Mythbusters Distilling Myths?

[Prairiepiss]

I am going to say that they actually proved what some of us have been trying to say all along.

That a leaking still is very dangerous. Don't know how many have come here to argue that a leaking still isn't going to do anything. If I remember correctly. Someone around here was suppose to do some of the very same tests. Never seen any more about it. Which is often the case when test actually prove that person wrong. You don't ever see their outcome.

I don't know what you all thought would happen on that show. If you have ever watched the show. You would have known that's exactly what they do.

I for one hope this episode will help educate some of the dumbasses out there. Like the jackass selling the air cooled pot stills on eBay. That was told they are not safe. But didn't want to listen. Because we told him his design was an unsafe piece of crap.

This hobby is or can be dangerous. And more people need to know that.

[humbledore]

I guess I need to move my neon transformer from above my still. Or at least take the lighter fuel rag off of it.

Now that is funny!

[Jimbo]

I am going to say that they actually proved what some of us have been trying to say all along.

That a leaking still is very dangerous. Don't know how many have come here to argue that a leaking still isn't going to do anything. If I remember correctly. Someone around here was suppose to do some of the very same tests. Never seen any more about it. Which is often the case when test actually prove that person wrong. You don't ever see their outcome.

I don't know what you all thought would happen on that show. If you have ever watched the show. You would have known that's exactly what they do.

I for one hope this episode will help educate some of the dumbasses out there. Like the jackass selling the air cooled pot stills on eBay. That was told they are not safe. But didn't want to listen. Because we told him his design was an unsafe piece of crap.

This hobby is or can be dangerous. And more people need to know that.

Id like to believe people who distill, us, know the obvious. 180 proof alcohol vapor is flammable. The rest of the planet that watched the show now thinks we're on the verge of blowing our house up, are more apt to report things they see, out of fear our hazard will affect them, and as far a our pursuit of legalization, this show didnt do a damn bit of good.

But yes I agree, if there's new distillers among us who take safety lightly, this might be an eye opener.

[RNaka]

I am going to say that they actually proved what some of us have been trying to say all along.

That a leaking still is very dangerous. Don't know how many have come here to argue that a leaking still isn't going to do anything. If I remember correctly. Someone around here was suppose to do some of the very same tests. Never seen any more about it. Which is often the case when test actually prove that person wrong. You don't ever see their outcome.

I don't know what you all thought would happen on that show. If you have ever watched the show. You would have known that's exactly what they do.

I for one hope this episode will help educate some of the dumbasses out there. Like the jackass selling the air cooled pot stills on eBay. That was told they are not safe. But didn't want to listen. Because we told him his design was an unsafe piece of crap.

This hobby is or can be dangerous. And more people need to know that.

I have to say the extent to which they went to "prove" the theory was ridiculous.

In their first failed attempt mirroring "normal" conditions they claimed to have 200 proof in the boiler. Not likely, and even then could not cause an explosion.

Their second attempt was even more unrealistic.

Not to say that we shouldn't be concerned about safety regarding our hobby. Just saying that episode "proved" nothing

Reed

[Prairiepiss]

Their second attempt was even more unrealistic.

Not to say that we shouldn't be concerned about safety regarding our hobby. Just saying that episode "proved" nothing

You are completely wrong.

In the small scale model in their shop. Showed that the alcohol vapors will collect at the lowest points. The floor. Where most burners are.

They simulated a leaking still. In an enclosed space. With an ignition source. And it showed what could happen.

It's not unrealistic. Someone running the still in a small shed or even a room in the house. Without proper ventilation. Could infact have this happen. Many think that an electric still is safe from something like this. They are safer then gas is some ways. But alcohol vapors are alcohol vapors. There are plenty of examples of people not catching vapor leaks around here.

[jarheadshiner]

I'll agree with ya to a point Piss but that was a huge leak they simulated. I can't imagine anyone not catching it (unless they were indeed not present) and I'm not sure a small leak that would possibly go unnoticed would produce enough vapor to cause this result. I just think it would take a major leak and would be easily detected.
It is a great lesson in why you should never leave your still unattended though.

[greybeard_biker]

I didnt see the episode, but I played with fire a little too much growing up. but back then it was fun, & wouldnt attract attention, & it was considered healthy for kids to experiment. not like the way things are today, let a kid make a few huge BOOMS today and they risk being locked away, or parents for child neglect.

any leak of flamable liquid, & sometimes things not even considered flamable in right conditions can be explosive, be careful & think of ventilation & never leave unattended for any reason!!!!!!!!!!!!!

many would be suprised how quickly fumes can ignite, & just how explosive fumes can be, anyone ever play with boiling gasoline? kerosene? rubbing alcohol? how about simple candle wax superheated? yes candle wax fumes are explosive, pressurized dust is as well. bondo dust from body work can be extremely explosive in the right conditions.

