setting up a thermometer in a pot still safely

[Rollingmenace]

Ok im new to this and have been doing a ton of reading... everybody has there own opinion on weather or not to use a thermometer in a pot still... well regardless i have decided that i want to set my first still up with a thermometer.. ive seen tons of posts on people with the thermometers in there stills .. but none of them really outlined how they did this .. ive looked at several options and want some recommendations and instruction on how this can be accomplished in a safe manor..
if it matters im setting up a 20qt stock pot with a 1/12inch colum to either a 1/12 inch 90deg lyne arm tapering to 3/4 or putting a 1/12 to 3/4 T and running off that and for now a 1/2 worm Thanks Z

[blanikdog]

What are the options that you have seen? What type of thermometer are you going to use? How do you intend using said thermometer?
If you think it will be of any value - other than eye candy - it's best located in the vapour trail somewhere, eg, kettle, lyne arm.

Good luck and stay safe

[Rollingmenace]

ive seen everything imaginable from rubber stopper to a brew pot style with threads and two rubber gaskets .. ive seen several on this site with thermometers but no explanation on how they went about putting them in and sealing them.. i even looking into a unit intended for a comercial dish machine it has a stainless bulb and line and is pipe thread with small ferrule id basicly have to have some sort of bung with a female pipe thread..its just an option... i plan on using thermometer to moniter vapor temps just to give me a basic idea on what my still is doing and untill i can rely on my senses and experience and at that point it will be just as you said eye candy... im aware that it should be in the vapor trail im thinking using a coppet T to build the lye arm and either putting it girectly in the top of the capped T or somewhere near the top of the riser...

[rtalbigr]

Obviously you've done some reading but really a thermometer in a pot still will not help you at all. Pot stillin' "is" about your senses and that how you should learn. Actually a parrot would be more useful. That being said cork is probably your best bet since rubber, silicone, etc are not acceptable. I know, there are places that sell bung rubber and rubber grommets and silicone grommets for installing thermos but it's not a good idea to use them.

In the reading lounge there a great thread on making cuts. That will do you far more to learning this craft than a thermometer.

Big R

[Samohon]

Have to agree with the guy's here Rollingmenace... I had a thermometer on my Pot Still for months, it was nice eye candy, but thats all it was...
I ended up taking it off permanently and soldering up the port...

Smell, taste, feel and look... Thats all you need for a pot still, master that and you'll get a nice drop of shine...

Like Blanikdog says, if you must have one, place it in the vapour path, but If like me, you'll hardly ever refer to it....

To keep you safe, I shaped a piece of oak to a taper, drilled a hole through the oak for the probe and wrapped the whole wooden dowel with PTFE (teflon) tape...
Pushed it into the hole inline with the vapour path, it stayed there with no problems until I tired of it...

Good luck, have fun and stay safe...

[TexasReflux]

I bought my still, and it came pre-drilled at the top of the column for a thermometer. Column is about 2 foot tall.

The hole was not much larger then the thermometer, but large enough to let vapor escape. I use flour paste before I heat up, and have never had a problem. I just put it on the probe, and insert it in the hole. It sort of bunches up and then sets nice and hard when it gets hot.

But, when I make a column for myself, there will be not hole. Seriously, not missing much a parrot wont tell you, and plus it's just another hole you have to deal with.

[myles]

I use a thermometer on a strip run as as 1 way to decide when to turn off the power. Measure the vapour temperature in the headspace. A compression fitting with ptfe tape wrapped round the temp probe works for me.

If you want to be 100% safe make a thermowell. Use a length of thin wall copper tube that is just big enough to take your thermocople. Close and solder 1 end of the thin tube, and solder the tube into your still where you want. There might be a slight time lag, but it should be minimal.

[maheel]

If you want to be 100% safe make a thermowell. Use a length of thin wall copper tube that is just big enough to take your thermocople. Close and solder 1 end of the thin tube, and solder the tube into your still where you want. There might be a slight time lag, but it should be minimal.

this is what i did, dead easy if the still is copper.

you still gotta make your cuts if your pot stilling but if stripping i just like having it in there for interest sake.

[Bayou-Ruler]

I used to have a thermometer on my pot still head...................... until I learned better. All you need is a good Proofing Parrot, a alcoholmeter, your taste buds and ya nose. Don't matter rather you are stripping or doing spirit run, that's all you really need.

[cob]

get yourself a remote oven thermometer. lay the probe against the outside top of your column, cut an old tee shirt into strips and wind them around the probe and column, and secure with zip ties or something. this will give you an idea of temperature changes or stability. exact temperature is irrelevent. just changes or stability. once you discover you don't need a thermometer, you can remove it and not have a hole to fix in an otherwise perfectly good pot still. cob

[Rollingmenace]

thanks for the replies fellas.. it seems you all are talking me out of it lol... im going to grab the rest of the material at work tomorrow to start still construction... and im gonna start my first sweet feed ferment as well!!!