CM Operation of Ugly Betty

[bcook608]

Good afternoon,

I am wondering how effective this design is as I bought this still from someone on FB Marketplace.

20220326_121431.jpg

I have been running this setup in "Pot Still Mode" since I got it because I'm not very knowledgeable with CM, LM, or VM setups. I was doing some reading in this section of the forum to determine if the design is viable as the seller's practices and how he described running this still were questionable at best. He said he ran it with water heater elements (the elements he provided were only about 6" straight elements) and he ran it with an inkbird in a thermowell at the top of the riser before the lyne arm to control the heat.

I have since removed the thermowell and valve he was using and I'm wondering if I can use this as a CM still even though I don't have a "T" at the top to house the RC. The RC is the entire length of the riser. It appears to be a 1/4" copper coil that's double wound and soldered into the reducer that goes from 2" to 1-1/4".

My ultimate goal is to run it like this:

- Heat up the wash until I start getting drips from the PC.
- Turn down the PC, turn up the RC, and adjust heat input until I find equilibrium as I don't have a thermometer.
- Slowly turn down the flow to the RC until I start getting drips again
- Collect 150ml per 5gal of wash as fores
- Collect heads in a single jar until I start to notice late heads/hearts transition
- Collect hearts in liter jars until I start to notice early tails
- Collect tails in 1/2 gallon jugs and save for blending.


At a glance, are there any major flaws to my approach? Is there a more efficient way to tackle this?
Like I said, I've been reading through the various CM build threads as I figured since I'll be adjusting water flow this qualifies as a CM still. If I'm wrong anywhere in this, please let me know. The biggest thing that's hanging me up is the setup of the still. I don't know if I ruined the option to run as a CM still when I redid the plumbing or not as I haven't come across another still with this same design.

[Saltbush Bill]

One thing I would definitely suggest , is that you find or make some sort of prop to support that condenser.
There seems to me a lot of weight dangling out there to me......once the condenser and hoses are full of water there will be even more.
Without a needle valve or some other way of fine tuning the water flow to the reflux it will be a handful to run.
I'm sure others will be along to answer your other questions.

[bcook608]

One thing I would definitely suggest , is that you find or make some sort of prop to support that condenser.
There seems to me a lot of weight dangling out there to me......once the condenser and hoses are full of water there will be even more.
Without a needle valve or some other way of fine tuning the water flow to the reflux it will be a handful to run.
I'm sure others will be along to answer your other questions.

You can't see it well in the pictures but I have needle valves at the in and out of each condenser and each condenser will have it's own pump to supply water so they can be tuned individually. I am in the process of making some kind of leg to help stabilize the condenser but I'm in the middle of rearranging my garage distilling space so I will hold off until I know exactly where I will be running.

Also, I will eventually be building new still heads that are full 2" along the entire run to help with physical stability.

But other than that, I can count the opening of the PC as my opening to atmosphere since I won't be operating this with any type of valve, right? Do you see any other issues that would be cause for concern?

[BrewinBrian44]

Wow, someone very ballsy sold that thing on FB marketplace. Seems like painting a big target on your back as a seller.

I wonder what the seal material is on the boiler dump valve and it it’s alcohol safe?

[Saltbush Bill]

I can count the opening of the PC as my opening to atmosphere since I won't be operating this with any type of valve, right?

As far as I can tell from the photo that is correct.

[bcook608]

Wow, someone very ballsy sold that thing on FB marketplace. Seems like painting a big target on your back as a seller.

I wonder what the seal material is on the boiler dump valve and it it’s alcohol safe?

Yeah, he had it listed as "Specialty Brewing Equipment"

As far as the seal, I used PTFE gaskets for every connection.

[bcook608]

WELL SHIT...

Tried to use the RC today and everything about the still head is undersized for the setup.
The RC, as I found out, is a single wound 1/4" coil with a HUGE gap in the center that allows vapor to run right through it. Plus, there is such a large water jacket that the 1/4" supply lines can't push enough water through it fast enough to really knock much down. With the exception of the heat up time I save by being able to do 15-20 gallons at a time, I'm almost better off switching back to my 5 gallon still until I can get the new still head built.

Oh well, it was worth a shot. Got some more work to do and I'll be back at it!

[Bushman]

The colum also looks short to be an effective reflux still.

[bcook608]

Yeah, the guy I bought it from didn't know what he was talking about.
I'm just going to run her in pot still mode and use her for medium/slow stripping runs until I get my new shotgun and a few other parts in the mail.

[shadylane]

The RC is the entire length of the riser. It appears to be a 1/4" copper coil that's double wound and soldered into the reducer that goes from 2" to 1-1/4".

With a 30 gallon gas fired boiler, I'd redo the entire column to 3 or 4"

[bcook608]

I was looking at a 4" plated column with bubble caps with a 4" dephleg and a 2" lyne arm with 2"x24" shotgun condenser. But I'll have to piece it together a little bit at a time