StillSmart

Credit card took a bit of a hit just wondering without modifying the still itself is there anything extra I need to create a better product, I've heard water regulators and voltage regulators been mentioned ?

If anyone else is in the house and likely to be taking showers / flushing toilets / running washing machines then a water pressure regulator is very useful indeed. I got mine from Screwfix for around £20.

I have also tried voltage reduction, but only once, and gave up on that before the end of the run.

It's a funny old game this stilling malarkey.....Packapoo & I use a bog standard gate valve....Pack does have his in line with the valve that comes with the 500.

I've found that for me the gate valve by it's self is all I need. .....I have built a controller and I do use it....I find I can drive my still by feeling the top of the column at the liebig joint to find out the temp.

Then by watching the flow from the PC, I can adjust the water flow and the voltage to achieve what I need...depending on strip/spirit run.

Great news on your buying a 500...

Thanks, to be honest most of that went over my head it's a bit different than just plugging in an airstill, I'm sure I'll learn and get the hand of it.

When you start off with this hobby it all looks gobbledygook, take it easy one step at a time.

The guys are here when you need to ask a question.

Having just bought one myself to replace my Airstill and reading and re reading various posts here I stripped 50ltrs of WWW I found as already mentioned water pressure was an issue even though I was on my own in the house no taps etc were being used and I had fitted a gate valve the other potential problem I found was the Thermometer probe did not seal very well and I was getting a lot of bubbles in the coolent out pipe, could this of caused the temperature fluctuations I wonder, it may however be worth your time ensuring that you have a good seal on it before starting your first run and I guess the guys on here will be able to answer if the bubbles will give an incorrect or fluctuating reading.

I have now cobbled together a water reservoir and pump to hopefully give a constant pressure and Silicone sealed the probe ready for a spirit run on Saturday which is going to be a big learning curve for me after using the Airstill for so long

There seems to be quite a few ways to get control of the temperature and water flow with people using different solutions, after a bit of practice.

I bought the Still Spirits water flow regulator and place it in a stockpot with the draining bung removed. I love this bit if kit ) gives me perfect control now. I had to buy mine from NZ but they're now readily available un the UK. Ellie Claire has them in stock in her eBay shop.

Just my solution. There's loads of others

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scubadiver wrote:I have now cobbled together a water reservoir and pump to hopefully give a constant pressure and Silicone sealed the probe ready for a spirit run on Saturday

I thought you were going to the Homebrew Festival this weekend.

GrunthosTheFlatulent wrote:

scubadiver wrote:I have now cobbled together a water reservoir and pump to hopefully give a constant pressure and Silicone sealed the probe ready for a spirit run on Saturday

I thought you were going to the Homebrew Festival this weekend.

Well spotted that man!! having just checked with the boss woman AKA the wife I found that you are quite correct I am being forced to quaff copious amounts of free beer this Saturday at the Beer Festival then I have to provide medical cover for a motorsports event on Sunday (lots of free posh food) so its first spirit run with the 500 on Monday I really should check my diary more often

Did you decide if you are attending the festival?

Yes, I'll be going up there tomorrow afternoon and BB will be joining us on Saturday.

Nice little enclave that seems to be happening here, Just saying, good to see like minded people doing like activities.

Robert.

Seagull.
I think it was your post on the SS water flow reg that made me decide to go and build one, I had most of the bits kicking around anyway from one of my HERMS mash systems I only needed to drill a hole in a bucket and plumb it together next thing is to find out if it works

Grunthos
Its a bit late to post this but we will only be there for a few hours on Saturday but hope to see you there.

Hope it works well for you Scuba

Seagull.
It seems to work fine thanks I have done 1X spirit run and 2X strip runs with it and for a quick £15ish fix I'm quite happy I did notice though I'm getting lots of large bubbles in the hot water out pipe I'm guessing that its dissolved gasses being liberated by the heat but I have to ask the question of is this normal