Oil Jacketed to Steam Jacketed conversion.. thoughts?

[Bearpig]

I'm using an oil-jacketed boiler I designed long before I started frequenting HD, so go easy on me, there are a few things I'd do differently now.
Until now I've run exclusively fruit brandy and grappa which greatly benefits from a jacketed boiler to keep things from burning.
It's a simple enough design. There's a jacket running about 2/3 of the way up the boiler which is filled with 10 liters of oil. Some people fill theirs with expensive heat transfer oil, I've only ever used refined sunflower oil and never had any problems, as long as I keep the burner reasonable and there's enough liquid in the boiler it never gets close to it's smoke point of 450 F.

Perhaps the reason I haven't had issues with the sunflower oil is because if the boiler is going to sit unused for more than a few weeks I'll drain all the oil out of it, wash out the jacket with a cold grease remover and rinse it thoroughly. The used oil gets stored in 2 liter Coke bottles and replaced about once a year. The only drawback I've found with sunflower oil is if I run the burner too hot then it starts to smell like a deep frier, but if you run an oil jacket too hot it defeats the purpose anyway and the must will burn. So a close eye (and nose) has to be kept on the burner to avoid overheating the oil.

There's a 2" tri-clamp at the top, and the entire head comes off by removing 8 bolts and gives me an 8" access opening. Both use PTFE gaskets. There's a 1/2" NPT thermowell with a simple thermometer in the top. Missing from my diagram is a stand that supports it above the burner and allows me to just tip out the contents of the boiler and jacket. The leglike things on the bottom are a collar on the bottom of the still to help retain some of the heat, there's also a shroud around my propane burner.

oil_jacketed.jpg

My neighbor has been advising me to convert the boiler from oil to steam jacketed. He runs a nearly identical boiler, except he has a pressure gauge on the jacket and where my oil fill spout is, he has an adjustable pressure relief valve. His still is brazed copper while mine is TIG-welded stainless steel. He's calculated the amount of water he needs to fill in the jacket (similar to how a standalone radiator works), basically just heats his boiler and the jacket fills with steam which heats his must/pomace, any overpressure is vented safely away by his relief valve and he keeps an eye on pressure with the gauge. He's been using it for over twenty years without incident. It seems like a more efficient (although potentially less safe) design since it's far less maintenance, no consumables (oil, degreaser), absolutely no smell and potentially more stable temperature. Also a lot less labour since draining/cleaning/refilling the oil is a hassle.

So I'm considering threading the fill spout for a pressure relief valve piped in a safe direction, and adding a 1/2" NPT port for a pressure gauge. I figure these modifications are non-destructive since if I decide to stick with oil I can swap the manometer with a long thermometer and benefit from being able to see the oil temp (currently I go by touch/smell/ear).

steam_jacketed.jpg

Any thoughts? I'm not an engineer or a physicist so I thought I'd consult the experts here before I even think about doing anything.
Should I try the conversion or just leave well enough alone? Possible benefits/drawbacks/risks I'm missing?

Cheers