ice bag

brewster · Post by **brewster** » Tue May 09, 2006 1:37 am

would it help anything, to wrap my condenser with an ice bag...right now i am using recirculated water direct from the sink...as the water temp warms up, i just refill the sink with cold water....but i was wondering is colder the water the better ??? right now i have no problem keeping my head temp stabilized???? thanks

knuklehead · Post by **knuklehead** » Tue May 09, 2006 2:22 pm

I doubt the ice would last long. You would be better off jus putting ice in the sink. If you freeze a 4 liter ice-cream pail with water and put that in the sink with your water it would help to keep the coolant temperature down.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Tue May 09, 2006 6:09 pm

My still is located close to a freezer in a garage so I am able to pre-chill my water by running it from the water source through a copper coil in the freezer then through plastic lines and connect to the copper coil at the top of my still. I drilled to 5/16 holes and ran the poly through it. This is not a recirculation system I'm sure one could be adapted with the same idea. When finished, running the still, be sure all water is out of the coil in the freezer and you will not have any problems next time.

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Wed May 10, 2006 6:55 am

yes!, destroy your freezer

that prechilling requires energy, your freezer will have to work harder or the temperature will decrease. though it's possible

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » Wed May 10, 2006 8:25 am

I don't believe this will destroy my freezer. There is not a massive quantity of water flowing through the coil, it is however a small drip. And I have had good luck with his process. I should note this is a large chest freezer

Post by **theholymackerel** » Wed May 17, 2006 2:41 pm

if yer condenser is a coil in a container, then the container only has to be larger than the boiler to require no ice or runnin' water.

If yer condencer is a tiny coil toppin' a column, then either use a larger water basin or run the water in the closed loop through a radiater to cool it.

Ice is never an energy efficient option for coolin' a still and runnin' water is wasteful. Wasteful of the planets number one needed resource: potable water.

runingkind · Post by **runingkind** » Sat May 20, 2006 3:44 am

I bought a pond pump for $37.00 at lowes.I keep a 20gallon buckett of water
with a extra 5 gallon buckett setting aside.Every gallon that comes out of the coil I change a gallon of water in my 20 gallon buckett.It works great for me