[S-Cackalacky]

What these two normally do is control an experiment to reach the result they're after - as they did with this one. What happened in the first experiment with the copper still - they sealed it airtight and applied heat to simulate the effect of pressure. It didn't EXPLODE as they hoped - it failed at the weakest point and released the pressure and the vapor. There was a fire, but no explosion. So, to reach the conclusion they desired, they took steps to manipulate the experiment in ways that would assure the desired conclusion.

In a room in your house or in your still shed (that isn't sealed as tight as nun's "c"), what result would you expect with a leaking still? You might take action with some flour paste, or worst case, you might have to grab the fire extinguisher and take action. If you're stupid, like the dummy sitting outside the still shed during their experiment, something more catastrophic might happen - most likely the place would burn to the ground and maybe rarely there could be an explosion. I wonder if some of the members from NZ could report in and tell us how many news reports they hear where stills have exploded in the way they did on Mythbusters.

With distilling, as with anything else that may be potentially dangerous, people can do stupid things. I would like to think that we, here on this forum, promote safe practices that may help to avoid such disasters. I have heard more reports of natural gas explosions and fires from improperly stored fuels than I have heard of likker still explosions/fires.

Yep, those fools just like to blow stuff up and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that end. Make it airtight, leave it unattended, use copious amounts of high proof alcohol, apply the flame at just the right moment and hell yes it will blow up. Think about it - if the flame had been there from the git-go, do you think there would have been an explosion? Most likely a fire, unless the dumbass hadn't been sitting outside the shed.

I'm unconvinced that it wasn't a hack job from the start - a lab experiment manipulated to achieve a result that has no base in reality.

S-C

[DAD300]

If you pour gasoline on the floor of your garage, the vapors will eventually reach the hot water heater. I'm never parking my car in the garage again!

[rad14701]

When it comes to this type of show just remember that they do things to the extreme for theatrical embellishment more so than for factual realism... They always have to push things way beyond the realm of normal just so they can get a big bang because they have been led to believe that that is the only way they can get and keep ratings up... TV is just sad these days... I went a year without, until about two months ago, and now have confirmed that I hadn't been missing much...

[Windy City]

If you pour gasoline on the floor of your garage, the vapors will eventually reach the hot water heater. I'm never parking my car in the garage again!

This show just like any other business is driven by money (not necessarily bad) so the BOOM is expected. They could prove almost anything in life is dangerous. Dad is not parking his car in the garage any more and maybe if we follow their reasoning we should evaluate all aspects of our lives. Maybe I will stop showering because I could slip, fall and die or stop eating because I could choke and die. Let's not even go so far as driving a car and the million ways you could die there.
All this show confirms is that Darwin was a little right, idiots will find a way to kill themselves. But unfortunately where Darwin was wrong (on many of his theories) the dumb seem to procreate more then the smart and society has embraced the dumbing down of our populace.
This hobby could be dangerous for the uninformed (just like many other things in life) but with the proper knowledge, study and practice (of which is all available on this forum) it is a safe and rewarding hobby regardless of how any of these TV shows want to depict us
Just my 2 cents
Windy City

[greybeard_biker]

... TV is just sad these days... I went a year without, until about two months ago, and now have confirmed that I hadn't been missing much...

awesome. I have been around 20 to 25 years without watching TV, I own one, & only watch movies I have purchased on occasion, I own maybe 50 movies, I look online for anything else I need, & would look up the show if I desired to see the episode, otherwise I maybe catch some form of TV at a friends house once in a great while, otherwise the only tv I get is from seeing news while eating at restraunts that have TV.

I have alot better things to do with my time than sit in front of an "entertainment" set & watch a bunch of lies all day. & my parents were same way, the TV was only for news for them, but as a teen I quickly figured it our & gave it up for the most part. I like to normally do something useful out of my time than sit around doing nothing unless I am sick, or sometimes when its raining & I cant do anything outside.

[FruitiePie]

Have not seen the episode discussed, just finished a run and thought I would check the forum and found this.... I tend to like the show, but yes, it many time should be renamed myth makers.... that said, I know that I am super vigilant about leaks due to the disastrous effect of a leak in a semi closed area. Those vapours are a VERY quick trip to borderline alcohol poisoning. Not very proud of that incident from my youth...

[RNaka]

When it comes to this type of show just remember that they do things to the extreme for theatrical embellishment more so than for factual realism... They always have to push things way beyond the realm of normal just so they can get a big bang because they have been led to believe that that is the only way they can get and keep ratings up... TV is just sad these days... I went a year without, until about two months ago, and now have confirmed that I hadn't been missing much...

