Hello From Ontario, Canada

[firebg]

Just would like to say Hello and I have been doing a lot a reading here and just purchased a relfux still with all the adapters for making just about everything.I own a Brew on Premise Winery and Beer store for 6 months now and have been looking into what else I can brew up. An old man as gave me a sample of his moonshine and homemade whiskey and now here I am. Now comes the best part, practice and read and practice and more reading. Great to see all the helpful ppl on here hope to soon talk to you all. Then maybe help out others. I'll try to upload a picture of the still.
Good Luck with your brew.

[Kifi]

Welcome - good to see one more on the board from the best province in Canada!

Not the most ruthlessly efficient design I've ever seen, but hey, it's a truly unique Objet D'Art, as Ralph Furley would say! Good luck. I'm offering free tech support if you get stuck. Run your cooling water fast, and keep your heat low.

[firebg]

Thanks KiFi,

To tell you the truth I bought this over the internet cause I didn't have time to build one and the guy is from Ottawa. So I figured if this is a hoax I would being making a drive and returning it in a not very nice manner. Now that I have been doing a lot of reading Im not so sure how this is all going to work out but am sure going to like to experiment with this stuff. The condenser is not water cooled as for the instructions as it is a air cooled with a fan?? and also the worm can be cooled with a fan?? The guy that sold it to me says it works fine without water but I haven't seen much on the fourms about air cooled systems. He did also send a 6 page of instructions and how the still operates. I also bought all the adapters for making whiskeys and essential oils and tinctures. Now I guess I just have to play around with it til something comes out. Any suggestions or idea's you may have I am all ears.

[blind drunk]

Welcome to HD. Once you move to BC, you'll wonder why you ever lived in Ontario

[rad14701]

firebg, that is one very unorthodox still design you have there... It doesn't look like anything any of our regular members would be building and marketing - at least not that I am aware of... As for the air cooling, I'm a bit skeptical... Most calculations I've seen call for roughly 24 feet (8 meters) of 1/2" (13mm) coiled tubing to knock down a nominal amount of heated distillate vapor... Is that condenser section inside the copper coil water cooled or does it also rely on air cooling...???

Sure would like to see more pictures of that setup...

Good luck with that thing, as well as the hobby in general... We're here to help you get things sorted...

[firebg]

Thanks Blind Drunk I'll remember that. I have been out to B.C. a few times and regularly visit Calgary, Alberta yearly.

To: Rad14701 I was thinking the same thing as I was doing a lot of reading on here. He ( the builder of the still ) has them on sale on ebay Item Number:200634625790 and his ebay sellers name is zedninezero. Now I read over the items and ppl's comments and they seem all well. He worked in a distiller and seems to know how there all built and uses a lot on information from this and parent sites. Now about the condenser I read through the instructions and there is no where that says anything about water now I have looked into the condenser and it's hollow except the one 1/4" tube line. I haven't started with anything yet as everyone on this forum says read,read and read which I'm doing but the more I read the feeling of this thing working is lessening. I ordered a spirit hydrometer which should help me figure out if this thing is going to work. I'll try to send more pics Wednesday if there's anything you would like a close up or would like some sizes of material.
Again thanks guys for all responds. I belong to a few fourms for my other hobbies and I think there the best. I will be supporting this website shortly as well. I feel that nothing should be free when your getting all this greatly useful information from all of you.
Cheers.

[rad14701]

PLEASE don't consider running that still...!!!

I've just visited that eBay page and the seller knows just enough to be very dangerous... Not only does he not know much of anything about stills but also doesn't know the liquor laws... That mild steel bucket is not suited for use as a boiler... Unfortunately, you've pissed away $270 if that's what you paid... Write it off as a lesson learned...

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

EDIT: I see now that you only paid $225 too much for the still, not $270... Plus shipping, no doubt...

[firebg]

Thanks Rad14701 for checking this out for me. I don't know if I can send it back or maybe I could use some of the parts.I was wondering about that boiler too. I thought with all the comments on ebay that his equipment was functional.
I should of done more reading I guess. I was going to start using it Thursday too.

