waterseal potstill pictures

dutch@home · Post by **dutch@home** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:17 am

close-in boiler before dis-assembling

after some stripping and cleaning.
it stands upsidedown!

2 brass rings solderd on top

boiler with cover and arm

everything together

boiler capacity : 15 liter - propane heated.
the space between the brass rings has to be filled with water, in the water stands the top/hat .
the water performs a gasket and also works as a pressure relief.
topping-up the water: 2-3 times during a 10-12 liter run.

Uncle Remus · Post by **Uncle Remus** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 1:31 pm

Very nice design Dutch! Now that is truely inovative thinking coming up with a water gasket for a seal. Great idea...the siliconers and JB welders out there should take note.

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Sun Nov 26, 2006 3:01 pm

cool, i've never heard a thing about such a water seal, good idea!

apart from that, your disign looks like one on a dutch site, did you use it?
(im begian btw)

dutch@home · Post by **dutch@home** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 4:41 am

i didn't find it on a dutch site (wich one do you mean stoker?)
i found searching the net.
its not my invention.i did something like copy/paste

picture from what i did copy the idia

http://www.destillatio.com/destille/des ... 82b401.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
the english version is under construction.
available in frech german and spanish
if the link has to be removed please let me know(its from a potstill company)
they also have a parrotspout,its just under 60 euro!

made my own from scrap......

rkr · Post by **rkr** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:40 am

You know, you could route the cooling water via the water trap. That way you wouldn't have to worry about filling it.

Cheers, Riku

Sinker · Post by **Sinker** » Mon Nov 27, 2006 11:20 pm

Beautiful work.

And Riku's idea is interesting.

possum · Post by **possum** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 6:58 am

Good thinking dutch. A cool design Idea.
I love copper rigs.

CoopsOz · Post by **CoopsOz** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 11:53 am

Nice...excellent work!

Post by **Tater** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 1:07 pm

You should sent those pics to tony and see if he'll put them on his sight.Nice work

dutch@home · Post by **dutch@home** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 2:49 pm

tater:
should i just send the pics or ask first wich one he would like to use?
how can i reach him, forum ore better p-m.
adress?

Post by **Tater** » Tue Nov 28, 2006 3:10 pm

how to reach tony is distillr@bigpond.net.au read intro on his sight.

Ricky · Post by **Ricky** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 1:13 pm

you know salt water has a higher boiling point than plane water. i wonder if you used salt water for the seal if it would evaporate as quickly as plane water or would the water evaporate the same and just leave the salt behind?

Rudi · Post by **Rudi** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 2:09 pm

I think salt water has a lower boiling point and the salt would get left behind and nasty everything up

Post by **Husker** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 2:26 pm

Rudi
I think salt water has a lower boiling point and the salt would get left behind and nasty everything up

Salt water has a higher boiling point. However, I am not sure how this will affect the evaporation rate (it will keep the water in this "gasket" from boiling during any normal distillation process).

Yes, if the water evaporates, it will leave a nasty residue. However, if the water is filled with fresh water (no extra salt), then it will have no problems. I do not know, however, if adding salt will buy you much benefit. Only trial/error will tell.

I think someone mentioned routing the cooling water to drop into this gasket, and then having a tube leading out of the gasket, back into the bucket. I think that is the ideal method, as the gasket will simply stay full.

H.

Ricky · Post by **Ricky** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 8:04 pm

i agree with you husker. for some reason i didnt grasp the prior message. i was just trying to think outside the box. sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt. thats what makes this forum so good,hundreds of people suggesting new ideas.

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 1:56 am

and I don't think the chloride has a good effect on the copper

Rudi · Post by **Rudi** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:29 am

I agree new ideas is what its all about. I got the idea that salt water boils faster from my grandmother who put salt in pasta water to make it boil faster ??maybe she just liked the taste of saltI have kept alot of marine fish tanks and just the salt water evaporating corroded the hell outa the light fittings above it in a very short time.and left lotsa salty residue all around the lights etc Ricky keep the ideas coming and Husker thanks I learn somthing new every day.

hornedrhodent · Post by **hornedrhodent** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:54 am

="Husker
I think someone mentioned routing the cooling water to drop into this gasket, and then having a tube leading out of the gasket, back into the bucket. I think that is the ideal method, as the gasket will simply stay full.

