Should I \'pimp\' my T500....

by **MrCat** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 3:25 am

Ok, one wash down and I have some bits lying round here that the little devil on my shoulder is saying \"Use, use\"..
I have a kilo of rashig rings that I never used in my SS reflux. In the SS reflux the rings give a higher % than the ceramic saddles so should I use them ??
Or...
I have enough copper mesh to pack the entire column..
Or should I just say 93%+ is good enough ...

by **Andy** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 9:23 am

I wonder if we will see the mushroom cloud from Australia LOL

by **bluecap** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 6:44 pm

What you really should do MrCat is pack it up back in its box and post it to me for free (I donâ€™t mind paying part of the postage) and I will give it a wonderful home for the rest of its natural life.
Failing that experiment till you get 96% the all copper mesh might do it, just make sure you can breathe through the condenser when itâ€™s fully packed.

by **Capt-Cudellez** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 1:43 am

Hi MrCat, Did you feel the need to make any mods to your T500?

I had been impressed with the computer controlled cooling mods you made on your SS reflux, so was just wondering if you see any room for improvement on the T500?

by **MrCat** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 4:09 pm

I tried the rings and copper scrubbers but with little success leading to this thread.
http://www.stillsmart.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=441
The T500 is a great bit of kit straight out of the box.
If I had plenty of time and plenty of wash I\'d probably remove the cooling coil, pack from the top of the head down to the bottom of the cooling coil with copper, re-assemble and fill the remainder with rings. Then play around with the packing volume until I\'d cured the surging.
The PC water cooling I used on the SS reflux wouldn\'t work properly without a much larger header tank due to the increased output water temperature from the T500 when compared with the SS Reflux. The water comes out of the T500 about 25 degrees hotter than the SS reflux so I\'d need a significantly larger header tank or have to cool the water before returning it to the tank.

by **Phantom** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 2:29 pm

Why not just go \"up market\" and build something \"mega\" ? I\'ve found a supplier of copper tubing up to 267 mm diameter.
Just imagine that eh ? a reflux chamber that\'s nearly a foot across. You\'d need a couple of miles of ductile tubing to fabricate a condenser coil...... :-D Damn, if only I had the money........

by **MrCat** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 6:21 pm

I\'ve thought about a home build but I just don\'t have the spare time - my life is busy enough as it is without having to dial in another setup.
That said - if I did make one it would be based around this design..
http://www.artisan-distiller.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3045

by **Phantom** » Tue Dec 21, 2010 12:28 am

Hum? Yes, certainly looks like another reasonably simple idea that should work.....
Still can\'t make my mind up about how I want a home build to work though. I certainly don\'t want something that has a stupidly long column, I just want \"it\" to be efficient i.e. wash in, 95.6% out...
Perhaps I\'m reaching for the moon......