[rad14701]

Thanks Rad14701 for checking this out for me. I don't know if I can send it back or maybe I could use some of the parts.I was wondering about that boiler too. I thought with all the comments on ebay that his equipment was functional.
I should of done more reading I guess. I was going to start using it Thursday too.

That guy has quite a line of bullshit... For those who haven't taken the time to look this guy up on eBay I have included an excerpt from the description that he has used for more than a few of his creations... He makes it sound like these are one-off's but he appears to have a prolific still selling history which goes beyond the twelve or so that he claims to have built... You would expect the quality to improve if he really knew what he was doing...

Yes, firebg, you can probably salvage most of the copper for other projects... As for the "boiler", pop the top and use it as a trash bucket...

<= SNIP =>
It looks cheap you say?

I'm not so sure. Certainly I am not a professional photographer, so my still is not all glamorous and shot with a soft lens like some others. You can see how it was built. Fortunately I AM a professional solderer - I also build solar panels. This still is bomb proof and you will come to love it.

Hey, why not go to the store and price out a steel stockpot for your boiler and a matching 2 quart pot for your condenser. Then get back in your car and keep the $400 for your rent. I spend hours taking notes in hardware stores in order to keep the price as low as possible.



Warranty?

The design is fully tested out, I know it works. There is some assembly required and a bit of reading. I suppose if I built it wrong or there is a loose solder I’ll walk you through fixing it, if that doesn't ship it back to me (your cost), and I'll fix it and send it back to you at my cost. I include a little silver solder so you don't need to buy a full roll.



Legalities?

I hope not. A birdie told me that in the US, it is legal to buy an alcohol still; but it is illegal to use a still to distill alcohol without the proper licenses and permits. Mostly you can hobby distill all you want as long as you don't try and sell the alcohol. Buyer assumes all responsibilities for following all federal and local laws and for obtaining all of the necessary licenses and permits. Buyers in foreign countries also assume all responsibility for following the laws of his or her country. Appropriate sales taxes will be collected.

<= SNIP =>

I'm not seeing signs of this guy being a professional solderer... If he is then why the need to send along some spare solder...??? A professional con man, perhaps...

Not much of a warranty for a supposed professional...

Let's no even get into the issue of his perception of legalities...

[firebg]

Again Rad14701 thanks, I sent him a email now I'll see what he has to say. I guess I'll be looking for one on here or build one. I just don't have a lot of time. Any suggestions I would like to make whiskeys, vodka and rums.
Thanks,
Firebg

[rad14701]

Again Rad14701 thanks, I sent him a email now I'll see what he has to say. I guess I'll be looking for one on here or build one. I just don't have a lot of time. Any suggestions I would like to make whiskeys, vodka and rums.
Thanks,
Firebg

Good luck in getting any resolution for the seller...

As for the right still, for whiskey and rum you are better off using a pot still and for vodka you will either need to do multiple passes through a pot still or, preferably, a reflux column... Some here, including myself, run combination stills while others have separate heads that they mount on a common boiler... There are plenty of well documented designs here in the forums that may spark some ideas on how to utilize your existing copper which, unfortunately, I think you're stuck with... I can envision several ways to modify what you have into something that works...

[Bushman]

First off welcome to the forum, Rad did a lot of research for you as many here are concerned with the safety of this hobby. Good luck and don't let one bad experience keep you from persuing this great hobby.

[firebg]

Thanks Bushman, I won't let this experience hinder my hobby. Its great to know that someone you don't even know is looking out for you and on there time doing research for your safety. (Thanks Rad14701). I haven't heard back from seller as of yet but him living so close to me having all his information I hope he takes it back for a full refund. If he did his homework he knows I'm the guy you don't want upset or cross. Now on to better things which new still should I be looking at. LOL!!

[LWTCS]

Hi Firebg.

Man,,,,,,so sorry you got wrangled into that contraption

All the time in the world to make good decisions about moving forward with this hobby.

Choose your first still design based on the likker you prefer to mostly drink..

Read on.

[Kifi]

Here are some good stills to look at buying for your replacement. While my deep respect goes out to those who build, I firmly believe that when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping - for stills.

