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I guess I was just looking for a fun Electronics project while distilling. I understand VM have a constant reflux ratio once they're set. But you do change that ratio when you open or close your takeoff valve no? I was sorta curious about what RR I use usually. But theoretically shouldn't my propose...

Hi, Little info on the still I have first: I have a VM still, 52mm (2") (insulated) column with 1,1m (3,6ft) of packing (SS scrubbers) - 2kW (maybe 2,5, would have to doublecheck) heater in a 120L (insulated) boiler. (usually run only 60L at a time). With a "Turboyeast" sugar wash I g...

Okay so this thing is finally getting off the ground. Bought a bunch of parts, but it's a holiday here so the copper-farm was closed, so no big pipes today sadly. Managed to cut all the small parts and assemble part of the thumper-cooler 3way valve (not soldered anything yet). I feel like it's going...

God, so busy at work. Hardly any time to continue the project. I managed to send all the designs to the copper-dealer. They're gonna cut my plates and stuff. So, for the valves. I'll try it with a check valve coming from the ginbucket (lowest tube from thumper to cooler. I hope I'll find one with an...

Any idea were to find that build of Goo's,Yummy, damned if I can find it. This one maybe? http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=51194 I'm trying to figure out those proportional valves but all I've found so far are valves used for hydraulics... So if I understand it correctly they...

Hi, Yeah... I was travelling and then moved out of the country for a year so my distilling part of life was kinda not on par... I know... a friend of mine pointed out that if the two valves are positioned in the wrong way the whole still will be sealed and might get under serious pressure... Pressur...

What do you think of this: Gin bucket design: Gin bucket Gasses come down, go up through sieved plate (blue one), through and go out on the side Then the majestic idea: valve craziness You could switch the gasflow to either go through the bucket or straight to the condensor... Looks feasible to buil...

My design so far. I'm making them in Sketch Up as it makes it easier for the copper-guys to see what I'm expecting ;) (sorry but the forum isn't able to determine the dimensions of the image since they come straight from my google drive, so it'll have to be links) Column: column Plates: sieve plate ...

Thanks for that info! For my gins I used to do two distillations (one to go from mash to "crude liquor", and then a second one with herbs to go from "crude" to gin) I totally forgot about faints, head ans tails... Interesting! Do you think I could build in a 3-way valve to tap of...

So guess what... I am digging up the plans again... Been in and out of the country a lot and got a lot of reaction to my "automate distillation" topic so I figured maybe building a bigger still was a better idea hahah! Anyway, I've got a design running and ordering parts and stuff. Just ha...

Thanks for all that Plato. Creates a clear image of what it would take to really do it. It's cool to have you, with your background, give your opinion. I was playing with the idea to automatize the still and then send information to a computer (or maybe even a phone, but that would be less practical...

To talk about safety and control, you could basically install alcohol and propane sensors in the room, above your still. As soon as ambient levels reach a certain threshold alarms could go off or there could be an automatic shutdown... How do you feel about that? I do understand it's foolish to leav...

I've done more stupid stuff to set my house on fire as a kid but you are correct... It is not the way of the distiller. Thanks for pointing it out and again, my apologies for trying to be "lazy" (guess that's how they train us as scientists) It just seemed like a cool project tho. Guess if...

My apologies. Just researched it more with the search engine.
I had just never come across it I guess.

I'll find what I need and read more!

Hi guys, So I have a VM still that I've build quite some time ago. If I run it really (like, really) slow, I'm able to get around 94% out of it from a 12-20% wash, with the heat really low, and the flow of product suuuuuuperslow. When doing this I usually left the still overnight, with obvious probl...

Not being a smart ass or derogatory, just there is a world of knowledge in those threads. No hard feelings cooker, and i'm still reading! I'm just started drawing and designing. It's not the final thing yet. The stupid-ish thing with the threads is that, next to a lot of usefull info, they also con...

Okay, I'm done reading... kinda. I googled some column calculations but they were a bit too complex to comprehend without an engineering background (I should've become a chemical engineer instead of just a chemist :egeek: ) So the plan is to build a 100mm 5 plate perforated column (2,5mm perforation...

And also I haven't found a consensus on the amount of plates. I figure that the more plates, the more neutral your spirits will be, but given the flutes already built an average of 4 to 6 plates gives nice abv's with plenty of taste, so I was thinking of going for 5 plates.

Nice one Emptyglass... I'm reading and reading... I've learned some more, but some of my questions remain unanswered still. I did learn how to piss off other members, but as I do not intend to do that, I won't go over that here. While reading all the stuff about the bottom plate not bubbling (I'm on...

Gent, Belgium? Now that is a nice city! And some interesting distilleries like Filliers not too far off ... Yup, and just graduated as a chemist, so maybe I should pay them a visit sooner or later :wink: I'm sorry to appear a bit 'lazy' (which I am totally absolutely not) and to ask these questions...

True true... I'm working on it I tell ya! Will I - eventually - find an answer to all my questions? Cause I don't think a lot about calculations has been said before. After using the search engine on "Flute Calculation" not much popped up, therefor my question. But I'll keep up the reading...

Hi guys, I've been studying abroad and finally have my degree (you can call me 'master' now) so I have sh*t loads of time, so I finally decided to have a go at a flute build. I made a 42mm reflux column (vapor control) before, and it works pretty neat, but usually, using a 40L batch, I have to put i...

Hi, I've just been going through the thread, and if I might add maybe just one other thing... The only (easily) feasable thing to me seems the idea prairi had, to kinda shut down the column. It does however seems realy hard to do so... But what if you would use a small boiler, and a large column. Ma...

Noooo! then the wash would be a giant fountain I'm afraid!

I have a small compressor (goes to around 8-10bar) but I only put around 2 bar, and then just use a valve (like to blow your tires with) to gently let the air in...

(2bar is about 19psi)

Well... err... Don't wanna kick in any open doors here, But here he goes: I have a rather small boiler (around 20L or so) and it has a lot of screws to secure the lid (8 screws with butterfly bolts) Sooo, everytime I want to empty the boiler I have to wait until it is cold enough to handle, and then...

Well... maybe I should've told you too that I actually got the beer from the friend because he wasn't all that happy about it... It foamed way too much! Ha! Take a look at the attached pictures... I poure 10 bottle of .75L in the bucket. At first I got less than 5L of liquid and more than 20L of foa...

Well, as a matter of fract, my boiler wasn't full at all (not half full, but not over 3/4 full) and still...

But I'll just assume that by now the CO2 is gone

Hi again. Sorry to pop this one up again, but here are a few things I did the couple of past days: I distilled a small portion of the beer. And as you said, Odin, there is indeed a strong hop-fragrance. But maybe, if I take the still in cuts, I could just get it out a little more... We'll see. I hav...

And another (maybe stupid) question... I never really cleaned my rig. Now I've just been running it on acetic acid now. It has been running for about half an hour, would that be enough? And do you have to run it with water afterwards to remove the acid, or can you just leave it in and assume that it...

Well, thanks for the info. The jenever bar you're talking about is in Gent. Been there before, but never tried the Balegemse... (you made me curious though) So I have the idea to try a couple of recepies, including yours. Thanks for the tips. I'll let you know what it gave afterwards! I am not such ...