StillSmart

The instructions say that one EZ filter cartridge is good for one batch of spirit from a 25 litre wash. So using a T500, I reckon that's about 7 litres of spirit.

Has anybody got any tips on using these carbon filter cartridges for longer than recommended? Or at £4.50 a cartridge, is this just a false economy?

I'm sure I read somewhere that boiling a used cartridge for 20 minutes will clean the cartridge for reuse?

Any tips or experience would be great to hear.

Thanks.

I air dry mine and then put them in a oven at 110c for 1/2 hour.

This is the systemI bought ages ago and don't use often. It came out over christmas to clean up some gin experments after re-running.

Thanks Mash, I'll give that s try. I'm loathe to bin the cartridge after just one use. Do you reckon that you can only get away with drying and reusing it once before replacing it?

They seem to slow down after 4 or 5 times.

I plug mine in a leave it to dribble.
They seem to run best with spirit at 50%

Good to know, thanks. I usually run spirit at about 45% to allow for residual water and allow to it trickle slowly.

Essencia

Sorry

#justsaying..

Cheers

Hampk

+1 hampk
Essencia filters are refillable at home, both of them, as I recently discovered.
Very cost efficient.
Very efficient.
Read all about it...
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=244

Robert.

I was looking at the current Still spirits model last weekend, just to take a guesstimate at the quality of the plastic and molding.

The shop bloke mentioned about gently simmering the carbon "cartridge" to reuse it.

I mentioned about the suggested method in Gert Strands "Carbon Filtration" e-book, which applies to me more closely as I've got the original Z filter.

This is where you just pour freshly boiled water onto the carbon and let it soak for a short while, then gently pour the water away and repeat (about 5 or 6 times, until there's no longer any smell of spirit in the steam coming off a soaking bit of carbon). Once you're happy it's been cleaned enough, you dry it out in a low oven.

It's worked OK for me so far and I just buy a new bag of carbon once a year to keep enough in to refill my filter assembly while cleaning the rest off.......

Dunno how many times the ones that have like a "carbon pipe" type cartridge can be re-used before it starts to break down (as it eventually does).......