My first propane run

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Hybrid pot still
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My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

Finally getting to do my first propane run, i been running electric stove but i been gathering this and that up and reading and learning.. so here it is, my new temporary rig.. looks scary, i know but it works and sturdy for the the most part, it will look better as i finish my all metal
stand, will post more pics
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Boozewaves
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Boozewaves »

nice tomato plant there :D

won't propane heat up the rods that hold the pot in place and melt the plastic crate? . i know it may be o.k for 10 minutes of trial but you may be running a few hours depending on size of the pot . your stand looks pretty unsafe and wobbly to be honest .
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Deplorable »

You probably should lay off the "tomato plant" and think through that setup like Boozewaves suggests.
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Twisted Brick »

That does look precarious. Maybe some flat bar or barbecue grates suspended across a base of your stone or bricks?

Sorry, I had to rotate your pic since my neck was getting stiff and my newmake kept missing my mouth and dribbling off my chin onto the computer table. :ebiggrin:
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PS: Think there's any chance of hooch off your 'hybrid pot still' having a grassy taste?
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

Boozewaves wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 10:54 am nice tomato plant there :D

won't propane heat up the rods that hold the pot in place and melt the plastic crate? . i know it may be o.k for 10 minutes of trial but you may be running a few hours depending on size of the pot . your stand looks pretty unsafe and wobbly to be honest .
Ya, i have the bars on wood now, i still haven't fired up yet, ive changed some things in bvb the last coupe hours
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Re: My first propane run

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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

Im still nervous about running dont grt me wrong lol, ive seen worse tho
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

I didn't relize my plant was in the pic lol, sry about that. If it makes it any better, its legal where im at now if you have a license, which i have. I like doing everything my own, plants, most of my food, likker, smoke and working on tobacco, its tricky to grow..
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

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fired up!! First propane run, cider mash, 5 gallons
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Re: My first propane run

Post by still_stirrin »

Yea, I sure wouldn’t use a propane burner in the living room like that. Way too many flammable materials there, including all the trash.

Also, that looooooong lyne arm will have some condensation forming in it (lower volatiles/water mostly). Then, the liquid will impede the vapor stream to the worm. I see how this could create some “huffing” in the still. Have you noticed this problem?
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

still_stirrin wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 2:23 pm Yea, I sure wouldn’t use a propane burner in the living room like that. Way too many flammable materials there, including all the trash.

Also, that looooooong lyne arm will have some condensation forming in it (lower volatiles/water mostly). Then, the liquid will impede the vapor stream to the worm. I see how this could create some “huffing” in the still. Have you noticed this problem?
ss
This is my first run with it like this, its not huffing at all like it was on the stove and i dont even have my mesh in, yet.. i used so much copper to be safe from vapors and flame.. i dont like fire lol, ya im single and my place is trashed this week, been a long hot work week and hot in this, especially now lol but worth it, i love it
20210613_175726.jpg
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

Hybrid pot still wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 3:00 pm
still_stirrin wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 2:23 pm Yea, I sure wouldn’t use a propane burner in the living room like that. Way too many flammable materials there, including all the trash.

Also, that looooooong lyne arm will have some condensation forming in it (lower volatiles/water mostly). Then, the liquid will impede the vapor stream to the worm. I see how this could create some “huffing” in the still. Have you noticed this problem?
ss
This is my first run with it like this, its not huffing at all like it was on the stove and i dont even have my mesh in, yet.. i used so much copper to be safe from vapors and flame.. i dont like fire lol, ya im single and my place is trashed this week, been a long hot work week and hot in this, especially now lol but worth it, i love it20210613_175726.jpg
ive been using only electric till today
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

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1I think im finally coming to a end, as much as i want ot to keep going on, i really enjoy this. I know my first propane setup it sketchy as hell, i felt it to.. but i have been on top of it the whole time and wanted to do it with gas soo bad and i done it. No fires, mishaps, hair burning or skin burning or likker burn, which i was afraid of how fast it climbed temp. Im still learning and experimenting, ever bit of most of this i made or make shift myself, like the oldtimers, exception that some of my materials are modern but i did it finally and got ten more gallons to go but im going to share this product with my friends and tell them i got it from some guy, like i have been lol..im Hybrid pot still aka real name, Edward. This is why im Hybrid, my shit will probably freak you and me both out but it works and i will find a way to make it work lol. By the way, i got a gallon and a quarter of drinkable whiskey, i been experimenting with water here recently and i like the outcome. Here are some pics
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Last edited by Hybrid pot still on Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: My first propane run

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Bars never got hot by the way, this is truly a fucked up hybrid lol, it will look better and safer soon
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

And im definitely open to ideas or what is wrong or could be better, beside the obvious lol, my lynn arm is going up hill by the way, in hope that anything that goes back to liquid like water or whatever will go back to the pot before it gets to the worm, i think
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Corn Cracker »

Dude, if ya got to be inside, stick with the stove top, it's just safer than doing propane inside. Look into making a liebig condenser. You don't need all the horizontal line. Not knocking your set up but, safety is #1.
Here's a pic of my stove top set up with a liebig condenser, it's not perfect but it's safe
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

Corn Cracker wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:32 pm Dude, if ya got to be inside, stick with the stove top, it's just safer than doing propane inside. Look into making a liebig condenser. You don't need all the horizontal line. Not knocking your set up but, safety is #1.
Here's a pic of my stove top set up with a liebig condenser, it's not perfect but it's safe
I like it, and i like safety
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

Im still practicing my brazing skill and i want to make one soon
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Re: My first propane run

Post by jonnys_spirit »

I recommend cleaning up the workspace when you run. No telling what’s going to go wrong and dealing with the failure is going to be more precarious.

