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I'm going to be using a double coil condenser 8" long, atop a 2" boka, atop a roughly 5 gallon charge, heated by a 4500w element during striping runs. I'm fairly certain my water pump isn't going to keep up. Full blast it pumped through the condenser about a gallon in 5 minutes. How large ...

why not just use a bolt on water heater element? I haven't read through all 8 Pages yet, so this may have already been addressed.

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i'm running it inside, 75 degrees. i'm planning to move it outside when the kinks are worked out. i'll try insulating the boiler. what's a good material? fiberglass insulation? just thinking of avoiding fires the takeoff speed is just fast enough that it's not a drip. the smallest stream possible. i...

googe wrote:Treated pine, yummy

gives it that extra kick... BAM!

i did a bad job explaining the element install. it's not that there's only 2" in the boiler, the entire element is in contact with liquid. it's just that the depth of the sink strainer lowered the starting point of the element. i didn't install it in the side because the pot is terribly thin an...

the head is re-used from my old smaller pot http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu112/daniel_runyon/DSC00056.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow i'm using a water pump instead of that gravity fed non-sense pictured there as well. aside from taste, the...

i planed down a piece of pine 2x6 to about 3/8" and cut a ring out of it and inserted that where the rubber seal is supposed to go. it doesn't leak (yet). the element is pretty short, and after having to come through the coupling and the depth of the basket, only about 2" of element is sti...

just completed my second still, another simple pot. i installed a 120v 1500w element in the bottom of a 4 gallon stock pot. i ended up welding a stainless pipe coupler to the bottom of a stainless sink strainer basket. then i just cut an appropriate hole in the bottom of my pot and installed the bas...

right, the bigger the difference in water temp versus ambient air temp, the better it will be cooled. as in more temp drop, not that it will actually be cooler. i was going to use a heater core as a radiator, only instead of a fan, submerge it in a container of ice/water. i prefer an autonomous syst...

as it turns out the fan was much too strong for my 3" pvc. the water just flew straight out the top. i'm in the process of building a 6" or so column now.

as it turns out, a pvc gutter downspout to 3" pipe adapter fits both my 3" pvc sweep and the output mouth of my squirrel cage fans. this should look fairly clean when it's finished. pics in the next couple days.

i am a fan of this.

i happen to have some bathroom exhaust fans laying around, i think i'm going to steal your idea and beef it up slightly.

not a bad idea for switching the elements. also coping the edge of the fitting to fit the boiler. i was just planning on boring a 1" hole and filing from there. i'm planning on running a 240v 4500w element in a large (about 20gallon) pot for stripping, and a 120v, 1500w element in a smaller (ma...

i don't suppose there's a common spot to purchase these beauties? ebay (etc.) is probably my option?

i found a very good write up a few days back about the installation of water heater elements in a boiler, but alas i've lost it and can't find it again. what i'm really interested in finding is what sort of fitting is used to thread the element into. also, has anyone tried mounting the older type sq...

well i was meaning in place of a water heater type element. i realize they weren't designed to be submerged, but i'd never tried it =/

can you use a stove top burner element in a still?

i have a 5 gallon water machine bottle, and a 16 gallon tub, but they're both in use. i really just wanted to try this out and pot still it to about 80proof-120proof. if i like it i'll make a bigger lot. i hear a lot of people talk about using boiled yeast before added the dry yeast. i'm guessing th...

the all bran i used was kellogs brand. ingredients list was like, wheat bran, sugar, malt. done. all the vitamins and mins. were 25% and higher for a daily diet.

i just started a batch of this last night, 4 cups sugar and 1 cup crushed all bran into a half gallon of water, heated/boiled for 30 minutes. cooled to under 100F, added 2 tbls red star dry yeast. i had to halve my batch into 2 "half gallon" commercial liquor glass bottles before i added t...

@ eviljesus
thanks! that's exactly the kind of formula i needed.

@ cob
yeah i knew the search yielded plenty of results, just not very many ones relevant to what i'm after. i didn't try BTU in the search, in hindsight that was the obvious thing to do.

i didn't find a thread about propane heat, but there's still a good chance there is one and i just missed it. can anyone point me in the right direction, or make a suggestion on what to use? i'm wanting to boil about 10 gallons at a time. what sort of BTU should i be looking for?

Please read: Image Uploading and Posting Etiquette Regardless of whether locally or externally hosted all images must be reduced to 600px X 600px maximum or they are subject to removal without prior notification... I, for one, don't spend much time in topics where I have to scroll horizontally... t...

Perhaps you need to do at little bit more research on Distilling. You state, “I’m trying to produce the most neutral pure spirit possible and flavour”. sorry, what i meant to say was NO flavor. yes i realize a reflux would do it better, but i figured just starting out would be easier with a pot sti...

my still is simple. http://i639.photobucket.com/albums/uu112/daniel_runyon/DSC00056.jpg i'm just using a simple sugar wash, 5 gal + 5 lb i processed (5) 8oz jars from 1 gallon of wash. i'm trying to produce the most neutral pure spirit possible, and flavor with whatever. from what i gather the best ...

well we knuckled down and tasted the second run. fairly tasteless, good strong burn as i imagined, since it will light under a flame. looking forward to making larger quantities and double distilling.

thanks for all the help and answered questions!

just put my wash in the boiler, the first spoonful that came out burned a nice blue flame, i'm on my 3rd 8oz jar now and it's smelling less like acetone and not burning any more. i don't have any instruments =/ should i just stop when i start seeing the oily residue come out? this is a cleaning run ...

rad14701 wrote:If you've ever used caulk in the bathroom you know what I'm talking about...

i use caulk on counter top back splashes. kitchen installation is my day job.

i smeared the flour dope around the edge of the lid and it sealed like a boss. i've got the ugliest water line system going right now, mostly from used 1/4 soft copper, but it's working. at about half throttle my condenser cools the vapor to 65F. does this mean i could stand to have more heat? i've ...

Where are the clamps holding the top end onto the boiler...??? Is that lid soldered on or are you haphazardly relying on weight alone...??? The answer is black binder clips and flour paste... :thumbup: so long as no one trips and falls into it, (and it's normally just me here) the weight does a goo...