4 inch lm vm combo

[john2674]

Heres what I,ve been thinking about so far. It will be primarily made from stainless because that's what I can get my hands on right now. Im still on the fence about what type of packing to use and what height to make the column. I do know at least some of the packing should probably be copper mesh just because theres not much copper in the system right now. hopefully the 2 inch ball valve will be ok on the vm output( most people seem to use gate valves)but I have a couple 2 inch stainless ones for free. the lm output is for removing heads and testing reflux ratio. I'm open to any and all comments and suggestions. I know I have a lot more reading and learning to do so I'm not gonna be in a hurry to build this one till I have all the kinks worked out! Besides my 2 inch bok will put out 95% all day! its just slower than Christmas!
ohh yeah im toying with the idea of running this one off of a wood fired box stove. its rated at 96000 btus. ??? what do you guys think.

[rad14701]

That dual purpose liebig has me concerned... Can you explain or graphically show how it will adequately handle both vapor and liquid...??? The liquid product coming out of the LM branch is going to be quite hot and will be running out at a decent rate... Don't think drips, think a small stream... I'll never watch a still go drip drip drip again... If it can't put out a stream it's time for a redesign in my book...

[googe]

I did a LM 4" ages ago, worked good but I made my rc to inefficient and couldn't bump the power up enough. I did a small liebig and.org worked fine. wouldn't suit the vm output though, to.small. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 17&t=42591

[john2674]

You guys caught me trying to be cheap! i was only planning on running one of the takeoffs at a time.. ie lm for heads shut it down..equalize...then take hearts from vm. the idea i had was a 1/2 inch copper single coil running through a 4 inch pvc water jacket that is around 50 inches long. I used RADs coil calculator and it came up to about 30- 40 feet of tubing. i thought that would be more than enough cooling. how much would you suggest for the vm side? honestly i dont even care about cooling the lm output as its just collecting well ....(lawnmower gas...?lol.). That was actually one of the areas i was concerned about i'm still trying to wrap my mind around the vm side of things. I have a 2 inch branch coming off of the column at what point should i reduce it down to the 1/2 inch or should i leave it 2 inch all the way through? I have enough pipe to do it either way. i was just concerned about getting enough cooling through a 2 inch stainless sch40 pipe inside the liebig. another option that would be a little tougher would be a really long 2 inch bok style condenser sealed inside the vm output pipe. cooling water is not a problem i brew in the winter and we average around -10 fahrenheit so i can keep my input water at 32-40 real easy.

[rad14701]

Ok... You could run the 2" down the center of the 4" with the 1/2" wound around it, between the 2" and 4" just as long as you reduced the 2" to 1/2", or thereabouts, for take off... We rarely see a dual purpose VM liebig/LM Graham combo so I was a bit confused... The LM branch wouldn't need to be 1/2" and could be scaled back to 3/8" without any problem...

[john2674]

i saw all the deflegmaters and way more advanced designs,and with my limited metalworking tools i tried to come up with the simplest design that will still produce the quality and speed that i'm looking for. Brilliant idea about the lm wrap around the 2 inch vm!! that way no heads in my final product output. what about the wood fired idea i know its a lot harder to controll temps and the safety aspect, but it will cut 80 dollars of propane cost out of every run.

[jedneck]

$80 of propane a run how damn big of boiler you running?

[john2674]

lmao! well now remember this is my current set up, but i mash in a 55 gallon food grade barrel my current boiler is about 20 gallons but i only run 15 at a time. so thats 4 strip runs in pot still mode and then 1 spirit run. and the spirit run uses about a tank and a half by itself. the whole process is what i was referring to as a "run." I usually end up with around 3 gallons of neutral after all is said and done. 2 of these a year and ive got plenty to last me. Did i mention that i loove apple pie? lol the tanks cost me 20 bucks a piece to refill.

[rad14701]

Wood heat is not the simplest solution, especially for a reflux column... You need a method of precise heat control and you won't get that with wood... For a pot still wood isn't too bad...

I used to setup over a trench and set the boiler towards one end of the trench with wood burning at the other end and coals banked in between... Coals could be pushed in or dragged out to regulate heat input, but the method is by no means precise...

Never tried running over a wood stove, but several members here have...

[john2674]

my wife made me move my operation into a big shed in the yard,and i insulated it and was planning to heat it with the wood stove. i was thinking of using a thermometer on the stove and i would have the damper to controll heat. ohh well if it doesnt work i do have propane also. i need the wood stove either way.

[jedneck]

Wood stove would work for stripping but it would take some learning. I use an old wood fired cookstove in the winter to cook on and it is a labor of love. Or you could convert to an internal electric element.

[john2674]

2 masters have now warned me against using wood.....hmmm... I guess its time to start figuring out wattages and controllers for electric heat needed to push this monster.

[john2674]

I've been doing my reading and I came across some posts warning about flash cooling in the output condenser. I've searched but can't find much info on it. What are the bad effects of it? How cold is too cold etc.. I distill in the winter where- 20 f is not uncommon.

[rad14701]

I've been doing my reading and I came across some posts warning about flash cooling in the output condenser. I've searched but can't find much info on it. What are the bad effects of it? How cold is too cold etc.. I distill in the winter where- 20 f is not uncommon.

Search for "shock cooling" instead of "flash cooling"...

[john2674]

Thanks! I now understand!good little tidbit of info to know!