Mad props for keeping a fire extinguisher handy. Hope you never need it.

Cheers and best luck!
-jonny
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Boozewaves »

Hybrid pot still wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:09 pm And im definitely open to ideas or what is wrong or could be better, beside the obvious lol, my lynn arm is going up hill by the way, in hope that anything that goes back to liquid like water or whatever will go back to the pot before it gets to the worm, i think
so a bit of passive reflux so to speak , my potstill has quite a tall riser so I probably get a bit of that
Hybrid pot still wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:57 pm Bars never got hot by the way, this is truly a fucked up hybrid lol, it will look better and safer soon
thats good , but yeah safer the better , I had a small fire once when a jar of 95abv fell on the floor near my butane burner, nothing major but still scary . glad you are happy with your result
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

jonnys_spirit wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:17 pm I recommend cleaning up the workspace when you run. No telling what’s going to go wrong and dealing with the failure is going to be more precarious.

Mad props for keeping a fire extinguisher handy. Hope you never need it.

Cheers and best luck!
-jonny
Thank you, it clean now, i messed everything up trying to get everything together. I do like fire extinguishers and likker lol
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

Boozewaves wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:04 am
Hybrid pot still wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 5:09 pm And im definitely open to ideas or what is wrong or could be better, beside the obvious lol, my lynn arm is going up hill by the way, in hope that anything that goes back to liquid like water or whatever will go back to the pot before it gets to the worm, i think
so a bit of passive reflux so to speak , my potstill has quite a tall riser so I probably get a bit of that
Hybrid pot still wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:57 pm Bars never got hot by the way, this is truly a fucked up hybrid lol, it will look better and safer soon
thats good , but yeah safer the better , I had a small fire once when a jar of 95abv fell on the floor near my butane burner, nothing major but still scary . glad you are happy with your result
Im still trying to understand fully what reflux is, i get it in a plated/packed column, but is that the same with a pot still? And is that to do with vapors going up and return down to the pot to a liquid to be recirculated sorta? Ive found reading material for like columns but not pot stills, i may be typing in the wrong thing to what im trying to find. The result is on this run the best likker ive ever done, i need to get a alchoholmeter to start testing it accurately
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

Hybrid pot still wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:11 am
jonnys_spirit wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:17 pm I recommend cleaning up the workspace when you run. No telling what’s going to go wrong and dealing with the failure is going to be more precarious.

Mad props for keeping a fire extinguisher handy. Hope you never need it.

Cheers and best luck!
-jonny
Thank you, it clean now, i messed everything up trying to get everything together. I do like fire extinguishers, safety and likker lol, it may not show in this but i do. Im just like the tasmania devil lol, a bull in a china shop, thats me..
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Boozewaves »

Hybrid pot still wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:18 am Im still trying to understand fully what reflux is, i get it in a plated/packed column, but is that the same with a pot still? And is that to do with vapors going up and return down to the pot to a liquid to be recirculated sorta? Ive found reading material for like columns but not pot stills, i may be typing in the wrong thing to what im trying to find. The result is on this run the best likker ive ever done, i need to get a alchoholmeter to start testing it accurately
yes sending vapours back down to be distilled again is the basic idea of reflux . a good resource is here https://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Reflux ,
your long lyne arm sloping upwards will be cooled by the air and lose heat as it goes further away from the burner and pot which will make a small amount of the alcohol vapour turn back into liquid and run back into the pot , this is the passive reflux .some traditional swan neck stills for whisky use this sort of method .

its definitely worth getting an alchometer (or 2 as they break easily) , they are very useful , I just buy the cheapest ones from ebay . I have used them to check shop bought spitits abv as a test and they seem accurate enough .
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Re: My first propane run

Post by Hybrid pot still »

Boozewaves wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 4:04 am
Hybrid pot still wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 12:18 am Im still trying to understand fully what reflux is, i get it in a plated/packed column, but is that the same with a pot still? And is that to do with vapors going up and return down to the pot to a liquid to be recirculated sorta? Ive found reading material for like columns but not pot stills, i may be typing in the wrong thing to what im trying to find. The result is on this run the best likker ive ever done, i need to get a alchoholmeter to start testing it accurately
yes sending vapours back down to be distilled again is the basic idea of reflux . a good resource is here https://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Reflux ,
your long lyne arm sloping upwards will be cooled by the air and lose heat as it goes further away from the burner and pot which will make a small amount of the alcohol vapour turn back into liquid and run back into the pot , this is the passive reflux .some traditional swan neck stills for whisky use this sort of method .

its definitely worth getting an alchometer (or 2 as they break easily) , they are very useful , I just buy the cheapest ones from ebay . I have used them to check shop bought spitits abv as a test and they seem accurate enough .
thank you for the information booze. I really appreciate it
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