Recommended tubing going out of Condenser

[Stella34]

Hi all, I apologize in advance if I am asking for a repeat of information posted a zillion times. I did many searches but haven't discovered the magic words to unlock the secret info. I have read just enough on the site (I am a newbie) to infer that it is a very bad idea to have clear plastic anywhere near my pot still when it is in operation. I am ready and willing to get rid of it and switch to a safer alternative, but so far I haven't found the definitive post that tells me exactly what to get and where to get it. The copper tube leading from my coil is 1/2" and it sticks out from the copper container about 1" . The bottom water outlet is the same. The top pipe for the water inlet is 5/8" I am using chipped ice instead of cold running water to cool the coil, replenishing as necessary. Can you direct me to a post describing a handy dandy system for keeping the coil cool and eliminating the need for clear plastic tubing and bags and bags of ice? I have a 2.5 gallon copper pot still from the Whiskey Still company and I like it very much. I barely have to do anything to seal it and the workmanship is beautiful. Thanks very much for making the effort to advise me.

[Bigbob]

As long as the plastic is used for water and not alcahol you'll be fine. That's what I use on my system. I also have a small submersible fountain pump(320gpm) in a 48qt cooler recirculating water thru the condenser. Cool going in the bottom, warm coming out the top. Works great!

[Snackson]

The plastic tubing is okay for the water, just not the spirit/alcohol side. Recirc pump with water reservoir is what a lot of people use. For your size pot, I think a 20 gallon trash can might work. I use a 55 gallon drum for my 15.5 gallon setup.

Posted with Bigbob.

[cob]

a picture is worth a thousand words. can you post pictures of your setup? so we can see what your talking about

instead of guessing about written text.

[Bigbob]

She has the same still as mine. Here is how I do it.

The hoses connected to flake stand, inflow at bottom. Outflow on top

The hoses into 48qt cooler with submersible pump

The complete set up. Make sure you set flake in a pan to catch mistakes!

[Stella34]

Hi Snackson, cob and Bigbob, Thanks for the quick responses. You are right Bigbob. Our stills are siblings! Ok, so now I see that I have been doing things in a pretty weird way, but other than doing the cooling backwards and upside down and using ice, It's kind of amazing that it worked anyway somehow! Glad to find out better, tried and true ways. I didn't find any detailed directions for setting up in the box the equipment came in, so I just made it up as I went. I put the little bit of plastic tubing as an extension onto the alcohol outlet in order to be able to direct the stream better. It took several times to get all the levels right so I didn't have to put the coil container hanging off the edge of the counter. to keep the alcohol away from the finish on my cabinets. I took that tubing off and will get the pond pump next time I go into town. Your photos are very clear so it will be easy to see what to do.. Can you tell me why they call it a "flake stand"? Is the "flake" the collection container or.....?

[rad14701]

A "flake stand"is the old-time name for a worm in a bucket - raised on a stand... There is a glossary around here that you should have come across during your reading of Crankys spoonfeeding topic that has most likely been recommended to you for reading... Lots of useful links in there... Every bit should be read, not just what sounds interesting...

[rgreen2002]

Bigbob... that is a pretty still. I have always liked the look of the alembic. Stella34... the glossary is here in my signature as well as some other great links. Enjoy!

[Bigbob]

Stella do not use plastic that will contact alcahol. I made a 'coon bone' out of heavy gauge copper wire, I'll try to find the thread. You can see it in the bottom picture.

[Bigbob]

Here you go: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 89&t=54917

[Stella34]

"Coon bone"??!!! Hilarious! ( and Brilliant!) Looks like I better get to that glossary, and some intense reading. Thanks for taking the time to repeat info and offer me a couple of shortcuts on my long journey up the learning curve! Fruit is ripening by the second as we speak! Anything that saves time is much appreciated. I will be quiet now, read, try your ideas out and let you know, how it goes. Thanks so much!
Stella 34, your friendly neighborhood pest.

[Mikey-moo]

Make sure you get a pond pump with enough lift to get the water up to the still. Doesn't have to be super powered, but it does need to do the job.

[rad14701]

Stella34, the "coon bone" reference was for your feminine persuasion... They are more commonly called a "coon pecker" because it's, well, a coons pecker bone... The biological term is actually "Raccoon Baculum"...

[Bigbob]

Jezzz rad, I was trying to be polite.

[Stella34]

If you knew my husband, you would not worry for a second about offending me with such a mildly off-color term. He never worries about it in the slightest. He is pretty funny, so I forgive him!