new still opinions please

[MattyL]

well, i started out a few weeks ago with a converted turkey fryer still. it worked but its made from a thin-walled aluminum stock pot. the column is OK and I plan to reuse it and the worm. I plan to use a converted beer keg. I wanted to do this originally, but i couldnt figure out how to attach a column to a SS keg. well, i just ordered a ferule, tri clamp and gasket from hillbilly stills. all in all its less than 50 bucks with shipping. more than i woulda liked to have spent but hey, it'll work, at least I hope so.

This is what I got.

http://www.hillbillystills.com/Copper_t ... _p/cs2.htm

http://www.hillbillystills.com/Stainles ... _p/tc2.htm

http://www.hillbillystills.com/Teflon_G ... /ptfe2.htm

Will this stuff work to attach my current column to a keg? All I have to do is reduce from the 2" to 1", solder the ferrule on and clamp her up. I'm not familiar with the ferule sizes and I just hope that the tri clamp fits both the ferule and the beer keg.

secondly, would you recommend using a 1/4 keg at ~7.75 gals or a half keg at ~15 gallons? My heat source is currently a turkey fryer, but im not convinced itll support the weight of a half or even a 1/4 keg full of wash. I do have an old antique 2 burner gas stove of some type. its missing a regulator and hose but i outta be able to rob that off the turkey fryer. that thing is all heavy cast iron and would easily support the weight. what do you guys think? am I on to something here? good news is, now I have a good excuse to drink a keg of beer....

[MuleKicker]

All I have to do is reduce from the 2" to 1", solder the ferrule on and clamp her up.

huh? your furrle should be 2" and it will clamp right to yer keg. you got a 2" collumn, right?

[MattyL]

no I made my column. it's only 1" copper (i know i know, but coppers outrageously expensive and im cheap) so i'd have to use a reducer to attach to the ferule.

[MuleKicker]

a 1" collumn. Not sure what kind of performance your going to get from that. especially hooking it to a keg of any size. better off starting over. anything worth doing is worth doing right.

[MattyL]

ive been thinking about it.....

the column did fine when it ran off the stock pot. took about 2.5 hours to run off 5 gallons with a nice constant flow. no major probs. im thinking it might take a litte longer using a keg, but in reality, my fermenter bucket is 6 gallons, so more than likley, I'l rarely if ever, be running more than 6 gallons of wash at a time......so i wanted to try my current column and see how it goes. it if doesnt work, i can always melt and resolder later.

[stillenand chillen]

Mattyl,
Sounds good but I think you might want to look at this gasket for a keg set up.

http://www.hillbillystills.com/2_inch_D ... p/robk.htm

As far as what size keg. If you can I would go with both. Use your larger keg for stripping runs and your smaller keg for spirit runs. I should add that I don't know what type of column you have. Pothead or column with a reflux condensor. Anyway good luck, have fun and always remember to kick a few bucks to the site if you can

[MattyL]

sorry, its just a real basic pothead. its 1" copper about 24" tall then 45's down on the lyne arm for about 20" or so then down into 3/8" worm. The worm needs some work though. Its only 5 feet of 3/8" i never had any vapor coming through, just all liquid. I have it running through a 5 gal bucket of water. it heats up the water quick and i need to keep a close eye on the water temps. i have to change out the water as I run. gota change it out about 4 or 5 times. its a pain but it works and gives me something to do. id like to set up a pump system with several buckets or run the cooling water through some kind of heater core with a fan maybe....i dunno. im more concerned with the ferule fitting cleanly on the keg and tri clamp.

i guess my concern is that the ferule is larger than 2" and its soldered to 2" copper, hence where they get the lable of 2" ferule from. if its 2" copper, the ferules gota be slightly larger in diameter. I dont have a keg handy to measure the top either. so im concerend that the ferule fitting the keg and tri clamp hoping that the diameter isnt larger on one or the other.


what do you mean by kicking money to the site? no probs with sending some bucks when i can if its needed to keep things going on here. i dont wanna be a freeloader. this place is a wealth of knowledge. i been spending too much time at work during lunch reading on here when i really outta be working.....

[stillenand chillen]

same hear, Thats all I do when I can is read,, so much to learn and experiment with, we are have alot of fun and probably to much time but wtf. you only live once.

if you can read this
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=17692

[MattyL]

wait wait wait.....i thought Obama was subsidizing this site with stimulus funds?

be happy to contribute, I didn't realize one guy was running the show here. thanks UJ. this site is awesome