my first REAL BUILD..3" vm

[bowhunt76]

so after spending almost a year in the shadows (since my first few posts) reading i have decided after being inspired by PROCHARGEDHARLEY to build this 3"vm column

i started with the reflux condenser, 10" double wound coil in 1/" tube

soldered into the cap

after having a vision in my sleep about the vent hole i decided to make this....a diesel exhaust flapper inspired vent cap!

next was the 40" of 1 1/2"over 1/2" leibeg

[bowhunt76]

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i also did the wire wrapped around the vapor tube..i used 8ga stranded wire tined and solder onto the tube on both ends with a kiss of solder every wrap the length of

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[bowhunt76]

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i then reassembled and soldered and polished

then i started the 48" overall length column ive got 36" below the tee and 12" over the tee.. 4' sections available thru plumbing supply.com

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[bowhunt76]

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i then solder the 1" take of arm with a pickled 1" ball valve, was gonna go gate valve but like the faster operation of the ball valve. At any rate i will most likely be changing this to a stainless ball valve once my pocket book gets its breath back.

this is as far as ive got and still have a week or so till my new boiler is here and ive got lots a polishing to do in the mean time so.....any thoughts would be appreciated as ive got time to make changes .....on a side note my thoughts for for packing for now will either be none or copper mesh when i wanna fiddle with the refulx.I mostly run pot mode as i usually run all grain corn mashes and have very good results with the processes ive been using. I had toyed with the idea of running slant plates but whiskey is more what im after than neutrals so i figure i can add them in later if i want. this is also what i took into consideration when determining my column size as i really wanted to keep it short enough to run flavorful whiskey but have enough height to get good reflux if and when i decide to use it. although i might 15-20 minutes of reflux on my corn batches just to raise abc% a tad.

any ways gimme your thoughts good or bad and ill get back with more copper porn when column meets boilers and is all nice n pretty.

[Butterman]

Nice.
I like your 'Diesel' inspired flap on the vent cap.
I was wondering if your running it in pot still mode wont the vent cap let the vapor escape? Maybe a seal on it then you wont have to run your top condenser? Not sure how VM works in Pot mode.

Butterman

[bowhunt76]

Nice.
I like your 'Diesel' inspired flap on the vent cap.
I was wondering if your running it in pot still mode wont the vent cap let the vapor escape? Maybe a seal on it then you wont have to run your top condenser? Not sure how VM works in Pot mode.

Butterman

thanks on the cap ...as far as running in pot mode i will have a needle valve in front of the reflux coil to make adjustments to allow enough cooling to keep the vapor from makin it all the way out, although if it doesnt work ill just get another 3"cap and use flour paste on er

[heartcut]

Nice rig. Your diesel RV should work well even in stripping mode. Just make sure it'll hold 0.5" water column and you're good

[bowhunt76]

continuing......


this cool little wire rack was getting thrown out from my work and i thought id would go perfect so

i wanted to be able to slide my camp stove in and out easily and also for the height i needed to remove the bottom shelf. so i cut the front and middle out of the shelf and left the sides and back for support of the legs

next was to cut an opening to allow the column to pass thru and originaly was gonna cut close to the size of the column for added support but the boiler size would not really allow that .would of needed to raise the middle shelf another 4 inches or so so i just opened it up enough to work the clamps and what not also had a cool wood top that sits on the shelf opened it to the same dimensions

im on my way out to finish hooking up the cooling lines and then its time for some cleaning runs........heres a close up of the boiler which is amazing thanks to the guys at hillbilly

[Butterman]

That is a very pretty boiler, wow.
I really like your cart conversion and set up, looks great.

Butterman

[bellybuster]

ya wow, would love some details on the boiler.

[bowhunt76]

ya wow, would love some details on the boiler.

sure whatcha wanna know?

[bellybuster]

haha, where'd it come from? Looks like the perfect vessel with built in adaptability

[bowhunt76]

got the boiler, stainless to copper adapter and all the tri clamps from hillbillystillsdotcom. its 13 gals with fitting for electric element thats blanked off, fill opening on top and drain and it built to last im tellin you. things a battleship im also using the ptfe gaskets from mcmaster carr

[bowhunt76]

runnin my sacrificial run as i type just now comin up to temps any last minute advice for me from the heavy hitters on runnin reflux figure nows a good time to practice ...

[Azure]

The flapper made me grin from ear to ear. Frikin' brilliant.

[bowhunt76]

so i just finished a 5 gal sac. collected bout 5 3/4l from 140 down to 25 or so .and with in an hour had the rig drained reloaded and warming also had to drain my cooling water as the 20 gal recirc i use did not hold up to running both reflux and product condensor i ended up plugging everything with flour paste about 1/2 way thru the run as i could not keep the vapor knocked down enuff to not hit my vent. even when barely running any reflux to get a decent collection rate.i only refluxed for bout 20 mins just to see what shed do. so....finished in straight up pot mode getting ready to run first actual stripping run now in straight up pot mode with a fresh load of cooling water well see how she runs.......... ? ?

i also tried makeing changes on the heat as well but still really could get a handle on it with out totally losing my take off ....just saying

[corene1]

That is a gorgeous setup and very well built. It looks so complicated though I am still trying to figure out how all of it works.

[bowhunt76]

well thanks on the kind words corene. as far as the design of the still its supposedly one of the easier stills to run. In theory as far as i know this setup basically runs just like yours but i have the option to shut down the take off (or start with it off) and force relux back into the packed column(right now im running unpacked for stripping) or if it had plates, slanted or other wise by controlling the cooling water to the reflux condersor at the top of the column..this how ever is the part i have not yet mastered as i noted previously i had to abort any type of reflux action due to not being able to control my vapor..that being said im running another 10 gals right now and i noticed tonight when i was setting up for my run that one of the top condensor lines was sucking air so that might have been my problem last night when i wasnt able to control my reflux.if not im gonna half to get a bigger reservoir....well see im just doing stripping runs but im trying to play with the reflux so i can kinda get an idea of how to run it....im probably doing it all wrong so if anyones got any advice id love to hear it..................

[Danespirit]

That's a real nice setup!

Very clean..as i like it. Think you might have the perfect boiler too.

You can be proud of your rigg, it would give you some real fine liquor.....

Maybe you could add two small roles/wheels at the end where your boiler is? This way you would be able to move it around easily.

[bowhunt76]

That's a real nice setup!

Very clean..as i like it. Think you might have the perfect boiler too.

You can be proud of your rigg, it would give you some real fine liquor.....

Maybe you could add two small roles/wheels at the end where your boiler is? This way you would be able to move it around easily.

hey dane thanks for your compliments, you know one thing about having a rig this size is i no longer need to be running almost constantly so this setup gets completely torn down after running so i really have no need for the wheels but definitely a good idea...fixing to run off 10 gals tonight on a sprint run tonight so stay tuned ...gonna be a long night

[Desertrat]

Lookin' good there Bowhnt76! Let us know how she did. All that copper sure is nice.