StillSmart

Admiral Toad wrote:Please realise this is a forum for enthusiastis not a site for free advertising

I absolutely agree with Admiral Toad on this.

Your constant posts with the SD logo and link to your commercial website amount to free advertising and should not be on the forum pages. It gives the appearance, to visitors and new members alike, of endorsement by the forum and its established members which is not necessarily the case.

I've no problem with your company having a permanent link to your site in the Resources thread but I personally would prefer if your general posts anywhere else on the forum pages were as anonymous as the rest of the members.

Some members here are acutely aware of what happened on another distilling forum, down under, as a direct result of Still Dragon's open involvement on that forum. Suffice to say it wasn't pretty!

AM

aidanmac wrote:Some members here are acutely aware of what happened on another distilling forum, down under, as a direct result of Still Dragon's open involvement on that forum. Suffice to say it wasn't pretty!

And that was the sole fault of a certain individual who is no longer part of the StillDragon organization now. Problem solved!

Don't get us wrong guys, if you don't want us to interact here, we won't, but I can see no point in hiding who we are. And we are indeed enthusiasts ourselves, read the "About Us" page on our website if in doubt.

I was going to send a PM to Sunshine about her statement but decided it should be posted on the open forum for all to see, so here it is.

Reply to last post by Sunshine of SDE:
I was an active member of the Modern Distiller forum when all the posts, pics and attachments by SD members disappeared and they all left leaving that forum in a disjointed and ruined state.

However, this was not the point of the earlier posts.

Advertising or even the appearance of business promotion by a member or members of the forum who also operate a business supplying goods and/or services associated with the hobby this forum represents, shouldn't happen here, even if not yet specifically prohibited by the forum owner.

AM

Four months ago,while certain members of this site were getting excited about shiny stuff arriving from Austria,I sent a PM,which I now post here:


Advertising

Sent: Mon Nov 17, 2014 1:43 am
by Easydrinker
To: SDeurope
Michael,
Please accept this as a friendly word,or two.
I have just responded to you,on the forum,in what I hope is a jocular manner,regarding your blatant advertising on the StillSmart forum.
I have read on the SD forum of how you are pleased to be Advertisement free (in-house advertising is obviously accepted).
Please allow us the same privilege.
I totally understand your enthusiasm and drive for the new business to thrive.
I can,and will,reluctantly remove you from the list of members,if you persist.
Your presence as an occasional low-fi contributor and member will do enough to keep your brand in the eye of the potential customers,and help sales,I believe.
Very best wishes,and I do mean that,
Robert.

Re: Advertising

Sent: Mon Nov 17, 2014 7:19 am
by SDeurope
I could post the response that I received,but it was a PM,and while I am sure I have the right to share what I sent,it could be argued that I do not have the right to share the text of a received PM.
It was basically an abject apology.

Now,where we go from here I am unsure.
I wish Michael and Sunshine success with their business,I intend to spend more money with them in the future!
Maybe with a premium tax after this post!
Equally,I suspect that they have,or will acquire knowledge that they can share with us in the future.
I would hate to remove a member from the forum.
Excepting the spammers,they bring on a vicious smile....
SDE,please read this several times,and try to understand what I am trying to say,English is not your first language,even though you are very good with it.
Maybe SDE might consider a more softly,softly approach?
I do hope so,and that this matter quickly fades into the history of old posts and threads.
No public apology needed,maybe just go quiet for a while,we love you really.

As Jimmy says,this IS the friendly forum.

At least,some of us try to be!

The human condition sometimes leaves something to be desired!


Robert.

agree with the guys here
Please keep posting but as enthusiasts not as a business we all value opinions and comments
after all there's loys of us buying SD kit and talking about it so they're getting lots of exposure all mainly good
My last order arrived promptly totally happy with the service,kit and performance as I learn to use it
And yes I'll be back for more gear as funds allow
and maybe lots lots more kit if a project of mine comes off !

If you keep posting we all keep learning & sharing. When people stop posting (anyone) a forum dies and becomes an archive.

There is a balance - reply - interact - enthuse - your presence is advert enough and a positive thing IMO. Blatant advertising is not it seems.

The last member bestowed with the honour of being allowed Moderator Privileges who deleted a membership of another member found themselves permanently banned from this community.

Although it is physically possible to do so it is not within our purview to take such a drastic step other than to deal with Spammers and Trolls.

Withdrawing member access and privileges is the sole right of the site owner.

I have posted my opinion about SDeurope and Sunshine's activities and I hope they will take what reasonable members have posted here and take appropriate steps to address the concerns posted.


AM

Yes I agree enough said on the matter

Now back to this thread.........I am bloody delighted with my boiler and thanks to all who passed on advice

Its cleaned out and ready to run when the washes are ready

I've adapted some pipework so it can run in the garage whilst we're playing with old motorbikes achieving Multihobby multitasking LOL

I can now configure in a multitude of ways from basic potstill stripping to full plate and packed column plus I can now add more plates as and when with the stronger and more powerful keg boiler

Probably still use the smaller boiler and copper alambic for Whisky spirit runs

Promise I will stick some photos on in the next few days

Oh and BTW I managed to get some adhesive armaflex sheeting as well so he's going to get a nice new coat this weekend

One last thing then I WILL shut up

The Chinese triclamp supplier did get in touch after I complained and said they would sort it out and asked for dimensions

When I measured it fairly accurately it transpired that their fitting was some 15mm more in diameter so not even close
Of course not obvious when I didn't have the other part and you would assume 6" is 6" ah well never mind
I'll let you know what if any progress I make Suppose at least I've got a miniature stainless steel frisby if nowt else

Now its pubtime Whoops gassing again

Admiral Toad wrote:Oh and BTW I managed to get some adhesive armaflex sheeting as well so he's going to get a nice new coat this weekend

don't stick it to the boiler !!!!!!

Get a nice piece of PVC tarp - and stick it to that. This will give you an excellent durable outside surface. A couple of Velcro straps or bungees with toggles hold the jacket in place (tarp outside).

And when you want to take it off to clean everything you can.

..... And if you get some really smart tarp it looks the mutts nuts.

I got the idea from braumeister. Google "braumeister thermocollar"

Admiral Toad wrote:One last thing then I WILL shut up

The Chinese triclamp supplier did get in touch after I complained and said they would sort it out and asked for dimensions

When I measured it fairly accurately it transpired that their fitting was some 15mm more in diameter so not even close
Of course not obvious when I didn't have the other part and you would assume 6" is 6" ah well never mind

AT,try buying stove pipe for a 5" stove.
Apparently,even in the UK,5" can translate as 125 or 130 mm.

Robert.

Cheers guys Ive put the Armaflex round without sticking on so all good

Looks like I will be getting a part refund from Chinaland for the non 6" triclsmp which I'm happy enough with as there is still some limited use I can put the lid to (not just a Ninja Frisbee LOL)

Well that's it on its first run



Full 50 litres of 16% and its pushing out 4 litres an hour from 78% gradually reducing took just under 2 hours to get up to temperature so I can live with that

For all this is a stripping run I'm using the 3 SD plates to do the first stage of purification and I'll probably do the spirit run on the old T500 boiler with packed column as well

I've ordered a 19 litre corneleus keg so in future I can store stripped and do a combined spirit run on the keg boiler as many others do

Need to sort garage a bit more too I think !

I know it's a modest creation compared to some of the guys on here but I'm well pleased