother, let us know how it goes.

by **Crusty** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 5:41 pm

Thanks Andy,

I was supposed to receive my still today from my local HBS after paying a deposit 2 weeks ago. I rang him on Wed & he said it will be here on Fri. Rang today & he had all sorts of excuses & said it was not on the order & they don\'t have any stock till May 15th. I wont repeat on here what I said to him & demanded my $100.00 deposit back. He reluctantly obliged & thats the last he\'ll see of me. I rang around & found one in stock at Coffs Harbour, 1.5hrs away & done the mad dash to pick it up. The HBS dude had $695.00 RRP on it & he kindly gave it to me for $650.00. What a champ. Will be dealing with this guy in the future.
Took the plunge & finished the install.

Are these things the bomb or what? I love it already.

A couple of small changes on my column compared to yours.

1. Top thermometer is not sealed & installed by the user.

2. Water jacket for water outlet is now just a stainless cylinder type fitting & thermometer is super tight when fitting. I think this may have eliminated any leaks that you mentioned.

I have a wash bubbling away nicely with triple distilled yeast & temps are great, currently sitting on 22deg. Has not gone over 24deg. Fingers crossed.
Brian

by **Andy** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 7:11 pm

Man that sux, should have traveled another hour (or so) and dropped in, we could have got you one and caught up.

My number is 0412.270.130, if you need anything just call and I will grab and post for ya.

We could have had this sorted weeks ago, my HBS has sold heaps since I got mine and spread the word LOL.

Good luck brother, keep us upto speed.

by **Andy** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 7:12 pm

Oh yea, these suckers are TALL

Pick of outlet would be good, sounds strange.

by **Crusty** » Sat May 01, 2010 2:52 am

Hey Andy,

Here\'s a few shots. Maybe the outlet is the same less the cover?

Brian

by **marc83** » Sat May 01, 2010 1:05 pm

I was drooling over this piece of kit at my LHBS this arvo!i want one!oh well my essencia express still does the job for now.

by **Crusty** » Sat May 01, 2010 3:59 pm

marc83,

I had an Essencia express that I sold last year. I consistently achieved 89-90% with that still & it\'s a breeze to use. I got out of spirits & went into all grain brewing & kegging my beers. 12 months down the track I have taken the plunge again & got back into distilling. Sold my kegging setup & bought this one. From reports everywhere, this thing is a ripper & it\'s huge. Waiting patiently for my wash to finish. I will probably do the maiden run next weekend.
Brian

by **freelancement** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 9:18 am

They changed the internal volume of the still from the original model, but it seems that they forgot to include additional ceramics to fill the spare volume they have created. as a result you require off the top of my head an additional 200ml of ceramics. They should supply them in addition to the contents in the T500 condensor box
make sure you fill the reflux completely ... pushing ceramics thro the base after bolting it onto the lid, otherwise it will slip the contents and will not work effectively as the copper saddles are required to be packed at the top and packed well.
In terms of the delay, apparantly they had some supply issues from overseas and had them flown in at great expense to help meet demand. also if you look on the site, they also redesigned the waterflow in point, making it fully stainless instead of the plastic, made a huge difference apparantly to its operation.