UHHHH....This is harder than I thought....

[Tony_D]

Hey gang...total newbie here. Been buying vodka for a long time and, being the hobbyist that I am, I thought I would make my own. I bought a copper reflux still and figured it would be about as easy as following the instructions on the back of a Rice-a-Roni box. Obviously I was very mistaken. I'm attempting to heat my mash using a hot plate versus fire for safety reasons. In addition, I'm using a digital thermometer that I bought at Wal Mart that is basically a probe on the end of a wire. I drop the probe into the middle of my mash, seal the top, and start the heat. According to my thermometer, the alcohol didn't start to drip on my first run till it hit about 207 degrees F. It put out about 6 oz (from a 1 gallon mash) and then stopped. On my next attempt, I made a 2 gallon mash the same way and ran it. Additionally I added the 6 oz that I had gotten from my first run to the mash. It kinda did the same exact thing. It heated up to about 223 degrees though, according to my thermometer, dripped out about 6 ounces of liquor (this time very cloudy), and then stopped again. I have no idea what to do. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Keep in mind that my knowledge is limited so thorough explanations will be imperative!

[FullySilenced]

Welcome! Enjoy your visit here with us... MAKE SURE YOU READ THE REQUIRED INFORMATION

Welcome to the forum... Please read the forum rules and regulations, safety tips and the new distillers section when you can... this may help you get a few questions answered early...

I also have links in my signature line...

Happy Stillin,

FS

Give this post a read will help you a lot...

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=52975

[Bigbob]

Howdy Tony_D, yeah not as easy as it looks is it? Your in good hands now, this place is great for information and entertainment too! Make sure to read crankys post in novice distillers. It's at the top called "A little spoon feeding for new distillers". This post will answer most questions. As to your problem, if you could take a picture of your still and post it, it will help. Your hot plate could be the problem, but it's hard to say. Good luck!

[hawgwrench]

Heya man! Definitely a method to the madness...read up for while an you'll get the hang of it pretty quick. Good luck

[pfshine]

Well first the thermo is broke. The temp will never/can't go above 212 unless under pressure. So you need a new one or just throw it away and don't worry about one. One to two gallons is too small, can't make cuts right. Either way there is something very wrong. Please post a pic of the still and your wash recipe with process that way we can figure out what's going on.

[Tony_D]

Ok...I'm going to have to do some more reading. In the meantime, heres a pic of my still, my hot plate, and the thermometer that I'm using. I just picked the thermometer up from down in my basement and , as you can see, it is reading 194 degrees lol. As for my mash I used the popular all bran recipe posted on homedistiller.com.

[Tony_D]

A friend suggested wiring a PID to my hot plate so that I could theoretically get the hot plate to the temperature that I want and then hold it there. Any thoughts on that suggestion? My brother builds commercial ovens for a living and he said that he could do that no problem.

[pfshine]

No pid, there is a lot of threads here that will tell you why. You should look for some threads showing you how to modify that hot plate to keep it from cycling. Also that is just a plain ole pot still ain't no reflux about it. You might want to make a new Liebig though, its really small. How are you sealing the cap you might be leaking vapor especially if you had that thermo wire jammed in there. By the way that wire has plastic in it so leave them out. Seal the cap with flour paste and run the still by output. Apply heat till you get fast drips to a small twisted stream. Go ahead and put 4 gallons in it and run it that way. Should be better. Oh yeah read the spoon feeding post by cranky.

[700G]

I've had really bad luck with that exact thermometer. Bought one, it stopped working correctly so exchanged it for another which also went bad. I ruined a big batch of rye ag with it.

[S-Cackalacky]

Yep, gotta do the reading like everybody says. You can do a vodka with a pot still. But first, you should let it rest a bit and do the reading. It takes some patience and persistence to get it right. That's a great looking little copper pot with the exception of the liebig being too small. It'll be good to get a little practice with until you build your knowledge base.

Good luck to you and stay safe.

[bellybuster]

thats a duxtop induction plate. It doesn't cycle. The knob is a power control from a couple hundred watts up to 1800 I think. It'll be fine.
How many gallons is your still;l? Looks nice except the liebig is quite a bit short. Can be compensated for by running slower but that will get old quick.

[bellybuster]

cancel last, thats the ceramic cooktop. It cycles.

[HDNB]

shit, if this was easy everybody be doin' it.

[SassyFrass]

How long did you let your wash work?
Had it completely worked off?

That little still ( with a modified (bigger) liebig) should make fine likker, when you learn to run her. Although, she'd be awful pretty dressed out with an all copper thump tub, flake stand and worm.
Not so sure about the hot plate. Never used one.
I'm guessing that your wash didn't work off completely. Your results reminded me of some results I had years ago.

SF

[Tony_D]

I'm still working on Cranky's feed....bout 25% done at the moment. As for the wash, it seemed to be done. I used an air lock and it stopped bubbling after about 5 days. Yes, belly, it is a ceramic one and it does cycle. Not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. Obviously I haven't figured out how to control it yet. As for sealing it I've used a flour paste on both runs. Have tried feeling for any leaks around all the seams and haven't come across any that I could feel.

[T-Pee]

Have tried feeling for any leaks around all the seams and haven't come across any that I could feel.

