Glass Boiler?

James · Post by **James** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:01 am

I have a large glass plant pot outfront, around 4G, would it make a good boiler? or is it likly to crack/shater during use?

junkyard dawg · Post by **junkyard dawg** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:12 am

way too fragile for my taste...

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:35 am

and if you would use it heated with gas, and it breaks, then you have a problem.

James · Post by **James** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:24 am

mm, thats my dilema. its not too thin, bout a cm think at the base. it was designed for the garden i think so it should be rather tough.

any other items i could use as a boiler?

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:31 am

go for metal
copper or SSteel
ss kegs are frequently used, so are milk cans

Big J · Post by **Big J** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:32 am

Lots of people here use beer kegs (stainless), that's what I use. Milk pails (also stainless) are also popular, or stainless steel cooking pots. Also old hot water heaters (copper) as long as they have no lead solder used on them.

Cheers,
J

junkyard dawg · Post by **junkyard dawg** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:33 am

Welcome to the forum..

but your not tryin very hard....

use the search feature and find lots about boilers.

ps

think beer keg

Bujapat · Post by **Bujapat** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:33 pm

Only Pyrex glass may be heated.
But, even if it's Pyrex, glass is fragile, alcohol is flamable, and so it could be very dangerous...
Go to beer keg... You won't regret.

hornedrhodent · Post by **hornedrhodent** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 2:46 pm

James wrote:mm, thats my dilema. its not too thin, bout a cm think at the base. it was designed for the garden i think so it should be rather tough.

Thicker glass will be more of a problem IMO. Uneven thermal expansion causing stress in the glass is what causes it to break. If you must try it use a water bath. Your wash should not be flammable - just your product - unless you're redistilling it.

muckanic · Post by **muckanic** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:33 pm

I have used a 2L glass flagon (in a water bath) for small-scale runs. The heat conduction of glass is a lot higher than one might first suppose. Having some visibility into the boiler is a nice feature. Labs use glass all the time on account of its inertness (they don't just distill EtOH), but note that round rather than conical flasks are what get assigned to boiler duty.

possum · Post by **possum** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 12:20 pm

Glass must be heated very slowly and evenly. What hornedrodent said about thicker being more prone to stress is right on. I would use metal.
Don't get me wrong about glass, I love it, but it does have limitations and difficulties.

stillkickin · Post by **stillkickin** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:46 pm

Woah! Pyrex or thick or whatever, I wouldn't risk it. Too many bad memories what with cuts and shattering sounds and such!

James · Post by **James** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 7:40 am

Thanks for the help guys

i'm gonna try it out first distilling water to see what happens, if it faills then i think i know where to get a keg. When you say keg you do mean like the ones the pubs use? or am i going down the wrong lines?

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 8:55 am

yep, regular kegs
clever you'll try first with water