2-Pass Condenser Vent Overflow

[ReadeHud]

Hi Guys, So I've got a bit of an interesting one. Atleast it is for me. I am running a pot column hybrid still with 6 plates and a horizontal 2-pass condenser that splits off and leads either to a product cooler or a reflux line. During heat up I can normally get the first plate to stack but then the vent on the end of the 2-pass starts to overflow (even with the reflux line open all the way). I haven't been pre-charging the plates but think I might have to. Either way, its like I have too much steam on but I will literally have the steam at the lowest possible setting and still get the overflow. Any recommendation?

[meerkat]

Can you post a photo of the condenser, the vent and reflux line.  It is hard to diagnose piping problems without seeing the piping layout.

What size is the reflux line and what is your steam rate?

Did the installation work correctly previously, or is this a new setup?  If it worked correctly before, what has changed?

[ReadeHud]

Apologies for the vagueness. Can't post a photo at the moment. This is a new setup and had a similar problem in the previous run but wasn't nearly as big and was quickly fixed by backing off of the steam. 

[ReadeHud]

So just an update meerkat, We cooled it down and checked inside there was blockage (not from burping but looked like a loose glob of solder that had gotten wedged just right)

[meerkat]

Well spotted - I'm glad you solved the problem.  I guess that over the years the number of piping problems that I have found that have been caused by fouling problems like this outweighs those caused by design errors by about 10 to 1.