Hot Plates

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Uter09
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Hot Plates

Post by Uter09 »

Greetings,

I am newer to the distilling world and cant find an answer to my exact question anywhere. I have an 8 gallon milk can pot still from Hillbilly Stills (which I love) and am trying to figure out if this hot plate will work to run my 6 gallon wash?

I have a propane burner, but due to its inconvenience to run at my location (as well as safety) wanted to find another avenue. Also, I know an internal element would work better as well, but I would rather not modify the pot at this time ( I also am very confused after reading countless threads as I am not an electrician by any means).

The hot plate I have is:
Cadco CSR-3T: 120V, 1500 Watts, 12.5 Amps

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
OtisT
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Re: Hot Plates

Post by OtisT »

Howdy. I think it will work fine if you use a good sized heat sync on top to even out the heat changes due to the on-off cycle. This assumes you have a flat bottom boiler that will make good contact with the plate. Some will tell you to hack the controls and disable the high temp shutoff rather than use a heat sync, but I’ve not done that before and personally would not be comfortable doing so. A proper heat sync takes care of any issues with cycling on-off.

I have a kadco similar to the KR-S2, a pro grade hot plate which is the same wattage/amps but with a cast iron top. I primarily used it with a 10 gallon boiler pan. Takes about 2 hours to bring an 8 gal wash up to first boil at full power. Without a heat sync, I would frequently see 4 degree F fluxiations in vapor temp in the column head. I tried a small (about 1lb) cast iron heat sync bought on amazon that reduced temp swings down to 2 degrees F. With a 3 lb aluminum block I achieved a stable temp with no more temp swings. That 3lb plate is 1/4” thick, and 10” x 10” square.

When using a hot plate, you must always ensure all the surfaces are clean and flat, to make good contact. If using a metal block, make sure to round the edges and de-burr it with a flat file. The one time I had a small piece of debris that made an air gap, I ended up with some scorch marks in the pan where it was making good contact.

I upgraded to an internal element a while back, but still use my Cadco hot plate for small batches in my old boiler, and I also use my hot plates frequently for toasting now (also with a heatsync.). You can see my hot plate setup in my “Learning to Toast” thread.

Happy Stilling. Otis
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
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still_stirrin
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Re: Hot Plates

Post by still_stirrin »

I have that exact same hotplate for my stock pot potstill I use for the final distillation of gin. The hatplate works great for this use. I did however, do extensive modifications to mine to use as the heat source for the boiler.

I have not made a “build thread” for the modifications, but it would be appropriate as this modification would be an great addition to the archives here.

In short, what I did was remove the thermostat control for the heat element and replace the circuit with a Triac circuit I built. I can post the parts list and circuit diagram and I should also take fotos of the build progress so others can “visualize” the build. It is quite easy with just a few simple tools, including a soldering iron (electrical soldering, not copper piping).

I used “point to point” wiring techniques for the circuit and miniturized the circuit board so it would fit inside the Cadco housing. I also insulated the air channel that runs from the vent holes on the bottom up to the heat (coil) element, to isolate the heat generated from the wiring and circuitry inside the housing. I also added a small 110VAC fan to help eject the heat from the Triac’s heat sink.

To aid in operation, I added an ammeter to the circuit so I could monitor the current flow (which is a great indicator of the power sent through the element). I put the contol potentiomenter where the hotplate’s original thermostat control was mounted, so the face of the hotplate is somewhat the same as the “as purchased” model.

The cost of the parts for the modification cost me about $60USD, which added to the hotplate cost of $125USD brought the whole cost to <$200.

So, I think the Cadco is an excellent choice to start with. But it will require a few mods to function as a boiler heat source.
ss
My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
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jonnys_spirit
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Re: Hot Plates

Post by jonnys_spirit »

A parts list and schematic would be a great help if possible.

Cheers!
-js
————
i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
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Uter09
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Re: Hot Plates

Post by Uter09 »

OtisT wrote:Howdy. I think it will work fine if you use a good sized heat sync on top to even out the heat changes due to the on-off cycle. This assumes you have a flat bottom boiler that will make good contact with the plate. Some will tell you to hack the controls and disable the high temp shutoff rather than use a heat sync, but I’ve not done that before and personally would not be comfortable doing so. A proper heat sync takes care of any issues with cycling on-off.

I have a kadco similar to the KR-S2, a pro grade hot plate which is the same wattage/amps but with a cast iron top. I primarily used it with a 10 gallon boiler pan. Takes about 2 hours to bring an 8 gal wash up to first boil at full power. Without a heat sync, I would frequently see 4 degree F fluxiations in vapor temp in the column head. I tried a small (about 1lb) cast iron heat sync bought on amazon that reduced temp swings down to 2 degrees F. With a 3 lb aluminum block I achieved a stable temp with no more temp swings. That 3lb plate is 1/4” thick, and 10” x 10” square.

When using a hot plate, you must always ensure all the surfaces are clean and flat, to make good contact. If using a metal block, make sure to round the edges and de-burr it with a flat file. The one time I had a small piece of debris that made an air gap, I ended up with some scorch marks in the pan where it was making good contact.

I upgraded to an internal element a while back, but still use my Cadco hot plate for small batches in my old boiler, and I also use my hot plates frequently for toasting now (also with a heatsync.). You can see my hot plate setup in my “Learning to Toast” thread.

Happy Stilling. Otis

Thank you for the quick reply Otis. I'm not sure what you mean by
heat sync. You mean a metal 1/4" disc of aluminum that you place on top of the burner under the pot? Sorry if this sounds elementary, I am still getting used to some of the vocab used in this forum. Also, where would you purchase something like this?
OtisT
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Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Hot Plates

Post by OtisT »

Uter09 wrote:Thank you for the quick reply Otis. I'm not sure what you mean by
heat sync. You mean a metal 1/4" disc of aluminum that you place on top of the burner under the pot? Sorry if this sounds elementary, I am still getting used to some of the vocab used in this forum. Also, where would you purchase something like this?
You have it correct, it’s just a hunk of aluminum. What I called a “heat sync” is simply a mass of metal that absorbs heat from the hot plate and transfers it to the boiler. It’s not an instantaneous transfer, so it levels out the highs and lows of the hot plate surface that switches on and off. This is one reason why most professional hotplates come with cast iron surfaces and cookware uses layers of copper, as a thermal mass to provide a more consistent heat transfer. If you know Electronics, think of it as a capacitor for heat.

Aluminum is great for this. Copper would be better because it is better at transferring heat, but copper is much more expensive. Pay attention to the thickness/overall mass. I found that 3 pounds was just enough to keep my boiler’s heat consistent without loosing too much heat energy to the air. I started with a much heavier piece, 1” thick round that weighed 7 lbs, and while it provided consistent heat it took a lot longer for adjustments to have affect on my wash and there was more heat energy lost to the air.

I get mine from a local scrap yard that sells and cuts various metals (new and scrap). I think new AL is around $3.75 a pound and they charge me $3 a cut, so to buy that here would run around $11 total.

Otis
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
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Expat
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Re: Hot Plates

Post by Expat »

Back when I first started into this, I used a basic hot plate. No major modifications we're required to meet my needs. I used thing piece of scrap copper plate to bypass the thermostat controls. Continuous 1500 watt output no issues.

Using a nice chunk of metal as a heat sink would probably have helped to average out the heat on the bottom of the pot, but I never thought of that at the time.
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Current boiler and pot head
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Uter09
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Re: Hot Plates

Post by Uter09 »

Thank you everyone for your help! It is greatly appreciated!
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still_stirrin
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Re: Hot Plates

Post by still_stirrin »

Uter09 wrote:The hot plate I have is: Cadco CSR-3T: 120V, 1500 Watts, 12.5 Amps
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Here’s a link to my build/modification thread for the Cadco CSR-3T hotplate: viewtopic.php?f=85&t=71687

There are several ways to setup and use a hotplate for your boiler. This is how I did it. I use it for small batch distilliations, like gin. I hope it helps you with your hotplate.
ss
My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
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