Vevor 9 gallon POS

[DRHillier]

I bought a vevor 9. Something still for making distilled water. I've produced about 8 gallons of water in the past few weeks and I've discovered that it's a POS. the pot is nice, but the rest I'm going to have to rebuild. It came with a thumper keg that turned out to be nothing more than a puke bucket. I haven't needed it for water, but when I decide to step up and do a run, I'll have to build that as well. Being a mechanic, I'm thinking of using a transmission cooler, and a high volume fuel pump to cycle cooling water through. Probably attach a cooling fan to it as well. As far as the condenser is concerned that should be easy enough. A bigger cooling pot, 1/2" copper tubing, and more coils than the 3 they used. I'll post pictures when I'm done with the improvements. I'm no artist so don't expect beauty. I can tell that if I were to try to run with what I bought, I would fail miserably. My primary goal for now is to get the condenser cooler and use much less water to do it. After that I'll add in the thumper keg and do a sacrificial run. I'll keep reading as well to get as much advice as I can.

[Saltbush Bill]

vevor.jpg

Something like this , holds 41L or 9 Gal.
Its a shame that unsuspecting Newbs buy these things, The worst bit is that as long as people continue to buy these cheap bits of rubbish, manufacturers will continue to make and market them.
After trying to use one many people must be turned off of the hobby for keeps.

the pot is nice, but the rest I'm going to have to rebuild.

Have you considered that you can probably build a simple pot still on a keg boiler for a similar cost as rebuilding that one ?

[DRHillier]

Have you considered that you can probably build a simple pot still on a keg boiler for a similar cost as rebuilding that one ?
[/quote]

Yes that's exactly what it is. I'll break down and build another one down the road, but I'm gonna see what I can and can't do with this one first. It'll be fun to try and make a piece of $hit run better.

[still_stirrin]

Have you considered that you can probably build a simple pot still on a keg boiler for a similar cost as rebuilding that one ?

Yes that's exactly what it is. I'll break down and build another one down the road, but I'm gonna see what I can and can't do with this one first. It'll be fun to try and make a piece of $hit run better.

Great. I get the sense there will be a million questions coming back soon, as you “stumble and fumble” your way through the modifications.
ss

[DRHillier]

Great. I get the sense there will be a million questions coming back soon, as you “stumble and fumble” your way through the modifications.
ss
[/quote]

I'm a mechanic so I've got coolers floating around the shop. I've got a 12×8" cooler that is a virgin. I'm gonna run it inline with the output on my submersible pump then into the condenser pot. There's room for 4 computer fans to attach to the cooler which should cool things down plenty. I could just run it outside on the deep fryer burner with the garden hose which would make things much simpler. I'm only making water with this one so I'm not worried about the open flame, but it would be nice to make it self contained and only use 4 gallons of water to cool it. Cars keep cooler on half of that. I'll bring my thermal imager home this weekend and a thermometer to see how much it's improved. Once I've got the distilled water down I'll keep reading the forums and come up with another still that I can do alcohol with and use it only for alcohol. I've got to get this water still going good first to keep the wife happy. But yes you're right. There will be questions coming. Lol I keep reading about heating your still and various wattage, I haven't figured out if that's an external coil type burner, or a water heater type element inside the pot.... lots to read and lots to comprehend

[DRHillier]

I added the transmission cooler and a squirrel cage fan. It worked really well. I had to swap out 2 gallons of cooling water at the 1.5 gallon mark instead of the 12 gallons or so that i had to swap out last time. It's still not perfect, but it's definitely headed in the right direction. Next time I'll be doing it outside on the propane burner, and I'll be able to cool with the garden hose. But at least now I have a fairly efficient way to do it indoors if needed. I uploaded this photo after editing it to less than 2 meg. I hope it's small enough.

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