Question about heating boiler

VictoryRay · Post by **VictoryRay** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:58 am

Hey all, ive been playing around with this for a little while and something has occured to me, and i dont know the answer.
this question is about the input heat to the boiler, and i did look on the parent site but didnt run by it.:

when i start my run, i turn my 1500watt hot plate to full power. it usually takes about an hour or so to start boiling. once i get to about 65deg c, i turn on the water and cut the heat back to a little over half. that is where my off-set set-up will run at @ 78-80deg c pretty steady. (heres the question): do i fittle with the input heat to hold it as steady as i can, or do i leave it alone and base my run off the set input heat?(start at 78.5 and cut it off at 90 or so)

i got to thinking about this during my last run when the temp started climbing to 90 after sitting at 80 for only @ an hour, and about 250ml of output.

like i said, ive been "playing" with this for a while, and now im regrouping and trying to learn how to do it correctly. i have gotten alot of help and usefull info from all of you before, and thats what keeps my coming back.

thanks

Post by **theholymackerel** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 6:19 pm

Most every hotplate will cycle on and off to control heat.

This is bad from a distillin' standpoint. Stills want steady even heat for best results.

I wish ya luck.

PS: I've used hotplates before, but always bypassed the heat controll to get the required steady even heat.

VictoryRay · Post by **VictoryRay** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:13 am

is the heating element in a keg the best way to go for a neutral spirit set-up?

im not to electricly inclined to be by-passing thing, i have no idea how you would go about that. i want to do the hot-water element in a quarter-barrel keg i have, but im not sure how to control the heat.

does someone know of a link or thread that might help me? i do have a co-worker who is electric savy, so im not out of it all together.

thanks mackerel...

Ftero · Post by **Ftero** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:11 am

I'm glad you asked this question, 'cause I have the same doubt.

I've only done 3 runs myself, but I get the sneaking suspicion that I run my pot still too hard, trying to maintain that thin pencil-lead stream of distillate.

I wish I could rent-a-distiller for a day or so, to consult, and have him smack me in the back of the head when needed.

VictoryRay · Post by **VictoryRay** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:28 am

I wish I could rent-a-distiller for a day or so, to consult, and have him smack me in the back of the head when needed.

[/quote]

i hear ya their...

i did find this ; http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... d59631e599" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

im going to go to lowes and see what i can find today. hell, ill try to blow anything up at least once..

ill let you know how it turns out.

Ftero · Post by **Ftero** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:35 am

The heat control issue has been really well documented. Making a heat controller is on the list of things to make.

It's the how much heat to apply to get how much of a distillate that has me guessing...

VictoryRay · Post by **VictoryRay** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:54 am

That is my real question..

heres what i do: i get the top of the column up to 78-80deg and hold it their for a while(sometimes an hour, and sometimes a couple hours). then, when the temp starts to go up i lower the input to the boiler to make up for it, and so on, and so on........

i just want to know if thats the right thing to do or if i need to just set it and make the cuts from their.

ol' rummie · Post by **ol' rummie** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:47 am

I've done it that way myself, but find better results if i leave the heat alone after it is set, usually lower than what yours is at, about 72f.

mikeac · Post by **mikeac** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:50 am

Victory Ray, the questions you are asking are very still specific, perhaps the type of setup you are using would help people figure out an answer.

Ftero · Post by **Ftero** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:46 pm

Ha! You see, we're so lost, we don't even know the correct questions to ask!

I thought about it a moment, and came to the conclusion that I wasn't doing it so badly. My still sort of dictates where it wants to be.

In other words, I start the water running @ 60 degrees, and when the distillate started to dribble, I lower the temperature some, until I get that fast dribble/weak stream. It stays there for some time, then slowly gains temp until I cut it off. At about 90 to 92 degrees, I cut it off, cause the tails have been coming out awhile anyway. Mine's a Pot still... Your still will vary.

That is from my "immense" experience of all of 3 runs.

I gather, from what I have read, that trying to keep the temps @ 78 degrees throughout the run is a waste of time. Like Mike said though, each still is specific. Give them more info, and they'll give you pertinent guidance.

VictoryRay · Post by **VictoryRay** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:29 am

sorry about that, i should have put that info in the first post.

i use an off-set head valved reflux with a 2" x 28" column packed with 6mm raschigs(spelling??). my boiler is two stainless steel trash cans i welded top to top and the heat comes from a 1500watt hot plate i got from brewhaus.

im currently in the process or building a new boiler to have more surface area for the steam to come off of, i think that might be part of my OTHER problem.

it just seem that the temp at the top of the column tends to vary more than is should. i can have is running good for an hour and all of a sudden it wants to climb up to 85deg C so i cut the input temp back a little to bring it back down. but then again, i guess part of that could be the hot plate not being consistant heat.

Old_Blue · Post by **Old_Blue** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:24 pm

im currently in the process or building a new boiler to have more surface area for the steam to come off of

Lay the boiler you have now on its side.