Don't take safety light, disaster can strike YOU in a second

[pfshine]

This is the reason i got away from propane

[Richard7]

Scarey how fast things like that can happen. Glad your okay. I had a coolant hose come off the pump once in the bottom of my reservoir and externally everything still looked fine. My clue that something was wrong was the cloud of vapor pouring out of the top of my still head. I was fortunate it did not ignite as I use propane for heat.
Great move having the extinguisher on hand. I keep a charged hose at the door.
Thanks for sharing cause things like this help us all to remember to keep safety first.

[S-Cackalacky]

Sorry that happened to you. I can only imagine how scary that must have been. Good on you for being prepared to react to it.

Thanks for posting it though. We all here on the forum need a little reality check once in a while to keep our heads where they need to be - mainly out of our asses.

Just sayin',
S-C

[googe]

Glad it wasn't worse mate. I'm never more than 5 steps from my still when running, I like to be close so.if I hear an unusual noise from it I'm right there. This is a good example.for all of us to test things well if we are introducing new fittings ect, I've put things on my still that a hadn't fully tested in the past as well. Don't get to disheartened, we all make mistakes, we learn. I was a but slap happy when I first started but have learnt to respect it 10 fold after I had a little fire. we don't do safety well enough in this hobby imo, like you said, you could.have lost your house, that's unthinkable. Glad your ok though

[LWTCS]

Glad your Ok.
I didn't want to be a total party pooper when you first bragged on them hoses but derned if the worst didnt nearly happen,,,,,never mind a little water in side the house.
Good thing yer still quick as a cat!

[brazenheadbeer]

How close is your outlet to the burner? Can you take more pics of your still?

[woodshed]

WM, good thing you were prepared. No drinking for me is rule#1. Not while runnin.
Don't give up on the craft. Learn and move on. Think about moving to an element.
I play the guitar frequently while running the still. But I'm always lookin at it.

[Richard7]

WM is your column packed?
I also had a issue just this weekend with flooding. My takeoff valve was closed and I thought I was doing reflux but I was flooding my column. That too can be scary from pressure to push all the vapor through the liquid. If mine had of gone for a little more liquid ethanol would have been splashing out of the top of the column.
I had my packing too tight. I mentioned this mishap in this post http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 17&t=42499

[ga flatwoods]

Damn it man! sorry that happened for you. Was the cooling water turned on? Maybe you need a tin shed to work in. So glad you were on top of things promptly. Stay on point. Now you can think about it while on guard duty for the next five nights! When we see that keg again we all want to see it polished as well as your boots! Return to your postssoldier and carry on.
GA Flatwoods

[woodshed]

Leak somewhere as you alluded to. Without cooling vapors can really build up in a reflux.
Charge the still with water. Heat it up to a boil and get some steam goin. If you have them you'll find your leaks. With no cooling it may have spit out the parrot. Guessing it doesn't take much.

[drinkingdog]

Glad everything worked out. I about burnt the garage down while welding on my keg. You asked about using a hot plate and from what I have read because they cycle on and off they aren't the best. You really should put the time and money for an internal heating element. What's your house worth much less explaining what you were doing to the fire department as well as the police.

[hilbilly]

Glad you're OK and that it didn't get out of hand. Like others have said, if you're going to carry on with the hobby go to electric immersion heaters (like your hot water tank). I doubt this would have happened if the boiler was heated by internal electric elements. Cost of electricity is less than the cost of running propane too. So electric is the way to go. I ran propane for a while too because it was easier than building the electric boiler but I am sooooooo glad that I converted to electricity for many, many reasons. With propane I was always concerned about the cooling hoses hanging too close to the boiler, with the extreme heat rising around it. Not a concern with electricity. Those hoses probably melted from the heat of the burner and then the condenser quit working, which caused vapor to escape the vent hole and either the vapor caught on fire or it was spitting out the vent hole and the liquid made it's way to the burner.

Again, glad you're OK.

[Richard7]

It can actually fill and flood out?

I never thought about the fact that flooding could come out the top until it happened to me. Mine was well on it's way. By the time I noticed it, a few more minutes would have been the difference between overflow or not, glad I was watching when it happened to me.

I also heard sounds like gurgling and noticed my column "rocking more than normal"

What I experienced was enough to scare me, thinking of the overflow and the open flame underneath.

I was lucky, I did not have the fire you did, but I am sure I was not far from it!