You'd sure as hell know it if you did. Use a mirror next time if you want to keep your skin from melting off. Seriously.

tp

[Da Yooper]

Hello and welcome to HD, with alot of reading and practice it does get easy.The learning part never ends, always something new to read. Have fun and be safe

[Tony_D]

Have tried feeling for any leaks around all the seams and haven't come across any that I could feel.

You'd sure as hell know it if you did. Use a mirror next time if you want to keep your skin from melting off. Seriously.

tp

I do like my skin attached so thx for the tip!

[Tony_D]

So, from what I've read it seems that controlling heat essentially serves the same purpose as monitoring the abv. I will make it my intention now to learn to control my heat on this freakin hot plate. I'm gonna try to just put water in my still and hold it at 176 degrees. Any suggestions? Am I approaching this in the right manner? Where should I measure the temp at? At the top of the still? I read that I should be measuring the temp of the alcohol vapor so I'm assuming I need to take my measurement readings at the top even for just water.

[pfshine]

You can't control the temp just the amount of heat input. Turn it up till it boils and the dial it back till you get a fast drip to a small twisted stream. The temp is what it is you can't change it. Go back and read some more you need to get a firm grip on the basic fundamentals.

[HDNB]

it's a curvy thing. not a straight line thing. you are thinking way to linear-ly, think more abstract and go with the flow man. you are trying to control art...ain't gonna happen.

look for corene's post she recently copied us on the temperature / abv correlation chart. it's been posted lots, but on her post most recently. It is a bit difficult to get your head around, but it will help.

there is also recent post for a self contained SCR that will control your hotplate (on a nice even, smooth curve.) amazon, 20 bucks.

groovy man!

HDNB (feeling very 70's today)

[S-Cackalacky]

If you use the SCR controller HDNB spoke of, you will also need to bypass the thermostat on the hotplate. I remember a thread from a long time ago that showed how to disable the thermostat. You might find it with an "HD Google Search".

You could also somewhat mitigate the hotplate cycling problem by using a heat defuser between the hotplate and still boiler. You would want to use a defuser made from a solid disc of metal. The SCR voltage controller would be the best solution.

The issue with the hotplate is that you need to hold a constant heat. Most hotplates attempt to maintain the heat level by switching the power on and off at intervals. That's not good for our purposes. The heat level needs to be held constant for the distillation process to work properly.

The ultimate solution would be to build a proper still using a water heater element installed in the boiler and use the before mentioned controller to control its heat output. But, I would suggest setting all that aside for now and focus on the reading so that you have a good understanding of the processes first.

[Tony_D]

Why do I feel like I need an electrical engineering degree all of a sudden?!

[Tony_D]

PF...when I said I need to control the temp I guess what I meant was the heat input. Turn the knob down and both the heat input and the temp go down....kinda hand in hand.

[rad14701]

PF...when I said I need to control the temp I guess what I meant was the heat input. Turn the knob down and both the heat input and the temp go down....kinda hand in hand.

Not really... You just haven't done enough research to know that your line of thought is incorrect... Trust us when we tell you that you cannot regulate the vapor temperature of boiling miscible liquids, only the amount of distillate vapor produced and subsequently condensed back into liquid spirits... Do the research and you'll understand... We have vapor charts that prove out how things work... Pot stilling is pot stilling... Running a reflux column is a totally different animal and follows different rules - to an extent...

[W Pappy]

Friend that rig is simple to use just make sure that hotplate don't cycle.
Don't bother with a therm, keep that for your fried chicken keep reading
an post another thread for any questions.Put the heat to her and dial er back
when she starts producing.And that is a pot still no reflux about it.
Posting same time as rad.Heat and temp are not the same like rad stated
on running a pot still.Forget what you think ya know and read and learn.

[pfshine]

The contents of your boiler being a mix of alcohol and water will boil somewhere between 176-212 depending on abv at sea level. Things will only boil at their boiling point with regards to pressure. Take a pot of water and put it on the stove on medium heat when it starts to boil measure the temp at sea level it should be 212. Now turn the heat all the way up, it should be boiling really hard and fast now, measure the temp and it will still say 212. The more heat you put to it the faster it boils but will stay the same temp.

[HDNB]

exactly what pf says.

use lots of heat to get to boil (careful not to scorch!)
just before it boils, pay attention! dial down so she don't puke. you gotta wait for awhile now.
run the fores low and slow and get 'em out
dial it up a bit for heads so you are not there all day.run for a bit then start collecting fractions
when the hearts start, you are in bidness.
when the tails come, dial the wick up until your condensor is sweating and get the job done.

it's easy to cut out the thermo-controller in a hot plate. order up the scr (or ssr and a pot.) go over to all things electric thread read for a bit... when the scr shows up, crack that hotplate open and take a few pics, and post up. we'll walk you thru it.

[S-Cackalacky]

Why do I feel like I need an electrical engineering degree all of a sudden?!

Don't get discouraged. Just take things one step at a time. It can seem overwhelming at times, but if you keep at it, it will soon fall into place. It's all about patience and persistence. The whole electrification thing was a big hurdle for me as well, but I was able to get through it and these guys here were a huge help.

[Tony_D]

I am really trying to be open minded but am more confused now than ever......