Sorry ,I am very green on the subject and didn't know if there were different types.Thanks again for your help.

hey i also use the amazing still and I put home made choke cherry wine in it and it turns crystal clear its amazing
i cant wait to try mountan ash

did u use turbo pure yeast for the mash?? if so, then no worries!

Hey Robert and Scott.
I too am a first time runner this past weekend.
I too am experiencing only about 1/3L every 24 hours with my still using the basic setup. I have done everything according to the instructions, but also having the low yeild.
My ambient temp is around 80 degrees F, and my mash is cooking at 120 degrees F. I have plenty of condensation, but am noticing that way over half of my lid condensation is falling right back into my 10 Liter bucket, rather than running down the walls into the 32L container. It appears to be working well other than the 'recycling' it is doing right back into the mash bucket. I now see why they mention 'doming' the lid to improve yeild. This would force the run-off to the walls of the 32L container with minimal drip back into the mash bucket.

Am I missing something as well, or am I experiencing the same frustration as Scott by doing/missing something wrong??

To the best of my interpretation of the plans, I am doing it to the letter.
Rick ,brewhaus, answered some of my basic questions when ordering my long list of stuff, and after he gave me insight to the missing and/or unclear info in the plans, I thought I fully understood then.... ,bet you have heard that before...,
the bungs are tight around the heater and thermometer wires/cords. The lid is fully snapped on. The false bottom is precisely cut and fits approx. 1/16th inch off of the 32 Liter wall at around the 7 liter mark on the 32L container...
Like I said earlier, there appears to be alot of condensation happening, but mostly on the lid, where most of that is dripping back into the mash bucket...

I was thinking ,before this thread started, that it was just the ambient/room temp was just too warm... and that it would do much better this fall and into winter when the basement temperature drops to around 60 degrees F and pretty much stays there until May or so.

My next door neighbor is experiencing the same problem, except only 1/4L per day. I simply do not understand how anyone can get the 1/2 to 1 liter per day based on our experiences.

It is running a consistent 117 - 120 degrees F which is right in the zone of the 45 to 50 degrees C that the instructions suggest. I am using a $200 lab grade digital thermometer which is calibrated every 6 months ,I use it in my electronics lab for environmental testing, and know that it is accurate.
The temperature element ,weld, of the thermocouple is located within the mash about 2 inches from the heater body, which should be measuring the mash volume fairly accurately. The heater body is lying flat on the bottom of the mash bucket, and the mash bucket started with 8 Liters of 20%+ ,by using a hydrometer reading right after mixing the yeast ,turbo 48, and again 7 days later after fermenting. My beginning reading was 1.110 on the hydrometer, and the after reading was a fully submerged hydrometer... the fluid float line was all the way 'above' the scale within my 30cm hydrometer which stopped at .860 and using Ricks calculator section on the Brewhaus site, calculated to around 22%, since I had to guess at the lower hydrometer reading based on scale distance from the last reading line on the scale.

I really hate to annoy anyone with this, but this design is sooooo simple that it is a little frustrating to now be able to acheive what others seem to accomplish with it. I do not believe that I have any leaks, or missing anything fundamental...

but I can admit I am wrong when someone else points out my problem...

thanks again Robert for your time !!

Scott,
Thanks for your input. I am going to try and dome a lid for my 32L buckets. That really makes sense to do when you notice how much of the alcohol drips right back into the mash bucket.
I know that a little 'drip-back' is good, but 70% of the condensaion constantly dripping back into the mash bucket is ALOT of recycling time...
I need to order another 2-3 lids from Rick to try and dome them because it is stated that it is a little tricky to do. I am going to find out the temperature rating of the PP plastic, and put a lid into the oven and get the lid to soften/elastic point, and then try and 'stretch' the lid over a basketball to get 2-3 inches of dome. My fear is deforming the snap ring of the lid to the point of not attaching to the 32L container anymore. But, if the oven method does not work out, then I will try the hot air gun and just attempt to heat the center area of the lid like is explained in the instructions, but is also stated that doing it this way is hard... therefore I want a couple of spares on hand.

Rick F.