CROW-EATER'S valved reflux still

[CROW-EATER]

It has been sitting in the shed for a few years now, but I finally got my a$$ into gear and fired it up on water last night.

here's some pictures of the built still

just a bog stock Rheem 30 ltr catering ern

I've used some cotton sash cord rope to seal the lid to the boiler, it fits in snug between the two stainless lips.

I might wind up another coil to fit inside this one, I'll run a few more tests on water once I've got my heating element controller set up and see if I really need to improve its cooling capacity.

pretty bare bones basic thermometer but it seals just fine and dose the job nicely

I couldn't have done it without this forum and the parent site ... Cheers

[InglisHill]

Nice one.

[thatguy1313]

Man that boilers so shiney I thought it was a sight glass and I was trying to figure out why you stuffed it with grass!

[CROW-EATER]

Cheers Inglis hill. .

And I wonder what temperature I'd need to get the chlorophyll extracted from the grass 1313 ?

[Bushman]

Design looks good but I have several concerns.
1. What diameter is the take-off tube?
2. Is any of the plastic on the valves or the coffee pot boiler your using coming in contact with either the vapors or the alcohol?

[CROW-EATER]

Design looks good but I have several concerns.
1. What diameter is the take-off tube?
2. Is any of the plastic on the valves or the coffee pot boiler your using coming in contact with either the vapors or the alcohol?

Cheers Bushman that's the sort of feedback I'm looking for.

The take off tube is 1/4 " as is the reflux tube.

To my knowledge the needle valves are brass only with plastic knobs. I'll pull them apart to check, they may have some kind of packing in them.

On the boiler there is a hard plastic sight tube, and there is bound to be rubber and plastic on the drain tap... I was considering removing all that and screwing in a bung.

the plastic handles are screwed to nuts welded to the boiler so they don't contact anything.

[CROW-EATER]

Ok ... the needle valves have plastic tips and the valve body's have a Teflon or nylon sleeve inside them, they also had a liberal coating delicious of copper based anti seize.

I will try to find a suitable replacement for them.

[bearriver]

I paid $80 or so for a Stainless steel Dixon brand needle valve with PTFE stem packing some years ago. Great little valve... Anyways you can apparently find them at places like eBay for under $20 now.

[CROW-EATER]

I paid $80 or so for a Stainless steel Dixon brand needle valve with PTFE stem packing some years ago. Great little valve... Anyways you can apparently find them at places like eBay for under $20 now.

Thanks for that, I'll try a ebay search with " needle valve ptef "

Also Bushman had concerns about the size of the take off tube , is 1/4 inch a bit too small ?

[bearriver]

PTFE, not PTEF.

Yes, Bushman is spot on. While a pot still is more of a concern, I still wouldn't want that small of an output on any still just to be safe. 1/4" is begging for a clogged line. You should have a large atmosphere vent hole in the top of your reflux still, making the event of a clogged output minimally dangerous. Still it's better to be safe than sorry.

For your LM I'd go with 3/8" soft copper tubing for the output and reflux circuit. 3/8" copper tubing will require a 1/2" valve. Size standards aren't the same with all fittings, and they vary depending on application. That's why you wont be buying a 3/8 valve for 3/8 tubing.

Recap, I'd get 3/8" copper tubing and 1/2" needle valves. They'll mate right up. Here is a link to the valve/s I would get: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parker-1-2-SS-S ... 1ea008fd33" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

As a bonus, with a valve that large you wont have to remove it to achieve near zero reflux on stripping runs.

[CROW-EATER]

Righ o , some good advice

thanks for the link for the valves.

[Hound Dog]

That's the valve I use and have no problems. I have ordered a couple things from that ebay vendor in the past also. They are quite good.

[CROW-EATER]

AT LAST !!!!!

It's been more years than I care to count but finally I got tired of seeing all those dud bottles of wine sitting around so I've kicked the still into life for the first time.

