Using a Tea Urn as a Still Boiler

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Kruegerfan
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Using a Tea Urn as a Still Boiler

Post by Kruegerfan »

Hey folks,

Fairly new distiller here, and I'm awaiting some parts to build my first still, having been using the air still for some time.

Building a simple stock pot still with Liebig condenser and a 2kw element with SCR controller, however,

I have looked at beginner stills such as the T500 etc. and they are rather pricey, but have seen some alternative boilers that I'm looking for opinion on.

It would appear that commercial tea urns/boilers work almost exactly the same as an electric powered still. I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to convert one of these and what the results were.

Searched on the forum but couldn't really find anything on these. Was looking at something like this:

https://adexa.co.uk/Commercial-Water-Bo ... gLjpfD_BwE

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Kruegerfan
NormandieStill
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Re: Using a Tea Urn as a Still Boiler

Post by NormandieStill »

I'm going to guess that the water level sight in those is made of plastic, so that would be a big no. If you've got one in front of you you'll want to check everywhere for plastics. Silicone gaskets for sealing the lid can be wrapped in PTFE or replaced with an everlasting gasket (search the forum). You're also going to need to modify the circuitry to put a proper controller over the element.
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Kruegerfan
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Re: Using a Tea Urn as a Still Boiler

Post by Kruegerfan »

Thanks Normandie,

I figured there must be a good reason why I haven't seen much on the use of these as a still. Totally didn't think of the plastics. Gaskets wouldn't be a problem as I have copious amounts of ptfe tape that I'm going to use (read about the everlasting gaskets the other day and seen them used on Youtube), but good point about the circuitry. Might be more hassle than it's worth.

Reckon I'll stick to my stock pot build for now and see how I go. Just dipping my toe in the water so to speak to get a little building experience etc. and in the future will hopefully move on to bigger and better things

Thanks again for the input,

Kruegerfan
greggn
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Re: Using a Tea Urn as a Still Boiler

Post by greggn »

Kruegerfan wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 4:01 am https://adexa.co.uk/Commercial-Water-Bo ... gLjpfD_BwE

Any thoughts would be appreciated.


You're paying for digital temperature control that you neither want nor need.
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Kruegerfan
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Re: Using a Tea Urn as a Still Boiler

Post by Kruegerfan »

greggn wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 6:44 am
Kruegerfan wrote: Thu May 19, 2022 4:01 am https://adexa.co.uk/Commercial-Water-Bo ... gLjpfD_BwE

Any thoughts would be appreciated.


You're paying for digital temperature control that you neither want nor need.
Fair point Greggn. I would either be bypassing the control and using a SCR or just fitting my own element. The main reason for looking was the ideal capacity of a lot of them for me. Buying a straight forward standard pot of the same capacity is almost the same price over here, so I figured I might have a look. Found a few with literally no plastics, and no water level indicator, and the concealed element is definitely a bonus If I could use it.

Will definitely be looking into it further in the future I reckon
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