THIS

[RNaka]

Their second attempt was even more unrealistic.

Not to say that we shouldn't be concerned about safety regarding our hobby. Just saying that episode "proved" nothing

You are completely wrong.

In the small scale model in their shop. Showed that the alcohol vapors will collect at the lowest points. The floor. Where most burners are.

They simulated a leaking still. In an enclosed space. With an ignition source. And it showed what could happen.

It's not unrealistic. Someone running the still in a small shed or even a room in the house. Without proper ventilation. Could infact have this happen. Many think that an electric still is safe from something like this. They are safer then gas is some ways. But alcohol vapors are alcohol vapors. There are plenty of examples of people not catching vapor leaks around here.

It IS unrealistic to assume a home stiller runs "200 Proof" in their boiler, soak a rag with Ronson lighter fluid wait until the vapor level is x percent and then purposely ignites their still.

[S-Cackalacky]

Their second attempt was even more unrealistic.

Not to say that we shouldn't be concerned about safety regarding our hobby. Just saying that episode "proved" nothing

You are completely wrong.

In the small scale model in their shop. Showed that the alcohol vapors will collect at the lowest points. The floor. Where most burners are.

They simulated a leaking still. In an enclosed space. With an ignition source. And it showed what could happen.

It's not unrealistic. Someone running the still in a small shed or even a room in the house. Without proper ventilation. Could infact have this happen. Many think that an electric still is safe from something like this. They are safer then gas is some ways. But alcohol vapors are alcohol vapors. There are plenty of examples of people not catching vapor leaks around here.

It IS unrealistic to assume a home stiller runs "200 Proof" in their boiler, soak a rag with Ronson lighter fluid wait until the vapor level is x percent and then purposely ignites their still.

Keep in mind too that they were using an electric heated still for their catastrophic run. There was probably a purposeful reason for this. If they had used the gas heated copper still as they did for the first attempt, the gas flame would have probably extinguished itself after using all the oxygen in the well sealed shack. I think they orchestrated everything they did to arrive at a predetermined result.

Also, what would have happened if a normal wash had been used? Would there be a high enough concentration of vapor in the space to cause an explosion. I have to beleive that they tried it with a wash and then went to the high proof alcohol because they didn't get the result they desired with the wash. Why else would they have changed the parameters after the initial copper still experiment.

S-C

[Truckinbutch]

Yep , they are after ratings result . Not reality . Minus 10 for Adam and Jamey .

[One Sock]

But it's ok to run yer Camaro on the shine if you survive the explosion!

[Prairiepiss]

Hmmm
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 17&t=44838

As long as that Camaro is a newer model. LOL

[frozenthunderbolt]

I wonder if some of the members from NZ could report in and tell us how many news reports they hear where stills have exploded in the way they did on Mythbusters.
S-C

Re: Explosions in the news in NZ
Meth-labs; sadly yes.
Stills; never in the time I have been old enough to read/listen to news. 2 maybe 3 busts on people selling. that's it.

[DuckofDeath]

Well the truth is that yes stills in the past have exploded before. It has been reported so few times that I would say it is very very rare though.

[ohyeahyeah]

It seemed like a pretty normal episode to me. They always try a basic approach and then amp it up to the extreme to try to get the result they want. The first still experiment pretty much disproved the myth of homemade stills blowing up. The final experiment only proved what they(and we) already knew, the right concentration of alcohol vapor in a confined space will flash off with an ignition source. What was impressive(and not mentioned) to me was the fact that the store bought boiler with copper pot head looked totally undamaged afterwards. Jeez, if you put a cow in that confined a space and waited for the methane to build up to the right level and then set off a big flame you'd probably get the same result.

[goinbroke2]

I watched maybe a dozen shows and then they came across something I know about (cars) and then I realised it was all crap! I watched episodes about weapons and again, if you actually know something about what they are doing, you realise they are so full of crap it's rediculous.
The one about jumping a car (like the dukes) was such a pile of horse shit I was yelling at the tv the whole time. At the end, they say you CAN'T jump a car 100ft or whatever it was and drive away.....then go on to talk about an Australian guy who has the world record of 300+ feet and then drove it away!

It's about as real as moonshiners or any other "entertainment" shows on tv.

total crap!


