My 2" electric vm reflux still

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PipeWelder316
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My 2" electric vm reflux still

Post by PipeWelder316 »

What's going on ya'll? I have decided to share some pictures of what I have been working on for awhile now.
Lets start out by looking at my controller. Before we start I want to point out that yes, there are other ways to go about doing what I did. This is just how I built mine.
I'm using a 120 vac cord that plugs into the wall to power my PID, amp meter, ssr, voltage regulator, and power switches. The reason behind this is that I needed my boiler grounded and my high voltage cables only have 3 wires in them. My work around was to use the 120 power to power the smaller units and use the ground from that side to make it safe. On the high voltage side it is just a simple 2 wires in providing the 240, one side goes through a voltage regulator the other through a ssr to control power on and off. The third wire to my element is connected to the ground from 120 cord and grounds my whole boiler and stainless still making it a whole lot safer.

Now, yes I said PID, and no it doesn't control anything, all it dose is give me a digital temperature reading, That's it! that's all it dose...
The left lit switch controls a solid state relay witch turns the element either on or off, however the heat is controlled by the potentiometer and the voltage regulator.
The right lit switch turns the power on and off to the amp meter, and PID.

The boiler with the element in the back was taken before I wired it up. so there are more cords as far as that goes.
What do ya'll think about it?
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Last edited by PipeWelder316 on Sun Jul 30, 2017 11:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Yummyrum
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Re: My 2" electric vm reflux still

Post by Yummyrum »

Thats a nice setup you've made Pipe Welder :thumbup:
You'd be proud of that . VM 's are the way to go in my opinion . Happy still'n with that rig
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still_stirrin
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Re: My 2" electric vm reflux still

Post by still_stirrin »

Yep...that'll do it.

And, if you remove the packing, the reflux condenser and cap the top, and crank the VM valve wide open, you've got a great potstill as well. Great for stripping and/or making full flavored spirits.

Stainless pipe is heavy and expensive (oil patch, I'd guess), but will work just fine. Good work.
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Re: My 2" electric vm reflux still

Post by just sayin »

Very nice! I don't remember every seeing threaded stainless on a still. It looks great and will out live your great grandson!
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Klein
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Re: My 2" electric vm reflux still

Post by Klein »

just sayin wrote:Very nice! I don't remember every seeing threaded stainless on a still. It looks great and will out live your great grandson!
Welcome!

Same here, about as heavy duty as it can possibly get.
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PipeWelder316
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Re: My 2" electric vm reflux still

Post by PipeWelder316 »

Thank ya'll for the positive comments, I weld stainless daily so I went with it. I've tested out the controller heating water in the boiler but I'm ready to test her out for the first run later on this week.
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PipeWelder316
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Re: My 2" electric vm reflux still

Post by PipeWelder316 »

In case anyone is wondering, my shotgun condenser has a 1" tri-clamp furl on one end and is built out of 2" 316 stainless sch 10 pipe. It has 5 - 1/2" 316 tubes 12" in length. there are 2" x 1" 316 stainless bell reducers on each end. The water input and output are 316 stainless 1/4" compression fittings and then at the bottom 1" reduced down to 1/2" 316 stainless compression to 1/2" stainless tubing. This thing is a beast! I have no problems running it on my 2" vm.
Diesel410
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Re: My 2" electric vm reflux still

Post by Diesel410 »

Any interested In Building one to sell?
zapata
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Re: My 2" electric vm reflux still

Post by zapata »

Nice rig! Can you explain the part about using the ground from the 120v circuit for the kettle? You say the 240 is 3 wires, thats 2 hots and a ground, right?
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PipeWelder316
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Re: My 2" electric vm reflux still

Post by PipeWelder316 »

zapata wrote:Nice rig! Can you explain the part about using the ground from the 120v circuit for the kettle? You say the 240 is 3 wires, that's 2 hots and a ground, right?
My controller has a 110 input, what I call the low voltage side and a 240 input or the high voltage side. The low voltage side has a 120 hot,Neutral and a ground wire. The low voltage side just runs the amp meter, temperature controller, and a ssr. The ssr is used to switch the 240 on and off with a 120v toggle switch, This is so I can shut the element down with the flip of a switch. The ground to my breaker box also comes from this low voltage side where inside the controller it makes its way to my boiler for a safe ground. The High voltage side is just 2 hot 120's on a 240 circuit to the controller third wire in the cable not used. Inside the controller one Hot side 120 go's through a voltage regulator and then to one side of a 5500W element. The other Hot side 120v through the ssr then too the other side of the 5500W element. The ground from the low voltage side pig tails to the third wire to the element but connects to the ground screw for the casing. I hope this clears things up for yall.
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