My "Junk Yard Dog" Still

[sltm1]

This is a 5gal ss milk can (ebay), an appropriate ss pot lid (thrift store), 1.5" 2 piece spliced column (junk yard....hence the name). The black rectangles on the pot and column top are paint, to eliminate glare readings using a laser thermometer (you have to be within a couple of inches for the reading to be correct). The dial guage is my fail safe. Column has 12 copper "Chore Boy's" squished in it for my reflux. The lid and pot are sealed by a silicone pressure cooker seal and the lid is a mallet strike "jam fit". TA-DA, LOL.

[Prairiepiss]

Nice looking still. Neat milk can.

The silicone isn't good. And would be covered by rule number 8. In the rules we live by.

And its a pot still. Scrubbers and thermometers won't help you.

[heartcut]

What PP said. Even though boiler temperature won't help you run a potstill, I take note of the boiler temperature right when the vapor starts flowing to check the abv of the wash. Teflon tape will seal your stuff and it is a nice looking rig. Good luck.

[sltm1]

OK, un- confuse me someone....Here are descriptions of both a pot still and a reflux still as written on the "Home Distillation of Aclohcol" sight, so why are you calling mine a pot still instead of a reflux still ?
POT STILL
A POT still simply collects and condenses the alcohol vapours that come off the boiling mash. This will result in an alcohol at about 40-60% purity, with plenty of flavour in it. If this distillate were put through the pot still again, it would increase in purity to around 70-85% purity, and lose a bit of its flavour.
Reflux Still
A REFLUX still does these multiple distillations in one single go, by having some packing in a column between the condensor & the pot, and allowing some of the vapour to condense and trickle back down through the packing. This "reflux" of liquid helps clean the rising vapour and increase the % purity. The taller the packed column, and the more reflux liquid, the purer the product will be. The advantage of doing this is that it will result in a clean vodka, with little flavour to it - ideal for mixing with flavours etc.

[heartcut]

Didn't see a reflux condensor- maybe I missed it? The scrubbies won't do much without some sort of active reflux.

[sltm1]

Heartcut, maybe I'm missin' something. Isn't the "condenser" the water sleeve that surrounds the down tube? That's what I have on mine (see the inlet and outlet ports?).

[ChairLawyer]

No. Before your vapor gets to that condenser, At the top of the column there will be another condenser. It will condense your product and force it back down the column through the packing. Its just like acid reflux I get after I eat tacos, the heartburn comes up and then back down. In the column it will help separate different parts of the vapor, so you get the best stuff you can.

[ChefSteve]

Yes to what everybody else said .....but is there a union in your colum and at the top is that cap sweated.......well if only the union was sweated at the bottom you could add another piece like you have from the cap down and have a coil in that to make it into a reflux. You would have to split the water feed and return lines though.... Read up on the Boka design...research research. is a plus in this craft.....carry on.

[sltm1]

Finally got it, ChefSteve, thanks for the tip on reading about the Boka still. Basically what I've got is a pot still with a built in worm. So that being the case, bear with me now, if I wanted to do refux distilling with my existing gear, the best of both worlds, I would not use the present condenser. But, I would build a thumper connected to the column by the existing tubing, ( making it removable so that I could go back to the original configuration as a pure pot still) and then have a condenser on the run off tube...correct? And it would look somewhat like what I drew. I just noticed my lead pipe to the thumper in the pic wasn't under the surface of the liquid, but it would be.

[bowhunt76]

no.....you need the reflux condenser mounted top of the column ...reflux condenser must be efficient enough to condense 100% of vapor before it goes to product condenser (which would be your worm or leibig or shotgun or graham condenser) ..go research different still designs

look at the link in my signature see the water connections at the top of the column feeding the double helix coil at the top this is one style of a reflux condenser.

ill even point you in the right direction

column design http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=17


pot design http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=16

[Prairiepiss]

A pot still with a thumper. Is just that a pot still with a thumper. Not really a reflux still. It's a pot still that you will get what many call a 1.5 run. Or like running a pot still 1.5 times.

The parent site is full of some old information. A pot still that has Scrubbers in it. Won't reflux enough to make that big a difference. Once the packing gets up to temp. There will be no reflux.

A true reflux still. Will have a condenser above the column. That sends the reflux back down true packing. So it can reflux. There are three main types. LM (liquid management) VM (vapor management) and cm (cooling management). You can learn about them by reading the 2 or 3 threads explaining the differences in them. That can be found in the must read new distiller reading lounge.

[sltm1]

Thanks for all the info guy's. I'm getting between 130 and 120 proof (in the heart, I pull tails down to 90), out of this little pot and I think I'll do the thumper for the heck of it in the future just cause I can. I now understand the reflux technology and if I get bored with the taste of what I make now and get into flavoring I believe I'll do a Boka. Again in case you missed ny 1st post, I'm a greenhorn in this art, although liquor has been my "drug of choise" for the last 50 some-odd years (I'm 64). Thanx again.

[Prairiepiss]

Run it multiple times. If you want higher proof. Dilute it down to 40% or lower. And run it again. For a vodka. Run it 3 or 4 times. It's much easier to strip 3 or 4 washes. Then combine them and do a spirit run.

[sltm1]

Back to my silicone gasket. Would it be off the "black list" if I wrapped it in PTFE tape, much like the cardboard wrapped gasket discussed here in another post as long as there is plenty of overlap on my wraps?

[ChairLawyer]

Wrapping silicone with teflon seems overkill. And I certainly am no chemist, but you are now intentionally combining two synthetic substances, to bring to high heat in a high alcohol environment. If you can change them all out to a flour paste that's best, or at a minimum, just the teflon tape. Ebay even has flexible 'teflon rods' in various lengths and thickness. You can cut to fit your needs. Be safe!

[sltm1]

Still a novice somewhat, at least capable of making novice mistakes. Broke one hydrometer and almost a second, so I decided it needed some "armor plating". Here's my "Junk Yard Parrot", got more solders in it than a motherboard!! Runnin out of junk, next project I'm gonna have to buy some new copper for sure.

[shadylane]

Keep working at it sltm1 you'll do fine.

[ChairLawyer]

Sweet parrot! 10x prettier than my piece o' crap!