EDIT: ok, I had to google it and watch it.....it was worse than I thought. Gee, can a car run on alcohol...um like indy cars or MY KIDS JUNIOR DRAGSTER DOES???? Taking a carb'd car and dumping alcohol in it..hmm, nope, won't work...WHAT???? You freaking morons!!! There were so many basic mistakes and general misinformation it's downright lying. Go to ANY dragstrip ANYWHERE and you'll see lots of cars running alcohol because it is more consistant than gas. Engine temperature and weather factors don't effect performance as much as gas engines. And running hotter???? You idiot's, alcohol motors run COLDER!!!!!!! You must lean them out to warm them up. Also, to start an engine on alcohol, it's easier to give it a shot of gas down the carb or in the hat and let it fire on that first then let the alcohol take over, dry starting on alcohol is hard if not impossible on some engines. The octane is higher than gas so you can run more compression and....oh my goodness, there is so much they are clueless on.
Go to you-tube and watch ANY alcohol dragster start. The stuff the guy is spraying in the hat (or bug catcher) is GAS because the engine won't fire on alcohol. ESPECIALLY a blown engine because they run lower compression so there is even less heat at cranking speed.

As far as blowing up a building where the walls are clearly not attached to each other, just taped or the fact that they plugged at still full of 200proof and all it did was melt the solder and then leak/burn was priceless! Or having a leak..and a guy could of lit a lighter as he walked in...maybe they should of said "and carrying a box of dynomite" so they could REALLY blow something up

The whole thing was stupid, misinformation where they had a preconceived notion they were going to accomplish at all costs. There was ZERO chance of a still not blowing up. They even brought back ol snuffy smith and the stereotype that moonshiners obviously are stupid uneducated hillbilly's who would "need a pack of smokes and drive off while the still was running" or "walk in the still house lighting a lighter". Like really guys? REALLY??

This just set back the home distiller 50 years as anybody who watched this will not relate to the businessman who distills his own alcohol but instead think ANYTHING "moonshine" is what they portrayed.

I'm not snuffy smith you arrogant, snake oil selling pricks, I'm an educated man who has served his country for 30 years so far, am qualified to administer needles, defibulator, battlefield first aid, am a heavy diesel mechanic (tank) and run a Maint shop with 36 persons working for me. To catagorize myself and others as a snuffy smith is a blatant lie.

FUCK YOU ASSHOLES I'M HAVING ANOTHER DRINK OF MY HOMEMADE WHISKY THAT WAS MADE WITH MORE SAFETY IN MIND THAN YOU ASSHOLES DISPLAY DRIVING TO THE GROCERY STORE!

[ohyeahyeah]

EDIT: ok, I had to google it and watch it.....it was worse than I thought. Gee, can a car run on alcohol...um like indy cars or MY KIDS JUNIOR DRAGSTER DOES???? Taking a carb'd car and dumping alcohol in it..hmm, nope, won't work...WHAT???? You freaking morons!!! There were so many basic mistakes and general misinformation it's downright lying.

I think the were going for the "Lawless" myth were they run out of gas and simply pour alcohol into the tank and go. Ethonal has about 1/2 the potential energy and won't work in a carb jetted for gasoline. Of course if they stuck some fat jets into the carb and changed to smaller air bleeds this would have solved the issue. The fact they don't bother to mention this seemed a bit shady. They mention that the modern camaro which did run used about twice the amount of fuel, and of course this is why but they failed to mention that. They kind of make is seem that the modern computer is what allows it to work, as opposed to just having a competent tuner.

[goinbroke2]

But even that is horsecrap because who has 200 proof or 175 proof moonshine? When they filled jugs of shine and put them in a car, you think it was more than 40-50%abv? Not likely. Certainly not 175+ so it wouldn't work regardless.
Speaking of which, how did they get 200 proof shine to put in the car? Did they happen to have a molecular sieve they forgot to mention??
Seriously, the show is a scam meant to be entertainment.
Will a car run underwater? No, they do a bunch of crap to prove it can't,...then what about swamp buggy racing, etc? "oh, um, ah, well if you construct a snorkle...umm...ah..well.."
They have the mentality of a 12 year old, completely nieve with what they're supposed to be testing.

How about this? The race between the gas and alchy car on the dirt track, why didn't they take the outliers from the testing? Such as, let each driver drive both cars and both drive them twice? As it is, his first drive was a familiarity run and he was quicker on the second run..duh, if both runs were gas I'm sure he would of picked up as well. Or if he ran alchy first, the gas would of been deemed faster.

Absolute garbage testing methods. Everything they do is inconclusive...but it blows up spectacularly.

[Doogie]

Well, they did state the proof as they put it in the car.
Something tells me they never made any of that product anyways - it was probably all supplied to them
As for running the still with "200 proof" - well, good luck making 200 proof (maybe 190ish, never 200), but one of the basics of still operation is to run it no more than 80 proof. That said, the output may have been high, but they fail on the basic principles of still operation.

I think they need a few of us on the show to teach them actually how to do it. I will go as long as I get to share a dressing room with Kari