 Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/18/2011(UTC)
Posts: 11
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"Ok, read just about everything I can on here, and it appears that it will be necessary to ad a router speed controller on my 1500 watt hot plate.
Can the hotplate be used without? I don't think I'll have time to add the mod to the hot plate before I was planning on the run.
What problems will I have with poor heat regulation? If I shouldn't proceed let me know and I'll figure it out."
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 Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/17/2008(UTC)
Posts: 424
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If you're stripping then it won't matter - just throw the heat to it & pull everything. For a reflux run you can control it with head cooling, but IMHO the std setup won't give you a fine enough control. I run with 2 water pumps and I can control the unit purely with cooling & the hot plate wide open.
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/18/2011(UTC)
Posts: 11
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It took 3 hours on the hot plate to get it up to 165 degrees, I turned on my water and its now dropped to 78 degrees at the top, not sure this hot plate will even be able to get it warm enough...
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/20/2009(UTC)
Posts: 75
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I used the router controller on my hot plate but that was my first run ever. Going gas now, electric to slow and costs to much in energy consumption. Propane is much cheaper and faster IMHO. I will keep the hot plate and router control for now.
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/16/2010(UTC)
Posts: 453
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" Originally Posted by: daven  It took 3 hours on the hot plate to get it up to 165 degrees, I turned on my water and its now dropped to 78 degrees at the top, not sure this hot plate will even be able to get it warm enough... Is the hotplate cycling on and off? I use one of the same, it has to be modified to stay on all of the time. With a 5 gallon wash I get the foreshots off in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It will drive you crazy with the cycling."
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
Joined: 7/25/2009(UTC)
Posts: 2,209
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"i used a by passed hotplate for my 1500 watt hotplate on my 6.5
gallon boiler many times. I think you may be using an un modified hotplate.
It took me 3.5 hours to get a well insulated rig to produce.
Now with internal heat at 1500 wats it takes 2.5 hours.
Soon i will try the 6KW 240 volt internal.
Im just thinking that if you have one of those tapered milk can rigs that is wide in the center and narrow on the bottom you should be carefull that a propane rig might be to large of a circle to give efficient heat.:)
I always use a router controll/variac to reduce wattage while producing."
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/18/2011(UTC)
Posts: 11
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"Well,
I thought I had a mess on my hands, took the still nearly 3 hours to hit 170 degrees F, and after I turned on the water, it immediately dropped to mid 70's. However, after I dialed the water flow back to a trickle it came up to 171 degrees and stuck there for several hours.
With careful water control, I was able to keep the still at 171-175 with no problems and pulled over 3 liters of 90+% ABV.
Pulled nearly 1 liter an hour, not quite a stream, but jumped from a heavy drip to a full stream at times.
Cut a little of it back, added a bourbon essence, and although the flavor is not there, its not damn bad and I'm pretty darn drunk.
still have 10 bottles of 250 ml of 90+% neutral likker that I'm going to add fruit to in the morning (sitting in pint mason jars with coffee filters on the top). Thinking bing cherries, plums, and pears, then seal them up. Vary it up, let it set a month, and decide what I like.
Very happy, this went much better than I expected for a first run."
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/18/2011(UTC)
Posts: 11
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"Decided on 2 pears, 2 cherries, 2 peaches, 1 strawberry, 1 pomegranite, and two on charred white oak and a splash of Maple Syrup and Honey. Any idea how long I should let these sit?" daven attached the following image(s):  Jan 21 1st run.jpg (96kb) downloaded 0 time(s).You cannot view/download attachments. Try to login or register.
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 5/17/2009(UTC)
Posts: 27
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" Originally Posted by: daven Decided on 2 pears, 2 cherries, 2 peaches, 1 strawberry, 1 pomegranite, and two on charred white oak and a splash of Maple Syrup and Honey.
Any idea how long I should let these sit? Good luck with this attempt to do different fruits. I did the same and they never turned to a fruit taste. I thing we will need to add sugar to our fruit flavored drink."
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/18/2011(UTC)
Posts: 11
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"I poured the two cherry jars into a 1000 ml bottle and cut it back to about 80 proof.
Really, not to bad, tastes excellent with some Blueberry juice I had in the fridge.
I took about half of it, and added 1/4 cup sugar, I'll see how that goes.
I think this will work, just need a little practice."
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered, Moderator
Joined: 4/14/2010(UTC)
Posts: 1,666
Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 15 post(s)
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Hey guys, with these fruit makeups.... try dehydrated fruit. For some reason unknown to me that kind of fruit seems to produce more flavor in the end. Maybe its the RE-hydration of the fruit itself. Also the sugar addition is the right thing. Again I cant explain it but that worked better than fresh fruit for me.
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 1/18/2011(UTC)
Posts: 11
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"That sounds like a good idea, and will save time on the cutting and chopping.
I'm pretty pleased so far, and NO hangover :)"
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