Dos and don't

[Tater]

Ok guys anyone interested in starting a do and don't list for distilling ?

[minime]

Ok guys anyone interested in starting a do and don't list for distilling ?

1. Do stay sober while running your still. (Doesn't mean you shouldn't be taste testing)

[HookLine]

Don't get greedy.

[libertyesq]

Don't leave your still unattended.

[pintoshine]

Don't tolerate any sort of vapor leak in your still. The results can be explosive. This includes vapor bypassing the condenser.

Don't collect spirit too close to an open flame.

Don't collect in wide mouth open containers, unless the opening is restricted with a funnel.

Don't talk about your operation among friends of friends unless you have known them to be closed mouthed for years.

Don't give clean, high proof alcohol away to friends uncut. This results in foolish, drunken binges. They don't know the effects smooth, easy to drink high proof can have on the uninitiated. I have video of such recklessness.

Don't make more than you need. Storage can be dangerous in lots of ways.

Do enjoy a snort once in a while as a reward for a job well done.

Do be adventurous and willing to fail once in a while. You learn so much more from trying and failing and besides it gives your more problems to solve.

Do take advantage of every opportunity for free fruit and berries, or any other fermentable sugar stock. You would be surprised how well some of these chance offerings can turn out.

Do have fun with your hobby. If it isn't fun then what's the point.

Do try to make friends and do not intentionally try to piss people off even when you think you are right(My bad habit, I am aware it exists yet I continue anyway)

[BW Redneck]

Do read and search the forums and the home site before posting or buying anything.

Don't be disappointed by a failure. Find where something might have gone wrong and try again. Reuse any mistakes by redistilling.

Don't believe anything brewshop owners tell you about making spirits. They are only out to get your money.

Don't use plastic, plumber's sealant, silicone, or anything resembling them in a vapor or spirit path unless you like cloudy, off-tasting, cancer causing booze.

Do be friends with your local junkyard and plumbing supply dealers, as well as farmers, feed mill owners, and brewshop owners.

Don't buy anything from shady online dealers without searching the forums first.

Do hide your stuff from neighbors. They can turn you in if they have some reason to hate you.

Do put your collection jar within a small stock pot or similar container. If it overflows, you can at least catch what overflowed and redistill it.

Do tell us if you've found something interesting, but look it up first.

And, most importantly, HAVE FUN!

[drumkiller]

Don't collect in wide mouth open containers, unless the opening is restricted with a funnel.

May i ask why not? I only ask because i do collect in wide mouth open containers and am curious if there is an inherent danger that i am missing.
Thanks
DK

[trthskr4]

Probably too much opening to allow vapors to escape from the jar.

[pintoshine]

It has been my experience, that is you have a wide mouth jar and it catches fire, it will break its container quite quickly spreading flaming liquid everywhere. Yes I have done this.
A very narrow mouth jar or one with a funnel sitting it the top, or even a wine or beer bottle, won't allow enough air in to continue to burn. It might pop from the initial combustion but immediately goes out. That's why.

[blanikdog]

It has been my experience, that is you have a wide mouth jar and it catches fire, it will break its container quite quickly spreading flaming liquid everywhere. Yes I have done this.
A very narrow mouth jar or one with a funnel sitting it the top, or even a wine or beer bottle, won't allow enough air in to continue to burn. It might pop from the initial combustion but immediately goes out. That's why.

Excellent advice, Pinto. I'll change my collection method immediately.

[drumkiller]

thank you very much pintoshine, that makes a lot of sense. I think i'll use a stainless funnel from now on.

[tracker0945]

Do not have your still or collected spirits between you and the door.
If things catch fire you want to be able to make a fast safe exit without jumping through the 'ring of fire'
A fire extinguisher is also a must have (by the door).

Cheers.

[HookLine]

A fire extinguisher is also a must have (by the door).

Or a charged hose.

