Myles Pot Still

[myles]

I put up the diagram for this in another post, so I thought you might like to see the build. When finished this will be available for sale and will be put in the classified, unless someone contacts me first.

My interpretation of a basic pot still for keg use.

And a section of coil to act as a coolant baffle in the jacket.

Partially cleaned

Pre-condenser

Decided to make the condenser core about 26"

And the refill port, just remove the compression blanking nut for use.

[myles]

Compression fitting for attaching the condenser.

I now tap a threaded hole for the fittings. The 10 mm compression for the thermo port and the 10 mm compression coolant connectors are threaded in and then soldered in place.

[Samohon]

Nice clean build as always Myles.

Some lucky member is gonna be well pleased sippin on the output....

[Bushman]

How does that size refill port work, from the picture it appears small?

[mash rookie]

Pre condenser Myles? Why two condensers? Extra one for fast stripping? Use just one for slow spirit runs? What is the extra fitting on top for?
Nobody is building anything ATM. Thanks for the copper pics.
Good to see you friend.

[myles]

Bushman the refill port is 1", big enough to accept a funnel spout, or you can put a connector on it and pump refill. I used to move liquid around with air pressure from a basic manual foot pump tyre inflater.

MR the pre condenser is just so you can use a smaller condenser. You need that bit of tube anyway to bridge between the top of the riser and the condenser, or the condenser will be too close to the riser for comfort. Might as well use it for partial cooling, as it is after the high point in the vapour path.

The extra top fitting is there in case folks want to use a thermo port, but can be blanked off. I use it for 2 very specific uses only on the pot still.

1. To indicate by vapour temperature when most of the heads are gone, so I can put in a parrot, or close the parrot by-pass valve. This is just to protect the parrot from the stinky early heads.

2. On a strip run to determine when to switch off the power.

There are alternative ways to do both of these, but vapour temperature is as convenient a guide as any of the other methods.

Default settings on the condenser calculator indicate that:

The 6" x 1.4" pre-condenser is good for about 800 W
Total planned condenser capacity is about 3.6 kW with a 26" concentric liebig condenser fitted. If you need more thermal capacity than that, I would switch over to a 2" x 24" shotgun with 4 or 5 of 1/2" cores.

[myles]

I rebuilt the condenser so the core is now a 25" 15 mm inside 22 mm liebig.

This gives you a 25" 15 mm liebig and a 25" 22 mm cold finger inside the same condenser. It does mean that it is slightly longer than the riser.

If your keg is on a stand or burner then you could use it vertically if you wished, as there is sufficient clearance. However, I expect it would be used like this:

Coolant connectors are all 10 mm tube as that is the bore on flexible stainless braided hoses and many appliance hoses, such as those used on washing machines and dishwashers. I will add the coolant fittings to suit the wishes of the new owner.

[Bushman]

Very professional looking with more additional features than you normally see in a pot still, picture size was deceptive on the fill port thanks for clarifying.

[Boda Getta]

Great looking piece of "Copper Porn" but I have a question about the refill port. Is that used to pour fresh wash in the boiler after a run? I have never thought about adding fresh wash on top of the back-set from the previous run; I always dump the back-set and start fresh with a full (actually 75% boiler size) charge of wash. Is there any advantage to this, except the convenience factor?

BG

[Jimbo]

You do some beautiful work sir.

[mash rookie]

Great looking piece of "Copper Porn" but I have a question about the refill port. Is that used to pour fresh wash in the boiler after a run? I have never thought about adding fresh wash on top of the back-set from the previous run; I always dump the back-set and start fresh with a full (actually 75% boiler size) charge of wash. Is there any advantage to this, except the convenience factor?

BG

With a drain on his boiler he can do several stripping runs before having to break down his equipment. He could easily use it to fill with rinse water and not need to break down at all.

[myles]

Spot on MR. I have the luxury of bolting equipment to the wall so it is semi permanent. Drain the boiler and refill for the next run without disturbing any of the seals. Every now and then fill with water and do a steam clean of everything.

[Boda Getta]

Ah, a drain on the boiler! Drain, recharge and run again. I like it.

BG

[shadylane]

Ah, a drain on the boiler! Drain, recharge and run again. I like it.

BG

The ability to drain and recharge a pot with out disassembly is not only a convenience but it's also a safety factor, it eliminates the need to dump gallons of hot spent mash out of your pot. Just open the valve and let it flow out. It also makes it easier to use the pot for a water heater.

[chrisc69]

the drain and refill sounds great and some nice copper porn you have their you do brilliant work sir i can only hope to come close to this standard of finished work