15 gallon new build

[ghg1942wla]

Beginning of my 15 gallon still.

I bought the keg years ago and the hole was precut, and a drain already added.

The hole is a bit larger than I would have liked, but I ordered a heavy duty stainless steel bowl that will fit, just have to worry about sealing it up.

I also ordered a 4500 watt 220 volt heating element today and it should be here by Saturday.

And I would like to find a decent “plug and play” heater controller, since electrical work isn’t my favorite thing to do.

Any suggestions for a 220 volt heating controller?

More to follow.

George

[CopperFiend]

Looks good. I can recommend the voltage regulators on amazon, have had a few and all worked well. I would go way above the rating of your element though so a 10KW minimum or it will likely burn out. They are all very simple to wire, just put live to live and neutral to neutral

[ghg1942wla]

Question for the moderators...

Can this thread be moved to the Construction topic?

Since I began, I have received the heating element and I am finishing up with a 30” Liebig condenser, 1” diameter copper outside and the inner tube is 1/2”.

Would like to add photos as I continue along with the build.

Thanks again,

George

[Yummyrum]

Question for the moderators...

Can this thread be moved to the Construction topic?

There you go George
I held up my end of the deal .. lets see the pics

[ghg1942wla]

Thank you for moving the thread,

Here’s the picture of the condenser, 30 inches long, od 1 inch, inner tube is 1/2”

I left the coolant in and out tubes long until I get some more parts for it, and will have quick disconnects once I get the other parts.

George

[ghg1942wla]

I also put this together just for fun

[ghg1942wla]

Heating element.

4500 watt, 220 volt.

George

[dukethebeagle120]

Beginning of my 15 gallon still.

I bought the keg years ago and the hole was precut, and a drain already added.

The hole is a bit larger than I would have liked, but I ordered a heavy duty stainless steel bowl that will fit, just have to worry about sealing it up.

I also ordered a 4500 watt 220 volt heating element today and it should be here by Saturday.

And I would like to find a decent “plug and play” heater controller, since electrical work isn’t my favorite thing to do.

Any suggestions for a 220 volt heating controller?

More to follow.

George


E2E67ABB-1D1E-4B96-A61D-C56E838A3A26.jpeg

Scr 10000
Get em on amazon for 25 bucks
Dirt cheap and very errective

[ghg1942wla]

Beginning of my 15 gallon still.

I bought the keg years ago and the hole was precut, and a drain already added.

The hole is a bit larger than I would have liked, but I ordered a heavy duty stainless steel bowl that will fit, just have to worry about sealing it up.

I also ordered a 4500 watt 220 volt heating element today and it should be here by Saturday.

And I would like to find a decent “plug and play” heater controller, since electrical work isn’t my favorite thing to do.

Any suggestions for a 220 volt heating controller?

More to follow.

George


E2E67ABB-1D1E-4B96-A61D-C56E838A3A26.jpeg

Scr 10000
Get em on amazon for 25 bucks
Dirt cheap and very errective

Looking!!!

Thanks

George

[ghg1942wla]

Duke,

Found them and ordered one.

George

[dukethebeagle120]

Duke,

Found them and ordered one.

George

Easy to wire and easy to run.
More power clockwise
Less power counter
You will love it

[ghg1942wla]

Progress,

I have received the controller and some of the fittings for the build.

I am in the process of making a Graham condenser.

10 inches tall, three inch diameter, 1/4” coil with 10 coils.

George

[Setsumi]

Progress,

I have received the controller and some of the fittings for the build.

I am in the process of making a Graham condenser.

10 inches tall, three inch diameter, 1/4” coil with 10 coils.

George 6647CA0E-A88E-427A-B08D-F9E1E05F319A.jpeg

seems you are doing a CM head? myself do not run CM heads but i would either double the coil... not continuous but 2 seperate coils to increase intake volume or upscale to 9.3mm tube. that said the forum reports CM heads using only a tricle of water, so you should be OK.

[ghg1942wla]

Wow,

Talk about information overload....

Been reading a lot of posts here and it is a daunting task.