This site has been a wealth of information, many thanks to the folks who have helped me along the way

[emptyglass]

Looks good. I too took a second take at why you filled the boiler with grass

With your skills it wont be long till you make a better design, unless you love vodka and vodka alone.....

wait till the other croweater cates up with you, lol

[CROW-EATER]

I'm actually thinking about making a very basic pot still and pulling flavor from some nice mash.

There's something not quite right about making a perfect neutral spirit and flavoring it to make it taste like something less refined.

[CROW-EATER]

I've almost completed the first modification to my still.
An extra coil and a 1/2 " pipe plumed through the middle.

This should add some extra cooling capacity and ensure that I'm knocking down everything. I might even be able to put more energy into the boiler and reduce run times.

I'm just waiting on a small 12v pump to run my cooling water from the rainwater tank, to the coil and back to tank instead of running tap water as a total loss system.

[CROW-EATER]

[CROW-EATER]

Pretty much finished, just a bit more cleaning require in some tight places.

[skow69]

Helluva coil. Oughtta knock down about 10 Kw.

[CROW-EATER]

Helluva coil. Oughtta knock down about 10 Kw.

Built in expandability

[thecroweater]

I'm actually thinking about making a very basic pot still and pulling flavor from some nice mash.
There's something not quite right about making a perfect neutral spirit and flavoring it to make it taste like something less refined.

+1 one thatthere are qite a fewthings you can do with neutral but flavouring it toresemble whiskey or rums arenot great uses. Maybe look into nbuilding a flute they are well worth the hassle

[CROW-EATER]

I wish you hadn't suggested building a flute.

I've been looking at flutes since then, I've got a stainless beer keg, a long length of 3" copper pipe ... just need another $1000 worth of bits and pieces, a whole heap of homework, some fabrication and I'm there !

I've got to say, I'm more than a bit interested

[thecroweater]

Nar a lot less than $1000, maybe half that. Mine is a 4" modular column with 3" product condenser and 3".sight glasses.

[raketemensch]

I built my 4" modular flute for <$600, and it was mostly just clamping it together.

[CROW-EATER]

Update ...

I've done quite a few runs with this still now, I'm really getting to know it well.

Some good note and time keeping means that I can now set it up, switch it on, walk away and return to the still just in time to see the the thermometer rise. With a tweak of the voltage controller and cooling flow it just sits there nicely in full reflux.
Once I'm collecting ill pull out about 500ml per hour early in the run slowing down to about 400ml per hour towards the end with heaps of reflux and only 90 volts drawing from the 240v gpo. As for cooling water, I'm using 15 liters per hour, some of which is reused for the next wash and the rest in the garden.

Last night I took a reading 3/4 of the way through the run

... nice she's perfectly neutral right until the well defined sudden temperature increase from 78 deg C to 81 deg C

Tower of power

I'm still so happy with what I'm making that I haven't bothered to play with other designs yet.

I'm considering renaming the still Big Ben because it runs like clockwork!


Happy days

[CROW-EATER]

I've made another couple of modifications just to make life a bit easier.
Firstly I've glued a CD to the take off control valve to make fine adjustments easy and used a zip tie as pointer so I can mark the CD for a quick reference point when starting the runs.
Secondly I have found a high temperature silicone plug for the top of the column for a better seal between the collum and thermometer.

[still_stirrin]

... Secondly I have found a high temperature silicone plug for the top of the column for a better seal between the collum and thermometer.

You should replace the rubber plug with a natural cork. The silly-con plug will get attacked by the hot alcohol vapors and degrade, putting “stuff” into your liquor.
ss

[Yummyrum]

IMG_20181123_082329.jpg

I've made another couple of modifications ......
Secondly I have found a high temperature silicone plug for the top of the column for a better seal between the collum and thermometer.

Sorry Mate but Silicone Rubber bungs are not acceptable material here . Better to get yourself a Natural cork bung if you can . Clarke rubber sell them in various sizes ...yeah I know ...a rubber shop sells cork

Apart from that , glad you got it working well for yourself

[CROW-EATER]

The high temp silicone plug has done about 120 hours of distilling and is showing no signs of discoloration or deterioration.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

There is not a place for discussion on material safety. No synthetics. Wrap it in PTFE.