My first two stills

[Uncle Jemima]

This was the still me and a couple of buddies built with a 32qt turkey fryer/SS stock pot. Worm condenser in a igloo cooler. Not bad for a starter still to Lear on. Didn't like that it was at my buddy's house and he was less enthusiastic than me so I didn't get to use it as much as I wanted. Naturally, like most on here, I had to build another still.

This is the easy flange I built with help from the stickied thread on the subject. Used a 2" OD x 1" ID reducer then wrapped ground wire (6ag I believe) tightly around the base held in place with a hose clamp then soldered.

Not pretty but it holds and doesn't leak with a little bit of flour paste.

1" column about a foot long not counting reducers and fittings. Reduced to 1/2" for my flex tube Lynn(probably spelled wrong) arm.

Coil condenser. Foam was just to help stabilize it while the JB weld settled. Then used caulk on the inside to seal the JB weld. It was mainly structural to help hold the coil in place and prevent flexing or moving. Obviously neither the JB weld or caulk ever come in contact with my product.

My garage is a mess. Had a new baby in December. Between rearranging and moving stuff around for Christmas my gym became a catch all. But there's the full rig minus my igloo cooler set up to feed ice water to the bottom of my worm bucket.

[Uncle Jemima]

My igloo cooler to feed worm bucket with cold water from bottom. Also used to connect to my mash tun. The other igloo has a SS braided hose filter at the bottom. This one feeds the sprinkler tube in the lid of that one. So dual purpose.

First steaming water/vinegar cleaning run and a pretty good shot of the mess my garage has become. Don't judge me.

[UtahViking]

Thats nice! I have been looking all over for some coolers like that. I dont want to.buy new ones and having a hell.of a time finding used ones.

Does gravity feeding the water from the bottom like that work pretty well?

[Uncle Jemima]

Yeah. I like the set up. Keeps ice water separate from the coil so I don't go through too much ice. With the valve I can shut it off and turn it on. It feeds the colder water from the bottom where you want it and I can just scoop the hot water off the top and discard it. I like it since I don't need an outlet for a pump so it opens up the places I can use it. I just keep one jug of cool water to add to the ice and an empty jug to scoop the hot water into.

Thanks for commenting. I was starting to wonder if people had a problem with worm condensers and messy garages.

[UtahViking]

Lol trust me my shed is small and messy too.

I was considering a similar setup for my coil if you wouldn't mind could I talk you into some more detailed pics of your condenser setup? I would really like to see the whole thing and would really appreciate it.

[Uncle Jemima]

No problem. Not sure if I have any more pics and I'm on crutches right now. Knee surgery this past Monday.

It's basically 10' of half inch flex copper. I used a 32 qt stainless steel stock pot (turkey fryer). Drilled a hole in the top and bottom just to help secure it. If you just run it out of the top without going through the side wall, the only physical connection is on the bottom end and it will easily move and crack your seal at the bottom.

I used a two part epoxy similar to JB Weld to hold it in place once it was run through the top and bottom. Once that dried I used caulk on the inside to keep my cooling water from leaking. As I said before. This never comes in contact with the product.

I then drilled an extra hole for my drain/fill cork at the bottom. The hole was drilled kind of rough so I used more of the epoxy around it. I then got a rubber stopper from a local brew store that has a hollow center that I run my fill hose through. I figured it would leak a little but it actually holds really well.

The good thing is that I can also just put a cork in it and use it like my first still. Just seemed like I was constantly scooping out steaming water and pouring cool water in from the top. Just wasn't very efficient. The ice I would start the run with never lasted very long either since it was in direct contact with the coil.

With this method I don't even need ice on a quick stripping run. I only use it for the longer spirit runs now.

You just have to be sure the cooler is higher than your worm bucket obviously for gravity's sake. The cooler is nice but you could do it the same way using a bucket instead just so long as you have a valve. Otherwise you'll be constantly draining the worm bucket or you'll overflow. I was lucky in that I already had the cooler as part of my mash sparge tun set up.

I'll try and get more pictures the next time I limp out there but it's not pretty up close. Looks like a dirt dauber nest.

Hope the description helped some.

[UtahViking]

That helped a lot. I had thought of something similar but its nice to get some clarification.

Dont push yourself on pics. I get the general idea and wouldn't want you to hurt yourself.

Get well and take care of yourself and thanks again.

[Richard7]

Uncle Jemima, You could drill ya a hole near the top of your worm bucket and hook up a drain hose. That would save ya from doing all that scooping. I like your keg set up and there ain't nothing wrong with storing stuff in the garage!

[Uncle Jemima]

Good idea Richard. Then all I'd have to do is open and close my valve from the cooler. It's funny how easy it is to miss the most obvious stuff sometimes.

[UtahViking]

I thought of that to and just have the drain hose run out the shed and water the flowers lol

[Dave73]

Yea mine waters the garden in the summer, and this year had a small ice rink goin when it was colder out. LOL