I have rethought my still build a have changed my mind and I am going to have a smaller 30 liter simple pot still.

No thumper, KISS still.

I am going to keep the original condenser that I first made and posted a picture of.

Electric heating element to reduce the risk of fire, and just for safety I will probably install a pressure relief valve in the boiler.

Now I will have to find the PTFE gaskets, since apparently the silicone ones that are supplied with the fittings aren’t the ones that I should be using. Even though the parts are food grade and so is the gaskets.

I did make sure that the keg that I got does have holes on the bottom roll lip, and will be installing adjustable legs to keep it up off of the floor.

Not wanting to blow up the house nor create any dangerous situations.

Keep you all entertained with more photos of the build once I get the parts.

G

[tiramisu]

How did you decide on the size of the Liebig?

[ghg1942wla]

Looking on the net, and Olympic distillery web site.

George

[Tummydoc]

Adjustable legs are fine, but i just put my electric keg on a small harbor freight movers dolly for $7.99. My fermenters are on those also (30 gallon brute).

[ghg1942wla]

Finally received more stuff for my build.

2 inch diameter various combinations possible.

Now I have to modify the keg for the heating element, drain, and get everything all welded.

Getting closer.

53D712F2-588F-431D-AF1F-66EB492D01D7.jpeg (36.25 KiB) Viewed 3404 times

George

[ghg1942wla]

Ok, here’s what I built, along with the proofing parrot.

The plan changed and I was able to get a 30 liter keg and went it.

Controls are next

[ghg1942wla]

Here’s the controller and the pot.

I do have a issue that I would like to address.

I want to be able to use regular household plugs,

And I have rethought the heating element,

Would using a 2000watt 220 voltage heating element be sufficient with this 30 liter setup be ok. 2000w divided by 220V = 9.09 A breaker

Or would 2500watt 220volt heater be a better option, That requires a 11.3 breaker.

My house circuit breaker board, has 16 Amp breakers.


Thanks…

[Deplorable]

You'll improve heat up time and stripping run speeds with the 2500W element. Spirit runs will not need more than about 1300w. In my experience.

[ghg1942wla]

Thank you for the reply,

I pulled the trigger and ordered the 2500 watt, 220 volt heating element.

Hopefully I will be able to use it on just 220 volt household current and a 16 amp circuit breaker.

George

[The Baker]

I have a 3,000 watt element.
And a Still Dragon controller.
If I set the controller on half power will I get about 1,500 watts?

Geoff

[Deplorable]

George, You'll be fine on a 16 amp breaker if its only pulling 11 to 12 amps.

Geoff, I cant speak to the SD controller and how well the pot reacts in relation to the sticker they send with it. My pot is not linear, meaning most of the adjustment is in about the middle 40% of the knobs travel. I have a voltage/amp meter on my controller, and I use that as a reference, and adjust the power based on what I want my take off rate to be. I run a 240V 5500W wave element in my boiler and I can get drips per second at as little as 5 amps, or a nice steady thin stream at around 10.5 amps. I only use a full 5500W (23A) to heat water for mashing.

[The Baker]

Thanks, deplorable.

Geoff

[ghg1942wla]

Okay,

I have finally put the controller kit from Still Dragon together and I would like to test it.

Made sure I followed the directions to build it from the Still Dragon website, and I am sure that I did it right, but I am hesitant to plug it in…… yea electric stuff is not my most favorite thing to do.

Can I just use my multimeter for checking output?

And does the controller control amps or voltage?

Thanks, George

[Saltbush Bill]

Plug it into something like a bed side lamp.....use it as a dimmer switch.

[ghg1942wla]

Plug it into something like a bed side lamp.....use it as a dimmer switch.

Thanks

It works just fine and I didn’t blow any circuit breaker’s.

Getting closer, just waiting for the heating element to arrive.

Then cleaning up everything and then test the system with just water.

George

[ghg1942wla]

Heating element arrived today,

But…….

It is 240 volt 2500 watt…low density element.

Can I use it on 220 volts?

[Deplorable]

Yes you can.