StillSmart

Let us know how the first run goes lyonacre,I was planning to get one when they turned up but the money situation is a bit tight at the moment.
Optic

17:15 Wednesday and the T500 is running!

Using a bakers yeast wash which I think is about 10%

How exciting!

Hope it\'s good, I couldn\'t really afford the money, but then it is almost Christmas and someone has to care about me!

Still running and it\'s all a lot hotter than I expected!

Struggling to control the column temperature which should be between 55 and 65. There seems to be a bit of a leak around the temperature sensor, as water builds up the reading drops so I am hoping that I have got it running OK with a reading taken after a dry-up with a tissue.
The spirit coming out is hot! don\'t know why but I didn\'t expect that, I suppose I assumed it would be like the airstill so cold output.
I think it is fair to say the kitchen is about as intoxicating as a large gin and tonic taken every 15 minutes!
I hope that is how it should be! Seems to waste a lot of alcohol as steam.
Tried to test a sample but it melted my plastic sample jar!

OK so it all works a lot better when you get the inlet and outlet pipes connected the right way round! Not so much steam, the spirit doesn\'t met the sample jar, and my son has a loit to answer for - he connected it the wrong way round!
No wonder we are both pissed sitting by the thing watching it!

I gotmy T500 and starter kit yesterday. I made a wash tonight. However it has not bubbled yet and the wash went upt just under 26litres bu lat I looked it had dropped to just under 25 litre. Can anyone tell me if thats common. The yeast looked a little lumpy on top of the wash not much but enought to make think I either did not stir enough or poured to fast may be got the temp wrong. All advice welcome guys thanks.

Did you sort the seal on the output water probe lyonacre? I have the same problem on mine, i used some blu-tak as suggested elsewhere on here, it works but not 100%, i'll have a play with it some more though.

I think it is fair to say the kitchen is about as intoxicating as a large gin and tonic taken every 15 minutes!
I hope that is how it should be! Seems to waste a lot of alcohol as steam.
Tried to test a sample but it melted my plastic sample jar!

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sounds like something is wrong, mine doesnt leak any steam (at least nothing noticable anyway) maybe you should check the lid seal & the seal on the nut that screws the column to the lid.

also the spirit should not be that hot that it melts plastic, mine comes out maybe slightly warm but not hot,

OK I JUST READ YOUR NEXT POST YOU ALREADY HAVE IT SORTED OUT

OK so it all works a lot better when you get the inlet and outlet pipes connected the right way round!

Sorry but I had to laugh at that, I could just see it in my mind

The temp probe for the water outlet on mine was a very loose fit so I used the BT fix and I have not had to touch it since.

The spirit comes out cold for me but I run the water temps at 50.

Hopefully I managed to make you all smile at my expense!\\When questioned my son said \"when I watched the SS video on the web it said put the long pipe down the drain and connect the short pipe to the water\" which is the opposite way around to the assembly instructions, that - unusually - I followed!
Sort of assumed and intelligent, university educated young man would have checked input and output! Guess thats a fathers lot in life!
Anyway, I obviously got a lot less out - boiled away as steam - than I should have done, but from the point I had it set up right the spirit I collected was clean, smelt of spirit and nothing else, and was 94% which I am pretty pleased with. Looking forward to the next lot to try it properly!
It seemed to me that when it had \"finished\" the column temperature went haywire. That is to say the bottom temp dropped a bit and the top temp dropped well below 70 which is the point at which spirit production happens so I guess that is how you tell all is done. Output stops and top of column temp drops
Probably worth mentioning that the whole unit is quite tall and whilst I checked the measurements I didn\'t allow for the plastic pipe on top which meant that there was only just enough space between the draining board and the kitchen ceiling to stand it.
Pros and cons so far?
It as very easy to assemble and seems to work as promised \"out of the box\" so all in all pretty good.
The process time - including incorrect set up was about 4.5-5 hours for 24L of wash which is a lot less than I am used to.
Coming from an air still the quality and the time are the main pros.
For anyone else considering moving from an air still it is worth thinking about the logistics of it.
Its quite tall so make sure it will fit

Best place is on the draining board so you can empty it easily - it\'s hot and heavy when it finishes - and clear up.

The full boiler is heavy and not much fun to hump around

The cleaning up process gives lots of opportunity to spill water all over the kitchen

If you can position it to drain into the sink I am guessing you will have to leave is a long time to cool down before you can clear up.

Nowhere as convenient as an air still
Am I pleased with it? YES - but I hadn\'t thought about the logistics. The BIG difference is as I said at the outset - QUALITY - 94% and clean - and TIME - 24L in the air still, even emptying it hot, would have taken 18 hours for 55-6-% spirit with a slight smell
Hope my diatribe helps someone!

I want one! Not going to happen though, well not unless something completely unexpected happens! Keep us posted all you T500 pioneers, I\'ll try to contain my jealousy in the name of learning!

try plumbers-tape wrapped around outlet probe once or twice, worked for me.

I am looking into the possibility of drilling out the hole to fit a rubber

grommet to suit the probe.

Cheers turps, a few turns of PTFE worked a treat
Anyone figured out what the big black rubber band round the bottom of the boiler is for???

What big rubber band? Can you take a pic?

I have nothing like that around mine.

IMG00022-20101119-2054.jpg by Andy.Dean, on Flickr

Looks like packaging material, mine didnt have that.

I would remove it before use or it might melt to the boiler.