Home Distiller

I lay a penny on top of the hole. It's useful when you start cooking a batch. When the wash starts boiling, the column is full of air. When the vapor first starts up the column, it pushes the air out (the air doesn't condense). When this happens the penny will dance a little. This is a good indicato...

The slick and bad smell is probably because the corn was too wet. I usually soak the corn for about 24 hours totally covered in water. Then spread the kernels out on a tray lined with a few layers of paper towel. I sprinkle water on the paper towel to keep it moist. The corn is only touching water o...

Water is almost a perfect substance for this. It's nonflammable. It requires a large amount of heat to boil (ie. it transfers a lot of heat without moving a lot of water). It's easy to find and practically free. The downside to water is there's a lower limit on temperature due to freezing. For low t...

During the run I use 1500watts on a 2" diameter column.

I didn't see where you mentioned the diameter of your column. The proper wattage has little to do with the type of wash. The proper wattage should be scaled according to your cross-section area of your column. I run 1500watts on a 50mm diameter column.

If you must have a closed top condenser, drill a small hole in the cap, then lay a penny over the hole.

Actually you can use any liquid which has a reasonable boiling point. For water you'd have to draw a vacuum so the water will boil at your operating temperature (unless you want to operate at 100C then you'd have water near one atmosphere pressure). If you operate above 100C you need to be sure the ...

I think the resistance of heating elements changes a lot when they heat up. So the resistance you measured when cold probably isn't useful for computing the current draw and power. You didn't mention if your multimeter is a true RMS reading meter. If not then the 252 volts may not be correct. You wa...

....sealing the collection vessel with a cork.... I think you'll want to provide an air return line from the collection vessel to the cold side of the condenser. The collection vessel may not fill if you don't have this 'burp' line. This is especially the case if the output line from head to collec...

How are you planning to couple the microwaves into the boiler? Waveguide? How are you controlling the SWR in the waveguide? Whats your generation device? How much reflected power can you have before your generation device goes *poof*? How do you impedence match the waveguide to the boiler? Do you wo...

Yes the oil is a fire hazard, but the double boiler with only oil and no water is less hazardous than me dumping 20 lbs of wet fish into the same oil. I feel quite comfortable cooking fish in a large pot of oil heated over a propane burner. I think the alcohol is a bigger fire risk than the oil. Dro...

You could get rid of all the water and just use cooking oil. Be very careful not to let it get too hot. The cooking oil should be good to 400F. The wash in the boiler should be able to draw out as much power as you put into the oil, but you'll want to keep a thermometer in the oil to be sure you are...

I don't see any problems using a thinner material. As long as you don't boil dry, the temperatures involved will be well below where stainless will lose much strength. Also when the barrel is filled with liquid you will have a fairly long heat up time, and the heat will be evenly distributed. This r...

If your in the US, try http://www.mcmaster.com onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow. They have many types of stainless fittings. They won't ship to individuals in Canada, I do have a work account with them though and get stuff from them regularly. http://i53.photobucket.com/...

What's the column diameter? I'm guessing it's a 2 inch diameter. 2400 watts is probably too much for a 2 inch diameter column. You'll want the extra power for getting up to boiling temperature, but after the boil starts you'll want 2000 watts or less to avoid flooding. I use 1500 watts on a 2 inch. ...

I'd also recommend using a valved head. The cooling jacket will produce reflux which might tend to flow down the walls of the column and be useless. I'd recommend a head which returns the reflux to the center of the column. I think a coil style condenser is more compact and "tidy". This is just a pe...

what about a Vacuum Still any links im doing some reserch bit by bit I don't know of anyone using a vacuum still. A properly designed reflux column will provide more than enough purity for beverage use (95%). Unless you are performing chemical experiements where residual water is a problem, or you ...

On water distillers the cooling water output from the condenser is usually fed to the boiler via some sort of cup with an overflow tube. The idea is that the boiler is continually kept "topped up" by the hot water exiting the condenser. The cup and the boiler will generally be connected with a small...

I've had good luck with the cheap hot water heater elements from the local hardware store. They are designed for 120V at 1500 watts. My current set has lasted over two years. Here they are about $7 each.

I place the thermometer above the packing. I want to see the temp of what I'm collecting, not what's happening down in the column. I actually don't watch the thermometer that closely. The smell will be a better indicator. I can smell the end of the run long before the thermometer indicates anything....

I also lay a penny over the vent hole to be sure no vapors sneak past the condenser. The penny keeps vapor from wafting out, but doesn't let any pressure build.

This is almost identical to my setup. I call it "bokokob's single reducer inline head" design. I soldered the joint between the reducer and the 2 inch tube where you insert the coil. I had a few times where this weeped liquid, so I just soldered. Use a bottle brush to clean it out. I used a lot less...

You want the column as tall as you can get it. If you are operating indoors this typically limits you to a total height of 8 feet. Your keg will probably be near 2.5 feet tall. The crab cooker is (guessing) about 2 feet tall. The condenser with 1/4 inch coiled tubing can be less than 1 foot long. So...

I've had a greasy substance boil to the top when making hominy (corn cooked in a basic solution). I assumed it was "corn oil". I haven't seen anything similar with barley. I also haven't seen the oil boil to the top when mashing and fermenting corn. It may depend on the length of the boil. I only ge...

Here's what I use http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g58/nanosleep/headAssembly.jpg http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g58/nanosleep/headBottomSide.jpg It operates on the same principles as yours but IMHO it has less parts, is easier to build, and takes up less vertical space. This is based on the bok...

There are two basic designs that appeal to me as a first still, the Bokabob elliptic plate, and the 45º offset Nixon-Stone valved reflux. My vote is for the inline head. I've never built an eliptical, but the design looks reasonable. I have used a nixon-stone type, and a "single reducer" inline typ...

I would drop the electrical storage altogether. Batteries are inefficient storage, and enough batteries for something like 1000 watts for any length of time is probably cost prohibitive. Why not immediately use all of the power you are generating? One problem is wind power produces highly variable a...

It depends on what you are fermenting. For a sugar wash I usually fill the fermenter very full (maybe 95%). If you are doing strained liquid from grains, you'll need more head space to control foaming. I would fill about 80%. If you are using mashed fruits or something similar with lots of solids, I...

but what WILL you have when you run a sugar wash in a potstill, and after 2 more runs? No one really answered that besides "you won't get vodka" just wondering what I should expect... If you run a sugar or molasses based wash though a pot still, I would call that rum. If it's distilled at a high pr...

My problem will be aging it cause I will want to sample it to often

I seem to have that problem also. I'm trying to get into the habit of hiding "reserve" bottles in the back of the pantry.