T 500 Alcohol %

[Jaggie]

OK i have a T500 there all the same design unless so of you have modded them in some ways but mine is as it comes out of the box. i've read that some people get 90% some get up to 94% is it a mod that changes the % of ethanol or something else ? Characteristics of the wash people are using ? Consistency of water/PH level ? or is there a still fairy i don't know about can someone put it in simple terms for a simple man.
Thanks
Jag

[alan]

Hi Jag if i'm making vodka I normally get around 3.5 ltrs at 92/93%from a vodka star wash using 6 kg of sugar
if i'm making a sweet feed wash using 5kg sugar plus 1ltr of molasses then I normally average around 3.2 at 90% that's if it finishes below 1000,anything around 101 then i'm averaging about 88%.
regards alan

[Easydrinker]

That's a bleddy helpful post Alan.
Nice to see numbers based upon regular washes.
Shuffle your desk up to the front of class.
I also like the idea of the still fairy:in my case it is more often the still demon!

Robert.

[Blue_Duck]

I use the T500 for my nuetrals, like alan i mostly use vodka star with 6k sugar, i dont take the 3.5ltrs i normally take off 2.8 @ 93% some may say im wasteful, I kick for quality not quantity. I do my runs a little bit different, i know there's approx. 3.5l of alc in my wash, the way i do mine is to wait till the boiler is up to temp then open the water up and boil for 20 mins with no alc coming out.Then start to close the needle valve and try to maintain 60-65c. discard the first 200ml (i dont discard i save for cleaning fluid) then collect 2.8ltrs and shut off. I do this again with another wash which gives me 5.6 ltrs @ 93% watered down to 30% giving me around 17ltrs. I run again this time i aim for 52-55c. take off 5ltrs @ 93% its a long day but well worth it in my book. watered down it gives
me a little over 11.5 ltrs which gets carbon filtered and it's really smooth and nuetral. to tell the truth i could possibly get away without filtering, but i like to make sure.
My way of thinking is i'm getting rid of nearly all fores/heads/tails.Its been said that you dont get tails with the T500 i'm not so sure on that, the way i used to run and the way i run now there is one hell of an improvement in smell taste and how i feel in the morning if i overdo things.
The only mod i made on the T500 was to painstakingly one day with a pipe cutter and cut small bands of spare copper pipe of various size into little wedding bands, then with a pair of snips cut them into little quarters till i had enough to give me around 6" fill for the column, put the ceramics in a plastic bag and hid. they can be bit of a p.i.a. cleaning wise, i think i get cleaner product with stainless pan scrubbers.

Iv'e tried different wash's lentil/splitpea/cereal for nuetrals with decent results, but iv'e used vodka star the most. guess what im trying to say is if you run a certain wash often enough you'll get to know how your setup works, then you can micro manage your end product.

there's no still fairy its a myth, theres only angels and they need to get there share.

Hope it helps Jag

cheers B_D

[Easydrinker]

And yet another most informative post in the same thread,thank's BD.
Chipping in once again,to state my agreement,that when you run the same wash over and over,you really can predict the expected results.
That of course is brilliant bread and butter,occasionally it is nice to try something different.

Robert.

[Jaggie]

Thanks everyone i really appreciate every reply but i've only been doing this 5 seconds compared to most of you guys and all the information is priceless.
many thanks
Jag