I'm glad you were on top of things.

Safety first!

[Richard7]

So this is directly related to packing the column too tightly? I thought I packed it loose but I guess ill redo it.

It may or may not be, I was not there! What is your opinion?

[CuWhistle]

Sounds to me like you fucked up. Dodgy hoses, full reflux, washin dishes, (haven't you got a wife or two?), usin' a machine that turns out near pure shit. Read the rules and pay more attention in class.

Listen a' me boy while I'm talkin' at ya. Are you payin' attention?

Only time I had a fire was when I tried to do a hot charge. Tried to pour some +90% into the boiler while the flame was on to keep a good run goin' longer.(read your own advice about not drinkin' while your stillin' cause I was pissed that day and you don't make good decisions in that state, ever). Little blue fire started up and I just put my hand over the neck of the boiler and threw the bottle out the door. Well it was a big blue fire really, so I guess I was just plain lucky that day and consequently got the spray I deserved on this site for even mentioning it. Made that funny "whooomf" noise and I thought to myself, "oh shit". Thanks Mr PP for dishing out on me that day. I haven't tried that again. Continuous feed distillation takes a bit more than an lit flame and a top up every now and then.

A few months back I found a big scorch mark on the timber floor of the distillery after I upgraded my burner but didn't lift it off the ground or provide adequate insulation. That was another close call that I didn't even know about till a couple of weeks after the event.

Oh so lucky yet again.

This is why the gurus tell us newbies to beware of the danger. I'm still counting my luck so far.

[Maritimer]

Oh man, that's my worst nightmare. Here is my solution to taking care of it automatically: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 6#p7099554 .

If the coolant stops flowing, power to the still is cut off (or the valve to the propane is closed). We need Sambedded to devise a circuit for his phase controller that can be switched off with the flow switch. Or you could use a big relay, powered by the flow switch, to turn off the power (or operate an electric propane valve).

M

[Jimbo]

Holy shit wilderness, glad you and house are ok. As far as never doing this again. Im guessing youre a far more careful stiller now after that britches load. Youll be fine. I nearly burnt my house down once too. Story is in the thread 'Tell us about your mistakes' Scared a load out of me too. When you wrap your head around this, give us a quick summary over in that thread. Its a good place for folks to read up on what doesnt work.

Happy stillin.

[dakotasnake]

my wife had a cpl of those hoses, in both cases the ends poped off, i figger just from heat from the sun. i wouldent recomend them for our or any porpose.

[drinkingdog]

I can't hardly believe anyone is using propane in or around building. I know electric is not without it's dangers, but anytime we can lesson a portion of them it would be good considering the possible loss of life property as well as trying to explain how the steam coming out of your Distiller caught fire because you were only distilling water.

[hilbilly]

I've had the same issue with the gurgling sound at the top of the column / in the condenser head, twice now. The first time it happened was just after I "improved" the column by adding more scrubbers and 2 reflux cones. I figured the cause might be that scrubbers were packed in too hard so I removed some of them, which seemed to solve the problem. But it just happened to me again and the packing is so loose in the column that it is working it's way out the of the bottom. When I heard the gurgling sound this time I reduced the heat by 300W and the gurgling went away after a bit. I flooded the column with too much heat. The reflux collars may also be contributing to the problem. But there was definitely too much heat, for the way the column is working.

I also had an incident before where the cooling water stopped flowing and vapors came spewing out the vent hole immediately. I was there to see it and unplugged the still and got the water flowing again. But I can see how that could become a serious problem in a heartbeat with open flames under the boiler. My advise is to go with electric. I also like Maritimer's solution of having an automatic monitoring setup to shut the still down as soon as some thing goes wrong. Never hurts to have 2 sets of eyes watching the operation, especially when one of them (computer) doesn't get distracted or look away for a few seconds / minutes.

[rad14701]

Late to the dance but here's where I get to be the bastard everyone doesn't like hearing from... Too bad, here goes...

Too many problems all in one incident, and for one reason only... Being a cocky novice who thought they didn't need to follow the very safety rules we preach here in these vary forums... Plain and simple... And here's just some of what you did wrong...

You left the still unattended... Being a window away doesn't mean squat when things go awry and you are not next to your still... You need to be at the still at all times...

