All-In-One "Stilling Station"

[cwalker]

New idea I've been toying with for a while now. Can look into some of my older post and see Its been some months since I had the idea. Still have yet to build the dang thing tho.

http://imgur.com/a/c8b3h" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Is a link to an album of pics. Its not totally to scale or anything, just a general mock-up of that I want to do.

Few things to note about it all.

-I have access to power were I plan to still, water is a problem. Or so, the fact I pay for water and were I need to discharge to I would end up with a lake in my front yard. That is the need for a recirculating system.

-Will be able to run off power right from the wall, or battery power with the help of an inverter (still need to look up specs and all that jazz, and see how long a battery can even power a pump? If anyone can help me answer some of those details that would be awesome.)

-The whole unit will prolly have doors on the front so when its all packed away you wont even know theres a still in there.

-The "t-bar" water line support will be removable and just sets into the holder when in use, and packs away nicely when not running the still.

-The two compartments beside the tank will hold the column, head, and the "T-Bar" deal that supports the water lines. I plan on having a little flip door (48"x8" kinda thing) that will close off the tank and storage are when not in use.

-As well as the flip door for the top there will be 2 doors for the front. For all anyone concerned is a unused kitchen cabinet now used as storage in the garage.

-The still/burner side will be "fire proofed" with some 1/4 fibecement panel and then just some thin sheet metal on top.

-The reason ive routed the propane line like I have is safety I guess. Seems like that path was just safer then having a hole in the dividing wall with a more direct path to flame.

-I'm putting some more thought into the tank. In the mockup it shows it being made of 1/2" thick material. The sides and bottom will most likely be 2x8's with a 3/4 sheet front and back. its roughly 6ft3 (169.9 liters filled to the brim) Might need to go bigger eh? I could easily go 2x12's on the side, would bump tank to 9ft3 (254.8lt) without to much trouble/redesign. Lemme know what you guys think about tank sizes.

-There appears to be a empty space under the tank at the bottom. There isn't haha. Metal frame will extend out to stabilize frame and help support tank.and its raised up to allow some sort of a drain.

-Making it mostly out of wood cause that's what I got and I don't want this to cost me much. Already need to find a pump of some sorts as the hose aint gonna work anymore.

-Any ideas on how to waterproof a wooden box. Was thinking some thicker poly and contact cement. I layer of poly on each piece before I fasten it all together, then silicone all the seams followed by another strip of poly/cement over the seams. only like 4-5 inches wide. easy to work with in the now tight closed in box???

-Double light switch would be wired up so one selects wall power or inverter power and the other would then just be a on off type thing. ( in theory anyway, not big on electrical stuff.... hope I can figure a way to wire it so it works like I want)

Im sure there more so If you have any question feel free to ask. Id love to hear what you guys have to say about this. I haven't seen to many around so maybe its just a shitty idea...... haha, who knows.



BTW,
Still head and my burner found here. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 6#p7092326
Better pics of my coil found here http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 3#p6999113

[sambedded]

This "station" is very unusual but reliable way to kill yourself.

[cwalker]

doors will be lift off hinges
like these
http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/467833/33 ... Hinges.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Doors will be off while in use. Forgot to mention that.

[sambedded]

Where are you going to install this station?

[cwalker]

gonna have 2 fixed 8'' air tires and can be wheeled around like like a wheel barrow. stored in garage, actual stillin happens in a car shelter thing. both ends are half rolled up for ventilation. got nosy neighbours

[bearriver]

A hand truck dolly and an electric heating element would be more typical and well documented.

There is no way my 1/3 hp sump pump would run off a car battery very long. I dont know what kind of pumps other people use though.

[bellybuster]

Gas in a box.... Go electric and you'll see some agreement.
I often thought about this with my brewing supplies then thought about it a bit more. I started thinking about it about 30 years ago, I'm still thinking about it.

I think the idea in principle is good, not for gas burners though.

[googe]

I like the idea, would be handy to have it all stowed away in one unit!. 200L for cooling should be ok, I use a plastic 44 and works well, depends on your climate too. Good luck with it, don't forget pictures when you start building it!.

[cwalker]

KK, well electric It is. To be honest iv'e only ran my new boka once. Twice if ya count the cleaning run. Long story short, the constant messing about with the reg on the burner to kinda sorta keep it at optimum temp was a huge pain in the ass. Maybe I was doin something wrong who knows. Electric seems like a good choice.

Kindly check out my parts list thread, lemme know if im forgetting anything. I see bellybuster knows whats up. (read your build thread then came back here and recognized the name haha)
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 8#p7127328

[bearriver]

Someone around here sells a controllable 5500 watt, ultra low watt density heating element for about 350. I think it can be done cheaper but electrical stuff is a real weak point in my skill sets along with many other folks.