4" Vodka Fountain

squeakyclean

Cooling water temp is between 10 and 14C, never hotter. Would that be a problem?

Unsensibel

10-14C it's pretty good. You'll have no issues with generating reflux or running the still. The question only you can answer is how much water you're comfortable wasting. If you're spending less on the RC you're spending more on water. My guess is that I'm using easily 2 times my boiler volume in reflux water with a comparable water temp. There's ways to reuse for cleaning our mashing in next batch to mitigate. In the end it's preference

squeakyclean

I'm not to worried about the amount of water that I'm using, but I'll go for the Super anyway. If controlling it with very little water proves difficult there's always the Water Flow Regulator from another company with Still in the name ;-)

punkin

We deny the existence of any other companies. :))

CothermanDistilling

you are adding plates so you can use LESS reflux... ideally for efficiency, you would have near zero reflux, just enough to keep the plates wet... doing the same thing with an 8 and 16 plate still, the 16 needs less reflux from the condenser... but either way, a proper needle valve should allow you to adjust to zero flow... the SD ones were originally made for air and you will see a significant improvement in controlability with a proper cV valve for the pressure you are working with.. if you want 191 proof consistently, I suggest automating RC operation, lots of info on this forum.

squeakyclean

Thanks! Will look into automation. I'm going pro so I have to wait a bit with ordering my equipment, at least until I get the green sign from the Customs and excise department...