[BW Redneck]

I use a 12 oz. plastic coke bottle for my foreshots (I won't drink it anyway, so what's the point?), and I tossed some on a fire I thought had gone out. Well, it hadn't. What I tossed on burst into flame, then I heard a kind of fluttering sound that sounds like what you get when you make an improvised flute out of a soda bottle. The vapors that were inside the bottle ignited, but there was very little oxygen in the bottle, so it didn't explode. If I had used a wide mouthed jar, it would have exploded in my hand.

I quit tossing foreshots on live fires after that.

[Fourway]

Do not ever heat an uncooled still. If the fire is on cooling needs to be on.

If you use thermometers anywhere in your rig do not rely on them to tell you what's happening, Trust your senses of taste, smell, sight, touch and hearing to tell you what's happening.

If you are running somewhere too civilized to take a piss on the ground or in a jar without taking your eyes off the still, it's too civilized to be running a still.

Make yourself a sandwich or two before you fire it up, don't eat anything with strong flavors or smells, you want your senses of taste and smell at their best.

Don't play music or listen to headphones. you need to listen to the rig.

If for any reason you are forced to interrupt diligently watching the still every second and you do not have a second who also knows these rules, shut 'er down. Absolutely no exceptions. And when you kill a run halfway through so that you can walk away... even if it's just started or almost done, kill or douse your heat source and leave your cooling up till your kettle is cold.

Taste often but swallow as little as possible, your sense of taste and smell will only stay useful to you as long as you aren't buzzed.

Clean up and square away your stuff as soon as everything is cool enough to handle.

Choose your helpers very very carefully.

[Husker]

A fire extinguisher is also a must have (by the door).

Or a charged hose.

A charged hose (if you are doing this where there is pressurized water, is the best fire hazard managment tool for ethanol. Dousing an ethanol fire with water will almost put it out every time. The ethanol soaks up the water, and the ABV drops to a point it does not hold an ignition. Also, a squirt o on the boiler/column will shut down the vapor flow for a very short time.

I am not saying that you should not have a fire extinguisher handy (you should, and I have 2, one at each door), but that a charged hose is actually more useful in the (God forbid) chance that a fire happens.

One of the more dangerous times, is moving a glass jug/jar of high proof (or heads). If that shatters or is dropped (or is tripped and kicked over), and there is flame near by, you damn well better hope you have a charged hose near by.

H.

[Barney Fife]

Has anyone had, or known of, an incident with an internal element, electric boiler(keg or otherwise)?

I'm all about safety, and every issue seems to stem from t open flame danger, of course, but is there an inherent risk with an internal element still that may not be so apparent/obvious?

BTW, I have 4 ext. and a charged hose nearby also. And yes, the still is in the opposite corner of two doors.

[HookLine]

Also, a squirt o on the boiler/column will shut down the vapor flow for a very short time.

Good tip.

I am not saying that you should not have a fire extinguisher handy (you should, and I have 2, one at each door), but that a charged hose is actually more useful in the (God forbid) chance that a fire happens.

I actually have two charged hoses, one at each door, plus 3-4 buckets of water sitting around the place.

[Ricky]

i know it has been said but i will say it again. DON'T BE GREEDY! almost everybody that you read about in the news was selling. there greed for the money was their major down fall. the name is "HOME DISTILLER". NOT "LETS MAKE A BUCK'!

[Centimeter]

“Has anyone had, or known of, an incident with an internal element, electric boiler(keg or otherwise)?”

Not that I have heard of. The chance of a fire caused by the element is very small due to the deficiency of oxygen in the boiler. However, you must keep in mind that any still is capable of emitting ethanol vapors which can be ignited by both flames AND static sparks.

Two safe guards that I think ought to be followed with internal elements would be:

1) Ground your boiler so that if the element gets exposed and melts it instantly trips the circuit.
2) Make sure your electrodes are well covered so as to prevent water/ethanol from shorting it from a spill.

Don’t age large volumes of alcohol until you are sure of the ageing method as you will most likely ruin many hours of hard work.

[blanikdog]

I read this in Bill Owens' American Distiller site. It concerned the dangers involved using glass carboys.

... The distillery burned because the distiller used water to wash the spirits off the floor.
When water is added to "pure alcohol" it will flash and burn. (I'm sure a chemist can explain this) ...

Maybe a charged hose can be a serious problem in the awful case of fire.

[Fourway]

I read this in Bill Owens' American Distiller site. It concerned the dangers involved using glass carboys.

... The distillery burned because the distiller used water to wash the spirits off the floor.
When water is added to "pure alcohol" it will flash and burn. (I'm sure a chemist can explain this) ...

Maybe a charged hose can be a serious problem in the awful case of fire.

I am nearly certain that this is utter and complete horseshit but I suppose I could be wrong.
I was actually wrong once before.
In 1977 it was, I thought for a moment that I was wrong but it turned out that I was actually right... so I was wrong about being wrong.
if I'm wrong about this it would make it twice.

[Dnderhead]

I agree with Fourway I knocked one down with water, and that's why it is a preferred fuel on boats.

Came back to add high prof in glass would not be good in a fire I thank it would crack adding to the fuel to the fire

[EuroStiller]

Basically when water is added to "pure alcohol", even 40%abv ethanol a reaction DOES occur.

Technically I think it falls somewhere between Organic chemistry and Biochemistry.
If I recall correctly, the reaction is hydrolysis in organic chemistry and dehydration synthesis in Biochemistry.

You can do this test yourself. Take some 95- 96% abv ethanol and take the temperature of it with a probe or laser thermometer. Add an equal amount of water that is the same temperature. Monitor the temperature.
The temperature of the mixture will actually INCREACE slightly!

Now if you had "pure alcohol" and enough water the reaction is theoretically possible.

Or there was a spark, or some careless act happened. Who knows???

Accidents can and unfortunately do happen. We are playing with fire!! Point is, be careful! The idea for us is to keep em to a minimum. Or even better none at all!!


EuroStiller- The Doctor

[Hawke]

If water is good enough for formula one and indy racing teams, it should work for us.

Electric elements can short out and burn through, especially if you let them run dry. If you ever do run one dry, replace it before going any further. (Even if it doesn't look damaged)

[CoopsOz]

If water is good enough for formula one and indy racing teams, it should work for us.

I actually saw that on CSI Miami tonight, so it must be right!

[Dnderhead]

Id say it happened more like this, up on spilling alcohol they called the maintenance man. who was a "pot head " , while he was supposed to be cleaning he decided to light one up. if it were true they would be calling all the distilleries to take out their sprinklers.

[violentblue]

You can do this test yourself. Take some 95- 96% abv ethanol and take the temperature of it with a probe or laser thermometer. Add an equal amount of water that is the same temperature. Monitor the temperature.
The temperature of the mixture will actually INCREACE slightly!

not to be a smart ass, but its called exothermic solubility
it actually releases energy as it develops a hydrogen bond.

[Fourway]

If I had to guess how a distillery might have caused a fire by spraying water it would be that they were running into a big glass container like a carboy and their distillate was coming out way way too hot.
So they have a blazing hot jug of etoh and either some spilled and someone went to hose it down and doused the jug... or else some rocket scientist realizing that the jug was too hot to touch thought he'd cool it off with a squirt of water from the hose. In either case, the cold water could have shattered the carboy dumping extremely hot alcohol (which produces huge amounts of flammable vapor compared to cool spirit) which then could have sparked off of almost anything to get the fire going.

I'm really a little shocked that Bill Owens would publish such a clearly mangled account of events. Even if the owners of the distillery believe the story that water caused the fire... that just indicates that they are idiots and that their next distillery will probably burn down for some other scientific sounding but utterly bogus reason.

[Fourway]

I can't find the report quoted on http://www.distiller.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow, does anyone have a link?
I notice you mentioned that the warning was about using glass carboys.