Building my first pot

[raketemensch]

I have a nice big keg to run as a boiler, but I'm waiting on the controller for the heating element to come from Singapore, so in the meantime I figured I'd build a little stockpot still to test some theories (and the air cooler) and get a little experience under my belt. The 4-gallon stockpot will also eventually become a thumper for the keg. It's also taking me some time to source 2" copper that my wife won't balk at the receipt for.

(For the record, I've been researching all over the web and hanging out here for ~6 months now, and am most of the way through Zymurgy Bob's book, as well as The Joy of Distilling)

The ironic part is that after months and months of research, and a ton of trips to different stores to gather everything, the actual build took less than an hour... I've read through a lot of threads about how people attach the column to the stockpot lid (or stainless bowl, which would prevent puking, but I haven't found one the right size), and what I'm trying is something that I haven't seen before. I'm sure it's not an original idea, but it was pretty simple overall.

I am using male and female 3/4 inch threaded couplers. The male goes down through the lid, and the female screws right up onto it. I had to use some big-ass washers on top of the lid to get it tight enough, but the washers are outside the column, so the fact that they're not stainless shouldn't matter -- they won't touch any spirits. The friend helping me build this today is a long-time machinist, and he has some concerns about the cadmium coating on the washers outgassing once they heat up, but I think we'll be alright.

Here it is from the top:

Here's the bottom:

I just screw the female copper coupler right up onto that one, like a nut and a bolt, and snug it tight. The giant washers let me make it all snug.

And here's the bottom, screwed on:

I picked up a hotplate at Target (Walmart and the Goodwill had nothing at all), and I also picked up a 3' Slantfin baseboard radiator for the air cooling, but my friend had a 5' length sitting around that he brought over, so we're using that for now. I plan to make a box fan rig like mason jar did, so I don't have to deal with hoses and pumps and warming water. Here's a shot of it all rigged up:

As simple as it gets, right? I'm spending some time witih the family and helping my mom adjust to her New Mac Lifestyle (she just picked up a macbook air on ebay), and later on we're going to run a water wash, and if time permits a vinegar wash later on tonight. I've got a box of cheap wine for a sacrificial run tomorrow, and then tomorrow night I'll be setting up a batch of rad's All Bran recipe in the fermenter for next weekend.

[S-Cackalacky]

You could use a 3/4" ss npt locknut on the underside of the lid instead of a female copper adapter. It will thread all the way onto the male threaded adapter. You should also have a gasket between the washer(s) and the lid for a leak proof tight seal. You can make one with cardboard and ptfe tape or order a ptfe flat gasket online. Could also use a gasket on the underside so the locknut doesn't mar the metal lid. You can also get appropriate ss washers online.

If you're using the slip fitting on the top side of the male adapter for your riser, you can wrap the join with ptfe tape or use flour paste to seal it. You'll also need to seal the lid to the pot. Some folks have had good luck with just running a few wraps of ptfe tape around the lip of the pot and using binder clips to hold it together.

Most hotplates cycle on and off which doesn't work well for our purposes You might have some problems with smearing because of the cycling.

Good luck with it and stay safe.

[raketemensch]

Thanks for the advice.

I went with flour paste around the rim right now, I have ordered a ptfe gasket that I'll be cutting to the right size for the future.

We're not seeing or feeling any vapor around where the column exits the lid, but that may be normal, and maybe we're just not able to sense it?

I've run a couple of liters of water through it now, and we're both amazed at the air cooling. There's just a box fan sitting under the radiator, and the temp drops 40-50 degrees in the span of ~8 inches. We've got one of those laser temperature guns, it's very handy for these experiments.

The cycling is definitely killing us, but I kind of expected that. Today was just an assembly/proof of concept kind of thing. I'll look into hotrodding the hotplate, and meanwhile I have a nice controller coming from Singapore sometime next month, and I'll be going with immersion.

At this point, all I've really done is proven that I can boil and condense water. So why does it feel so good?

[S-Cackalacky]

You can somewhat mitigate the on/off thing. If you have a fairly thick metal plate of some kind (steel, cast iron, aluminum, copper), you can place it between the hotplate and the pot to act as a heatsink. It will help to stabilize the heat.

[raketemensch]

That would definitely be helpful. We would get to a steady stream, get all excited, then it would cut back to drips. Still, I got a little over 3 cups in a couple of hours.

I think I overdid it on the flour paste, and some of it must've dropped down into the wash. Thank [insert your deity here] for sacrificial runs.

If you're using the slip fitting on the top side of the male adapter for your riser, you can wrap the join with ptfe tape or use flour paste to seal it.

I don't know why I didn't think of that, I know that's doable from research for the 2" column and flange, but for some reason with the 3/4 I just soldered it.

There's a nice big hook right inside the door to the garage that I can just hang it right up on, too.

[raketemensch]

This is how it was set up once we had it running, with the box fan underneath the cooler blowing up at it. I'm still amazed at how effective it was. There's a 5-foot length of radiator there, and we needed, at most, maybe a foot and a half. We only got up to 130f at the top of the column.

[S-Cackalacky]

Crazy man!!! I gotta get me one of them.