My first still was this one: http://www.milehidistilling.com/30lt-di ... /16032.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow The all in one kit with still, hot plate, fermentation bucket, packing, etc. It's good for Vodka, Rum, Whiskey, it's easy to use and clean, and it's indestructable. You won't be unhappy with this purchase.

www.coppermoonshinestills.com - I bought the 20 gallon Scottish Whiskey still with Ozark head and VM column. More expensive, but it's your chance to own a still handcrafted by the hands that made the stills in the Dukes of Hazzard movie. That would make you two degrees of separation away from Jessica Simpson, which is never a bad thing. You'll have to wait 9 months for delivery, and the designs arent' perfectly efficient, but I wouldn't trade these for anything. Copper porn at its best. Copper is a pain in the ass to clean and you have to be careful not to dent it, but is it ever purdy.

http://stainlessstuff.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow Manu DeHanoi, who is on this site alot, makes good stuff and has good prices, as far as I can tell. Made in vietnam. Manu has got some compelling theories on still design.

www.home-distilling.com My favorite still (column, really) is the Amphora Society's PDA-1, and the best part is you can buy it from Ottawa native Ian Smiley at www.home-distilling.com. 95%+ vodka, whiskey, rum - and it's fast too. Get the extenstion as well for ultra pure vodka, and mount it on one of Mile Hi's pots, or on an empty beer keg, then use a hot plate or a propane burner for heat. Mile Hi has a video on how to get the keg ready for mounting. And it comes apart and fits nicely in a violin case. Very Goodfellas.

Good luck!

Kifi

[rad14701]

We also have many proven designs here in these forums, some with detailed build documentation if needed, to choose from if you want to enjoy the satisfaction of building your own still... And we several members, perhaps even in your general geographic area, who may be interested in helping you out with equipment, either new or used...

[firebg]

Just for the shit of it I ran some rubbing alcohol through the " so called reflux still" then decided to run a batch of home made beer through it. I had a pin hole in in the condenser lines, fixed that! I had a lot of trouble trying to keep the sweet spot on the temperature gauge @ or around 78 C. I was using a deep fried turkey fryer with propane. I guess I can't get it to slowing heat up at a slower pace. Anyways I might try a single burner hot plate 1000W. I did the old burn it on the spoon trick and it was burning blue a clear which surprized me. I didn't taste it nor get my close friend to try it either. We just dumped it down the drain. I'm still looking to build a pot still aways as I love the whiskies. Just a little update.

[rad14701]

It is not wise to run denatured alcohol through a still intended for use in distilling potable spirits... The same goes for any non-potable (read poisonous) constituents...

[firebg]

Thanks Rad, I thought I would follow the builders instructions as to how to do a pre run and clean of the still. This guy still seems that his still works if I just follow the instructions. But as you know it didn't.

[mash rookie]

Welcome aboard! If you want to buy, Listen to what your fellow canuck has to say. ( did I spell that right? ) Kifi knows his stills.
He probably owns more models then most members here.
If you want to build, start reading. Figure out what you want to build. There a bunch of us that will help there. Really fun hobby.
MR

BD, If I had known you were north of me and a BC guy I would give you more crap.

MR

[firebg]

Hello friends

I wasn"t sure if I told you guys that a 80 yr old man was the one that got me hooked on this hobby but anyways he invites me out to his"still on the hill" has he called it and he let me watch him make his mash. 3 weeks later he gets ahold of me and says to show up at the still on the hill and he'll teach me the way that he has been doing it for almost 40 yrs. WOW!! Such a simple still!! what was I thinking !! going with a boughten one. Shit like you all said.. its easy to build one and hve it work. Anyways I now have 4 oz shy of 300 oz of 100 proof, or 45% bottled up. Now do some reading on what to do next. best thing is he says I can come over and use it anytime but I really think I'll build my own as I can see some changes to his after reading on here that I would like to make. To all newbie that read this there is no reason to buy. Just build. Ha Ha would make a good T shirt with a pic of a old still on it. Thanks again guys for the comments and hope to have pics of the still on the hill and maybe the new approved one shortly.