My New Small Scale Combo Still

[stilly_bugger]

Nice thread, Rad.

I'm another newby and have been trawling the site mulling over various designs, trying to work out what I'll build/buy. Your mini still is appealing to a newby for a number of reasons. 1. all the soldering is easy-access, and there isn't much of it (good for hacks like myself). 2. The materials won't send me broke. But the main reason is that, 3., your upper-reducer reflux capture method is ingenious. I don't have to worry about cutting tube at the correct angle or soldering at an angle inside the column.

Anyway, a question on design: What's the theory behind the loose slanted reflux deflector? In your initial post you mention that it's there to deflect reflux (I'm guessing into the reservoir) before it goes back down the column, and that this makes cleaning easier. How so? And are there any other reasons for including it?

[EDIT: Yep, thought about it and realised that cleaning is easier because you can pull the deflector out, unlike a boka. (Duh!). And then, as for asking about "other reasons", I deserve to be sent to the New Distiller Reading Lounge to get schooled. Double newb ]

Regards,

Stilly.

[el-zonko]

Thanks Rad!

[recon]

Small at only 1.25 inch... I was adding more info while you were posting...

nice still
what do you for the heat? does this fit on the stove top?
thanks for all your good advice in your other post

[Fly By Night]

This design is really tugging at me. I found a 1' and 2' stick of 1 1/2" copper that my dad has had laying around. I think this would be the perfect use for them, has anyone made one of these in the 1 1/2" size? This will be my first still and I think really let me experiment with both a re flux and pot still. I intend to use a ~20 Qt. Stainless stock pot for a boiler. What is the point of the "cap" just above the takeoff? I haven't grasped that just yet. I also considered soldering a cold finger to the 1/4", then sliding a pipe over the cold finger and wrapping the coil over that. However I think I have enough pipe and headroom that the extra complexity is not necessary.

[Fly By Night]

Could an additional take off be added above or in the reflux area for a more "pure" reflux still action?

[kentucky_cracker]

Looks great, jaidormi... Your posts serve as a good example of how some designs can be scaled up or down effectively... I'd say that my still is about as small as reasonably effective with yours being more the norm, although perhaps a bit taller than some folks might want to run... From what I've read, the Charles 803 continuous column, which is vaguely similar in design, has been scaled all the way up to six inches...

So, are you happy with the performance so far...??? Any surprises...???

I know this post was a LONG time ago..but...
as I understand it, 12:1 means that with a 7 inch condenser you would make the reflux tube 72inches? is that right?
question #2 assuming that is what 12:1 means; what would be the ratio for for 1.5 inch colum? I have plenty of 1.5 inch pipe, so that is what I will be working with.

[rad14701]

Looks great, jaidormi... Your posts serve as a good example of how some designs can be scaled up or down effectively... I'd say that my still is about as small as reasonably effective with yours being more the norm, although perhaps a bit taller than some folks might want to run... From what I've read, the Charles 803 continuous column, which is vaguely similar in design, has been scaled all the way up to six inches...

So, are you happy with the performance so far...??? Any surprises...???

I know this post was a LONG time ago..but...
as I understand it, 12:1 means that with a 7 inch condenser you would make the reflux tube 72inches? is that right?
question #2 assuming that is what 12:1 means; what would be the ratio for for 1.5 inch colum? I have plenty of 1.5 inch pipe, so that is what I will be working with.

Where did the 12:1 ratio come from...??? I've never used or heard it used as a relation between condenser and column sections...

The ratios typically used here as a generality are for height:diameter and they are only for ballparking purposes columns up to 2" in diameter... That ratio range is 12:1 - 24:1 with 30:1 being the extreme upper end... Using these ratios you could "guesstimate" that for 1.5" diameter copper you would have best results with a packed column section height of 18" - 36"... This serves as an alternative to using HETP "guesstimations"... And using measurements based on practical application experience backs up that range of ratios...

[kentucky_cracker]

Thanx, that makes sense. There is so much to read and so many opinions to interpret which is best.
For now, I am trying to absorb as much as I can. ...(so that later..I can absorb as much as I can).
A man came to tune the piano for our daughter last year, when he was finishing up, I asked him a question.
"Is this a fairly good piano?" He answered.."how long is a piece of string?"

[rad14701]

Thanx, that makes sense. There is so much to read and so many opinions to interpret which is best.
For now, I am trying to absorb as much as I can. ...(so that later..I can absorb as much as I can).
A man came to tune the piano for our daughter last year, when he was finishing up, I asked him a question.
"Is this a fairly good piano?" He answered.."how long is a piece of string?"

Just toss some ideas out before building whatever design you decide on... If it is this design then you can ask whatever questions you have here... I am at a point with my build that I am very content with the number of ways it can be configured to suit my needs... I have another piece of copper to make into a dual slant plate head and have entertained adding an optional VM section as well... Then I will have all the versatility I could need or want, with the exception of CM...

[lrandall000]

I built and ran 1.5 boka last week it worked far better than I expected. Ran a batch of stinky 40% from a failed persimmon brandy run and got 2l of neutral 92% in just under 3 hours start to finish. It was made out of scrap bits I had lying around, thats why it is 1.5 inch instead of 2 inch. I still plan to make a 2 or 2.5 inch LM/VM but I gonna wait until I can get my hands on some cheap pipe. I think I will give it to a friend who has 7 gal boiler, I think it is a perfect size for that.

[MKills]

While I still intend to make a Graham condenser for this still I decided to make a liebig with what I had here onhand... Using a wet rag to keep the take off tube cool was getting old... After my last run, 8L of brown sugar wash, on Monday, I decided enough was enough... The photo below show what I came up with...



Because I didn't have reducers onhand, and the fact that they are pricey and I'm cheap, I improvised... I cut two 1 1/2" pieces of 1/4" copper as inlet and outlet nipples... I then crimped a 6" piece of 1/2" copper so it fit fairly snug around both the nipples and the take off tube which runs diagonally through the 1/2" copper... Next I fired up the propane torch, heated, fluxed, and sweated, and it was done... From start to finish took less than 30 minutes including parts gathering and cleanup... Now I just need to get some wash fermenting so I can give it a good workout...

I made this same exact condenser for my bokakob take off. Cheap and effective, no fittings.

[lampshade]

I like the collection cup because it seems easier to build than the boka plates. What advantages does the boka offer over Rad's collection cup?