KOH glyc not dropping

[Chug]

when I tried KOH first time after years of using NaOH I didn't like the longer settling times so as soon as the bag was used I went back to NaOH, I've been given a few half bags of KOH over the years and I just mixed em in a bit at a time with the NaOH.

[Tony]

The bubbled one hasn't set to jelly on cooling, so I'm quietly hopeful.  Still wondering where all the glyc went, might find it at the bottom of the settle drum after a couple of weeks - or it could turn out to be one of those awkward ones that never settles.

[Tony]

Not convinced on this whole KOH thing, doing another batch this time with a mix of nice oil and some whites, and still it needs to be three-staged to reach completion despite using excess KOH.  At least NaOH has enough "poke" to get the job done easily.

[julianf]

For a while, i was using sodium on stage one, and then potassium on stage two.

That, for me, worked well - cheaper sodium for the start, then more expensive potassium, to keep the s2 glycerol liquid for the next glyc wash.  S2 glycerol always seems cleaner too (which is another reason why i like to use it for the glyc wash)

...but i seem to recall, you dont glyc wash, so that would be of no benefit for you anyhow.

[Tony]

I've done some glyc washing now I've got liquid glycerol.

I'm starting to dislike KOH though.  I keep having issues where stage 1 won't drop, and adding extra methanol doesn't help but extra catalyst does.  But I end up using a ridiculous amount of catalyst, far in excess of what is needed for converting the whole batch, and only getting 80% converted (even with plenty of meth present).  So I keep having to three stage to get to a clear pass on the 3/27.

I don't understand why KOH is not converting properly for me.  I know the meth is OK a) because it was working fine with NaOH and b) because it measures 100% on the hydrometer.

I even thought the pump was underperforming on the mixing (I've been using an 80lpm Pedrollo) which I've swapped out for one of the multistage Calpedas (what a transformation that makes to venturi sucking, but I digress) and that hasn't helped.  I'm at bit of a loss.

[nigelb]

Tony...Uncle H (Chad) is having the very same issues as you. He's about to go back to my ASM now. He's also at a loss as to why he's using so much.

[THE-DOLPHIN]

Hi all I only use koh very rarely use more than 1kg for 100litres I do only use rapeseed oil never use whites or gung I do a 2stage make in morning drop glyc next day then move to settling tank then dry wash week later

[Tony]

I did a WBD on the current 80% batch to see how much excess Methanol was in it, and only got 1l of Methanol back up to 90C - so perhaps stalled due to lack of Methanol rather than the catalyst.  Odd, because it had a good 20l of Meth in my 125l batch (16%).  But after WBD I've yet to do another 3/27 to see if more conversion took place.

[Tony]

Well I got 40l glyc from my 125l batch, add water to it and it instantly turns solid. This is like my early days of brewing again 

[Tony]

Finally a good batch, two staged successfully.

I'm just not using enough Methanol in stage one.  It seems the whole stage one Methanol stall technique doesn't play nicely with KOH, I have to add a bit more to get the glyc to drop. Got a nice clear pass yesterday, didn't use foolish amounts of KOH and got a better yield too.  Not bad considering the oil was like lumpy icecream in consistency.