Hello from South Africa

[VerticalEaz]

Good day Everybody.

I am new to the hobby and in the process of building my first still. I have a lot of mandatory reading left to do but I guess the excitement got the better of me. I am a long time liqueur enthusiast and would like to complement my home bar with self distilled produce.

My plan is to build a CCVM still that can be run in either pot or reflux mode. So far I have a 50 liter Euro(?) keg and most of the fittings to be welded. I have decided to go all stainless steel since I have access to a welder at work (and being a bit cheaper doesn't hurt either). I will go all electric since my trade is in the industry (electronics engineer) and for safety reasons.

Anyway, let me stop myself before I babble on too much. I hope to update you on the build progress soon.

Cheers for now.

[Setsumi]

welcome from a fellow Safrican, you are in the right place for info and help. enjoy your journey.

[Andrew_90]

Welcome,

busy adapting my keg setup to accept a gas burner. You may wish to consider the same given the glut of load shedding we are promised over the next 5 years ....... and I am confident that it will not end there.

[VerticalEaz]

Thanks Andrew and Setsumi.

I have just one more part to get before I can start the welding and seeing as you are local guys perhaps you can help? I bought some 1.25 inch BSP thread stainless steel sockets today but the geyser elements don't screw in all the way. Do you know if it is NPT threads that I need or is it something else altogether?

I can order NPT threads in from JHB but I don't want to request it if I am not sure what thread is required.

Thanks.

[Setsumi]

distilique have a triclamp fitting that accepts our 1 1/4" element. other option is a bathroom basin waste nut 32mm. gelmar has in stainless steel.

[Toxxyc]

I'd go for that 1 1/4" element fitting, welded directly into your kettle. That's what I had done with mine a few weeks ago as well. Even turning in the geyser element by hand seals it enough to stop leaking. Elements from Chamberlains are cheap as chips and can be replaced easily. I paid R209 for a 3kW element from them, works fine for 50l.

[VerticalEaz]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the quick replies. If only the rest of SA could match your service delivery

Ja I bought a brass 32mm basin waste nut and took it with me as a sample to the stainless steel suppliers. They had a 1.25'' SS Barrel that went in the brass nut so I bought a 1.25" to 1.5" BSP reducing bush but the geyser element only went in for one and a half turns on that so no good. NPT is so close to BSP that I don't think that's it either, so it must be some proprietary SA geyser spec I guess.

Thanks for the tip about Gelmar - Probably the cheapest way to go about it but I am not sure if I would feel comfortable with the tiny bit of thread that is on a nut but I guess that is more paranoia on my part.

Looks like these are the only "proper" options:

https://distillique.co.za/Shop/heating- ... hread.html

https://stilltec.co.za/product/geyser-e ... thread-ss/

[Toxxyc]

Contact these guys to get prices on their ferrules, including the geyser element ones: https://bcgstainless.co.za/

Skip the catalogue, send them an email or give them a call directly. They're intimately familiar with still builds. Their CEO is a cool dude, I've had a beer with him while discussing a 200l still he built for a brewery during the first lockdown.

[VerticalEaz]

Hi guys,

Just some final questions before I (ie my colleague) can start welding. Thanks for all of the help so far.

1) What does the column length impact? I understand that when running in potstil mode it is just a riser and as far as I know it doesn't really change anything, but when I run the CCVM in reflux mode, what does the column length change? Do you get more interaction between the reflux and vapours? I have gone for a 1m column.

2) I plan to build a shotgun condenser with 4x 12mm diameter by 1mm thick SS pipes in a 2" SS pipe. I plan to use 2x 2kW elements with controllers so that the power can be set between 0-4 kW. Also, I plan on circulating my pool water through the condenser. Obviously SS isn't as good a conductor of temperature as copper (I have read about 1/7th of copper) so how long do you think I should make the condenser? I understand that getting an exact answer is difficult so is there anyone with experience that can say what will be considered "safe"?

3) How strong can the 2" ferules and tri-clovers clamp? If I have a 1m column and shotgun condenser (length based on answer of question 2) filled with water and the circulation pipes that's filled on top of that, will it be mechanically able to carry the load? If not I need to change the design to include support arms.

Thanks in advance.

[Setsumi]

you will get better responses if you post in an appropriate forum.

for reflux, taller = purity and diammeter = speed.

[VerticalEaz]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the quick replies. If only the rest of SA could match your service delivery

Ja I bought a brass 32mm basin waste nut and took it with me as a sample to the stainless steel suppliers. They had a 1.25'' SS Barrel that went in the brass nut so I bought a 1.25" to 1.5" BSP reducing bush but the geyser element only went in for one and a half turns on that so no good. NPT is so close to BSP that I don't think that's it either, so it must be some proprietary SA geyser spec I guess.

Thanks for the tip about Gelmar - Probably the cheapest way to go about it but I am not sure if I would feel comfortable with the tiny bit of thread that is on a nut but I guess that is more paranoia on my part.

Looks like these are the only "proper" options:

https://distillique.co.za/Shop/heating- ... hread.html

https://stilltec.co.za/product/geyser-e ... thread-ss/

For what it's worth, it seems that 1.25" to 1.5" BSP reducing bush does work. I don't know why the geyser element I tried before didn't fit properly, perhaps the thread got damaged? So for what it's worth, local geysers are 1.25" BSP Thread. I bought 2x 1.25" to 1.5" BSP reducing bushes and 2 x 1.5" BSP sockets that the bushes will screw into. Then the sockets will be welded onto the keg. The sockets will add some extra length otherwise the geyser element might be too tight a fit.

Some places that sell the Bushes in CPT are World of Stainless Steel and S A V A T I.