H.

You forgot to run the drain from the gasket to the header tank for the boiler's water jacket and the outlet from that through the old car radiator to cool it before it goes back into the bucket.

dutch@home · Post by **dutch@home** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 4:40 am

i have one correction to make!
the water in the seal wil never boil!
your cooking a water-alc mixture, the boiling point is below 100 degr.
the water just evaporates, the hotter it is, the faster it evaporates.

i think routing the coolingwater through the sealing might give problems.
when i top-up the level with some water (+- 50-75cc) the still stops dripping for aprox. 10-15 seconds.
this is becourse you are cooling the top off the boiler and the hood.
at that moment you have some reflux, your "steam" condenses at those cold spots.
to avoid this fill whith hot water.
in my opinion the best thing to do is add a litlle oil to the water so the seal is sealed to avoid evaporation.

sealing a seal?

or yuse oil instead of water.
but whats the problem off topping up once and a while?
when running your still you should be around, so no big deal!

Ricky · Post by **Ricky** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:46 am

boy this is getting fun! the inside ring is taller than the out side ring to keep water from overflowing into yhe boiler correct? when the top"bowl" is placed into the water seal the bowl has liguid both inside and outside of it doesnt it? if it does then doesnt the oil stand a chance of getting mixed with the wash? any condensation that might come down the insides of the bowl could be caught by the seal. dutch i hope i am not offending you with my opinions. the only reason i am trying to be so thorough is because i could apply this to my setup and correct my gasket issues that i have. i yhink the water seal is an awsume idea and with enough brainstorming we could possibly refine it even more.

Post by **stillvodka** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:32 am

You could run it with a header tank, and have something like parrot spout sort of set up, keep water level equal.

dutch@home · Post by **dutch@home** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 11:59 am

getting a little oil in the wash isn't a problem,its even adviced by the pro's to avoid foaming over when boiling on grains.
only food grade oil!
condens wich comes in the inside seal evaporates again.

hornedrhodent · Post by **hornedrhodent** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:08 am

="Rudi"
I agree new ideas is what its all about. I got the idea that salt water boils faster from my grandmother who put salt in pasta water to make it boil faster ??maybe she just liked the taste of

You or she got it wrong - it boils hotter - not faster - possibly cooks the pasta faster. Boiling faster doesn't cook quicker as the temp stay the same. Boiling hotter cooks faster - that's what pressure cookers are all about.

Ricky · Post by **Ricky** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 10:15 am

good deal dutch. oil sounds like it may be the way to go!

Post by **stillvodka** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:07 pm

When any of you open your bonnet/hood on your car, do any of you know what that other plastic water bottle is for, that leads to your Radiator, that thing what keeps your engine from over heating/water loss, suppose it looks the same as your washer bottle, it's called a (Header/expansion tank) it keeps water loss in a system to a minimum, no other way you can do it , multi trillion$£ car industry cant find no other way, no chemical water additives either, they wont work, you cant retard the process of water getting hot and needing to be replenished, only way is add more or fit Header/expansion tank

Please dont disregard other people post, because they are not technical enough, Remember, the Greatest Inventions were simple things

Shine Man · Post by **Shine Man** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 9:20 pm

You could hire a beautiful young blond nude dutch girl to stand by the still while it runs and keep the water level up in the gasket. That still would not match the beauty of your still. You did a fantastic job. Great engineering and craftmanship.

Bujapat · Post by **Bujapat** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:19 am

i didn't find it on a dutch site (wich one do you mean stoker?)

I think here's the dutch site Stoker was talkin' about :
http://www.home.zonnet.nl/nvvoorst/

Post by **stillvodka** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 9:14 am

This one, http://www.copper-alembic.com onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow