Maxx's Bok

[wv_cooker]

Outside of making your column far more efficient the dryer duct is just shear ingenuity at play Max. As for the boiler, if you are making enough to keep you happy the boiler is perfect. When you break it down just look's like momma's been canning. pure art at work here. Love it!

[Maxximus Flavius]

Time to make the sugar wash. A couple of years ago I snagged a half dozen 20L wine pails, suspecting they would come in handy someday. I failed to grab the lids that came with them. I priced them at a local wine supply store and they wanted too much for them. So, my favourite dollar store had some plastic serving bowls the perfect size. They're even BPA free, that's important, right. I drilled a hole in the centre, inserted a grommet and stuck the airlock in. The black targets are for my infrared thermometer. I can stand way back, point and shoot


I'm going to start with a half batch of Birdwatchers. I found some Turbo yeast that seems promising. JUST KIDDING! I'm off to the store to buy my supplies. Yahoo! I''ve got water warming and outgassing any residual chlorine from our municipal water supply. Should see some bubblin goin on when I come home from work tonight. I'll do a full batch in four pails next time...

...1.5 hour passes and I the wash is pitched with yeast and hopefully starting to do something. 18 litres of water and 2 kilograms of sugar yielded this SG reading.


After the rest of the ingredients were added and topped off to 20 litres, this is the SG reading. Right where Birdwatcher recommends.


And starting with 30 C water, by the time I was finished fooling around, it reads this.


Gentlemen, start your ferment!

[Maxximus Flavius]

There was bubbles within 30 minutes of pitching the yeast in the pail that was at 26.5 C. The other pail at 27 C started 30 minutes after that. When I got home from work 12 hours later the temperature had increased to 29 C and the airlocks are a popping. The ambient air temperature is around 25 C. I love the smell of yeasties working.

[Halfbaked]

Max I really hate to brake this to you but It looks like you have done this before! Yup not your first rodeo! Very nice details , very nice!

[Maxximus Flavius]

Max I really hate to brake this to you but It looks like you have done this before! Yup not your first rodeo! Very nice details , very nice!

I did make a couple of batches of beer about 25 years ago. I've been ferment free ever since. I tried "unsuccessfully" to make a carbonation machine back then to avoid the sediment in the beer bottles. Mostly though, the beer tasted like the typical amateur homebrew of that era. Can you charge vodka with CO2?

[just-a-sip]

not sure if anyone else said this as i skip around a bit in your thread, but as a fairly new poster i must applaud your attention to detail and willingness to share.

you have used your brain to problem solve rather then just beg for the answer, you have shown ingenuity, and you document often. these are the attributes to a great member. i say great job and good luck in all your future projects. cant wait to hear more from you.

[Maxximus Flavius]

While waiting for the wash to complete, I decided to do some hose management. BTW, 48 hours after the start of the ferment, it's still rocking and rolling. Lots of CO2.

I'm not sure if I mentioned that all the coolant lines and fittings are truck airbrake. Very robust, and inexpensive. The fittings are push to lock. I've had the lines off and off numerous times and the seal is still good. The only issue with airbrake lines is the stiffness. They don't really fall nicely into organization. So, at the top to act as a strain relief, I welded a stainless strap onto a stainless Mikalor clamp.


Another strap/bar rests over the boiler handle.I drilled and tapped the handle for a #10 screw to keep the parts count down. This stands the product tube nicely away from the burner. The product tube (copper) is hiding inside the copper painted pvc/abs??? conduit. The conduit gives me a place to screw tube clamps to and protects the fragile copper. Also gives a place to mount a ball valve.


Here's a view up the "service" column and the final assembly.


And waiting for that first drip.

[Hawkeye3]

"Can you charge vodka with CO2?"

Hi Maxx. Nice looking rig. Regarding your question, I tried to make champagne with my Soda Stream machine using chardonnay. What a mess. I think the density of alcohol is so much less than h2o that the co2 does not get held in. I tried it when I was alone so nobody saw the mess I made.

[TDS]

I want this!

IMG_0784.JPG

[iDrinkWash]

"Can you charge vodka with CO2?"

Hi Maxx. Nice looking rig. Regarding your question, I tried to make champagne with my Soda Stream machine using chardonnay. What a mess. I think the density of alcohol is so much less than h2o that the co2 does not get held in. I tried it when I was alone so nobody saw the mess I made.

CO2 solubility is a function of temperature and pressure (and maybe it the case of your soda stream device - time). The warmer the liquid, the more pressure you need to get the CO2 to dissolve it it. Wine is only about 12-14% alcohol, so there is still quite a bit of water left in there to dissolve the CO2 in. I don't know how soluble CO2 is in alcohol (if at all). You should be able to make champagne out of Chardonnay quite easily. Next time get it REALLY cold - as close to freezing as possible before you put it in your soda stream machine. And if you can, leave it on all the pressure you can - for a day or two - at a cold temp. I don't have one of those machines, but I have the old timy seltzer bottles, with are essentially the same design. When you dispense your champagne, do NOT try to throttle it by opening it slowly. That will cause more foam. If you want to slow down the flow, put a long vinyl tube on the output, instead.


IDrinkWash

[Maxximus Flavius]

Here's a better shot of the new product tube triangulation support system. I'm really pleased how it worked out. And, it has stiffened considerably, the very tall column. I love triangles. Should of been an engineer I guess, sigh...


In other news, the Birdwatchers sugar wash is still working away. I checked SG after 60 hours on one pail. Came up 1.015, from the original 1.070. 80 hours after start, at this posting time, I'm seeing a bubble every 3 seconds. The temperature has dropped from 4-5 degrees Celsius over ambient temperature to just 1 degree over. It must be on the home stretch.

[Maxximus Flavius]

While waiting for the wash to complete, boredom has set in. During the vinegar run I was surprised how hot the output was when the valve was fully open. Hey, I'm slow, okay? I'm thinking that a little bit of cooling on the output line when in pot mode might be a good idea.

A couple of 1/4" compression to 1/4" MPT fittings and 1 1/4" ABS pipe caps. Experience in building a lot of pneumatic potato cannons has taught me that you can thread brass/steel fittings into into a slightly undersized hole in ABS for a very tight leak free fit.


Drilled the fittings out to 1/4" all the way through.


Just so happens I have a tool to wind coils really easily and quickly. And the first coil diameter fits nicely inside the 1/ 14" ABS pipe. About 3' of tubing will go into a 1' piece of ABS pipe.


The order of assembly is, wind the coil, place into the pipe, slide and glue the end caps on, and then slide and thread the fittings in place, slide the compression sleeves on, then the nuts and tighten. Not as complicated as it sounds. Oh, and give it a coat of copper spray paint.


Here's my version of a Liebig condenser.

[TDS]

Just so happens I have a tool to wind coils really easily and quickly.

What is this tool please? Picture?

[Maxximus Flavius]

Just so happens I have a tool to wind coils really easily and quickly.

What is this tool please? Picture?

Documented here

[TDS]

Just so happens I have a tool to wind coils really easily and quickly.

What is this tool please? Picture?

Documented here

Maxx you directed me back to the same page I quoted you from.

Don't see the answer there.
Or anywhere else in the thread.
Just looked again.

[Maxximus Flavius]

Just so happens I have a tool to wind coils really easily and quickly.

What is this tool please? Picture?

Documented here

Maxx you directed me back to the same page I quoted you from.

Don't see the answer there.
Or anywhere else in the thread.
Just looked again.

That's strange. When I test the link, it opens a new window with the post I did on August 5 with pictures of the coil winding tool I did. The first photo is this...

[wv_cooker]

He's right Maxx, when I click the link it also brings me to page 5 of this thread.

[Maxximus Flavius]

He's right Maxx, when I click the link it also brings me to page 5 of this thread.

Interesting. This may be a feature/bug in this version of phpBB. I sort my threads in descending order by post time. When I logout and check the posting link, I get a different record number.

Here's the record number when when logged in.

And here's the record number when logged out.

Here's the straight link without wrapping it in BBcode.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 8#p7099253

Or maybe I'm just misunderstanding the problem. I made the coil producing tool that was used to do my double wind and the single wind for the Liebig which has been mentioned in this thread. I didn't really document thoroughly the build process on that tool. I can if it helps someone.

[Maxximus Flavius]

Still bored, and probably no life. Actually, I just enjoy spending time in the workshop while there's chunks of meat smoking on the BBQ. Especially on a holiday.

I've mentioned before, the difficulty I've had reading the column temperature with this tall build. I found these remote thermometers at Walmart for less than $20/per. I've tested them, and other than single digit display, they're spot on. Now I can lounge at the front of all the action and monitor the stuff I feel is important. The original probe thermometer is going into the condenser outflow line. I LOVE numbers. It makes things highly repeatable.

[rad14701]

Still bored, and probably no life. Actually, I just enjoy spending time in the workshop while there's chunks of meat smoking on the BBQ. Especially on a holiday.

I've mentioned before, the difficulty I've had reading the column temperature with this tall build. I found these remote thermometers at Walmart for less than $20/per. I've tested them, and other than single digit display, they're spot on. Now I can lounge at the front of all the action and monitor the stuff I feel is important. The original probe thermometer is going into the condenser outflow line. I LOVE numbers. It makes things highly repeatable.

I sincerely hope you aren't insinuating that you would leave your still unattended and rely solely on a remote thermometer to run the show... That would be a real problem from a safety standpoint... You haven't seen much of that type of setup around here for good reason...

[Maxximus Flavius]

I sincerely hope you aren't insinuating that you would leave your still unattended and rely solely on a remote thermometer to run the show... That would be a real problem from a safety standpoint... You haven't seen much of that type of setup around here for good reason...

I meant remote as far as removing the local display from the top of the column. The units are wired and mounted on the cooling/product lines at a height where I can easily see them. The furthest I can get from the unit is 3 feet while hanging onto the display.

[Maxximus Flavius]

My wife came home from a shopping trip with an item she knew I'd like. Made out of stainless, I think it's supposed to slide over a soap dispenser.


I thanked her and took it to the workshop. Gotta wash hands out there too you know. I marked of an inside circle with a piece of 2" pipe.


A very careful cut outside the lines resulted in this.



A 1.5" piece of ABS and a rubber mallet drove the thing down the 2"pipe.


A perfect friction fit reflux centering thingie.


My wife gets back the topless decorative soap cover. Still looks nice.

[Maxximus Flavius]

Still patiently waiting for the yeasties to stop eatn' poopn. It's been seven days and the temperature hasn't dropped below 23C. Still getting bubbles every 8 seconds or so.

I tapped a little piece of conduit, the same one I used for the product tube sheath, over the needle valve handle. Unprotected polished copper changes colour very quickly


I split the condenser hot line for a a temperature port. I had a spare thermometer that I need to use


I've always intended to put a temperature port in the boiler. As well I wanted to brace the strap coming off the boiler handle which stiffens the product/service assembly. Rather than drill two holes or weld my nice pot, I used one hole and a stainless steel bulkhead connector to serve two jobs. The strap can always be removed and the bulkhead fitting plugged with a cap when canning preserves.


Because of new potential leakage points, I ran the rig as a water distiller for about an hour. It gave me some grounding in product flow, coolant temperatures etc. It was interesting to watch the boiler temp come with hardly any change in the column temp. When the water went into full boil at 100C, the column temp went from 36C to 100C almost instantly. I can knock down all water vapour at a coolant outflow temperature between 46C and 50C. It's really hard to tweak the supply ball valve. Minuscule turn and wait for the lag in temperature change. I didn't measure the flow, but looks in the range of 2 litres/minute. I used a telescoping inspection mirror to check for steam.


And yes, temperature in the boiler didn't move an iota no matter how much heat I threw at it. Flow changed though. At moderate throttle, I was drawing 6 liters/hour of distillate. The column temperature didn't change either.

I checked the SG on the distillate and was pleased to see that my hydrometer IS calibrated. I was disappointed when I purchased and it tested about .9960 on tap water. Must be the dissolved solids (lots of calcium). I had to fill the graduated cylinder all the way to make it float with the distilled water.

[Maxximus Flavius]

Finally, the "Birdwatchers Sugar Wash" has completed its fermentation. Other than checking once for SG, it has remained unopened, unstirred for 8 days. I pulled a cover off and dropped the hydrometer in. I thought I had lost it to the bottom of the pail. When it bobbed back up, it registered .986. Looks like I've got a little more than 11% potential alcohol. I was prepared to be happy with 9-10%. I'll take it.


I'll do a cleaning stripping run and a reflux run on the one batch of 20 litres tomorrow. Then a real consumption run. In the meantime, I completed the pot stil conversion. I can change between configurations in about ten minutes. The hoses just pop off.


And a closer detail of the business end. I carefully bent the probe thermometer 90 degrees and braced the bend. It sill works.

[Maxximus Flavius]

Rather than a straight hard stripping run, I decided to run the first sacrificial run in pot as you would making flavoured spirits. I thought it would be a good chance to start the learning the craft. All set up in the controller/captains chair. Couldn't run the Liebig as it has a small leak. Somewhat lower strength beverages on the table.


The view from the chair.


The telemetry all hooked up and responding.


Something coming out the tube?


An hours work. Hah, work?


The second 250ml came in at this ABV. Guess what? I'm really happy!

[Maxximus Flavius]

I did the first full run on he reflux column with the first run stripping results. I left the packing until today and was careful to loosen the scrubbies up and tamp them down carefully. I was able to blow through successfully.



I was about 20 minutes into the full reflux mode when a near catastrophe occurred. I had the heat down quite a bit from the stripping runs, but I heard bubbling from the condenser head. I got up on a stool and saw the condenser head was flooded and filling to the top. I killed the heat right away and let things drain. Apparently the liquid flow back down the column was less than the vapours coming up. I started over with the heat so low, I had to pin the thermocouple safety switch to keep the fire lit.I guess the insulated column does have an effect.

I ran 1.25 litres off before I had to go to work. A quick chill to 15C and the proofer wouldn't float at 94%.My graduated cylinder isn't tall enough.


A big lesson for me. Don't leave the thing unattended as so many before have stated. Carefully watch your heat levels. This is a different animal than pot stilling. I'm just glad I was there and the music wasn't too loud so the sound of bubbling could be heard. Certainly was able to taste my shorts in the back of my throat.

I'm going to disassemble tomorrow and do some flow tests on that packed column. I can't believe it was so restrictive. On the plus side, the needle valve worked flawlessly. The condenser knocked all vapours at less than a litre a minute flow. The tempertures on the outflow around 30C.

[rad14701]

Choking and flooding is a major concern, especially with LM reflux columns... You learn to detect that sound really quick...

[Maxximus Flavius]

Choking and flooding is a major concern, especially with LM reflux columns... You learn to detect that sound really quick...

Still scared the crap outa me. There was droplets of hot alcohol being expelled out the vent hole, it was that close. On the plus side, I'm confident that the ENTIRE condenser head is sterile after that. The first thing in the morning is to disassemble and inspect. I'm not completely convinced that there wasn't some foaming out of the boiler going up the column (puking?). I''m going to pour the litre of product I have down the column to gauge the leakdown. And possibly clean any foamy bits out.

[Maxximus Flavius]

I sourced another graduated cylinder that will allow the alcoholmeter to float. Looks like I have the desired result for a neutral spirit.


Now as to the issue of flooding/choking my condenser head during the first reflux run. I disassembled everything and inspected the components. Everything was spotless and had a fresh smell. No puking evidence was detected. I ran the litre and a bit of the first run down the packed column into a bowl. It disappeared as fast as I could pour. I let it drain and then ran water from the top in increasing volumes until it choked. The flow was over 8 litres/minute. However I don't think this has any value, as I was unable to simulate the rising vapour while in operation. I was unable to flood the condenser head with any flow available to me from my water supply. Again, not really a useful test but I kinda deduced that the head certainly is not the issue.

So, my conclusion? Just a classic to much heat and a collapse of the vapour in the column and the upcoming vapour pushing liquid up into the condenser. I almost wish I had a view port into the boiler. But, my ear will have to do for now to hear the rapidity of the boil.

And lastly, a HUGE concern. I captured all the spirit that ran down the packed column during my testing. When I took it out into the sunlight to disperse it on the driveway, I saw thousands of tiny particles reflecting in the sunlight. I can only assume they are stainless steel particles. I rinsed cold water down the column for about and hour after that. Any comments?

[rad14701]

Maxximus Flavius, I have never had issues with my stainless steel structured packing... The stuff I use is very coarse, not fine like most copper... Can't comment on why you would have sparkles...

As for the choking and flooding it's just a matter of learning the limitations of your rig... You can only produce so much vapor and have it return back down through the structured packing before the upcoming vapor pushes it back up rather than allowing it to return to the boiler... The maximum amount of reflux will change as the alcohol is depleted from the wash... Adjusting heat input as the run progresses may be required if the problem persists...

Congratulations on the ~95% ABV...