You distanced yourself too far from the still while in full reflux... This most likely caused choking and flooding which allowed high proof alcohol to pour out the top and ignite from the propane burner... You should never be more than an arms length away from your still while it is in full reflux... And you definitely need to be able to hear any signs of gurgling which is an indicator that choking and flooding is taking place...

You ignored the rules we go over time and time again... We don't have all that many rules so remembering them shouldn't be a problem... Most are just reminders of common sense, which at times seems to have gone the way of the dinosaurs...

Your inexperience and overconfidence got the best of you... Or you just plain dropped your guard, thinking that things would remain routine... Regardless of which it was, you need to take a few steps back and rethink your entire stilling process and stilling area... Expect the unexpected and account for such occurrences accordingly...

I honestly doubt that cooling line failure was the root of this incident... They most likely melted due to exposure to hot high proof alcohol, which then ignited, compounding the exposure problem...

I'm glad everything turned out as well as it did but this is yet another reminder that things can go to bad in a hurry... And it serves as an excellent example of what can happen in just a short period of inattentiveness... As a medic you are entirely familiar with protocols and you need to compose and follow your own set of protocols unwaveringly...

Now, pull up your big boy pants and fire that still back up again - the right way... After a thorough cleaning and sourcing reliable coolant lines, that is...

[Coyote]

I have said it before and will say it again
If you burn your house down doing something
illegal your insurance company WILL forget they
ever met you.

I can't personally see why someone would use LP
gas to fire a boiler if you could have electric in any
fashion. I don't use it in my stillin operation but
I own a 100 foot long 4 gauge 220 volt extension cord
I use on the welders in the shops. Buying the S/O cable
and plug ends to fit your clothes dryer would still be
cheaper than burning down your house.

At about $ 2.75 a foot locally it makes a pretty cheap
cord.

The "Man Cave" is also set up with 2 fire sprinkler heads
that are the first thing turned on. In addition the "Man Cave"
is an old walk in cooler re purposed to its current state and
is all sheet metal over an insulated wood frame. Fire is not a
big issue in my world

Just 2 cents worth and many will disagree

Coyote

[drinkingdog]

+10 on the electric.

@ rad. We all love reading your posts. Just not when they are directed at us individually.

[woodshed]

Yes and no WM. My protocol starts @140F and continues through reflux, fores and heads. Once into hearts I will leave the still but even then briefly. As stated before I play guitar a lot while running.
Always within reach of the still and most importantly the KILL switch. So yes I always sit within arms reach. No I don't stare at it the whole time.

[Usge]

Glad you are ok. Please be careful out there folks.

[Jimbo]

I play guitar a lot while running.

Me too.

[FreeMountainHermit]

WM, I'm thinking that you may have some space limitations to pursue your hobby. Open flame on a combustible surface next to another combustible surface producing volatile a liquid/vapor needs to be seriously rethought.

Glad it wasn't worse than it could have been.

Peace, FMH.

[CuWhistle]

Sounds to me like you fucked up. Dodgy hoses, full reflux, washin dishes, (haven't you got a wife or two?), usin' a machine that turns out near pure shit. Read the rules and pay more attention in class.

.

Only part I'm seeing there where i messed up is the full reflux and not getting a second wife. The hoses were shown here and no one said those might be dangerous. I got let us know how they work. I can't wash dishes? Why it was right in front of me. Using a machine that turns out pure shit. That's the point...?

I read the rules which is why I was able to handle it quickly. I'm not trying to skirt responsibility. If it overflowed yes I screwed up. But the other things....

No blame here brother. Just sayin it's easy to make a serious mistake even when it all seems good. I knowingly made stupid mistakes and was lucky, you appear to have been lucky too only you don't know what went wrong. There may be nothing wrong with those hoses and probably isn't.

It just goes to show you that this practice can be nasty if your not careful and ready. You were ready.

[Truckinbutch]

I run a 15 gal keg boiler in my basement on a 60k btu propane burner with no problems . Did air flow tests and installed positive exhaust ventilation prior to lighting first fire . I use warm up time to do housekeeping in shop . Never more than 3 long steps from the rig . From before the first drop to the last one I am never out of arm's reach of all controls . This is not a hobby for the inattentive or the 'multi-taskers'.

[Shae]

Glad everything worked out. Don't let this scare you; you were there and handled everything, which gives credence to the never turn your back" idea.

I think it was your choice of hose. I had one of those green hoses, and it just separated from the connection at the end, and that was just from garden use. They are cheap, not durable at all.