Trying to upgrade a bit

[jessespa]

Hey guys I've been thinking about upping my game a little bit.

I have a guy here locally that has a brite tank from his brewing days that he's looking to unload for a decent price. I believe it is 35 gallon i know it is breaking the 30 gallon rule but I'm working with what I can get my hands on.

I figure it has plenty of tri-clamp fittings and may need to maybe add 1 or 2 for elements and block the rest of the fittings off. It does have a nice 4" ferrule in the top of it so that will help me as well. I've been trying to upgrade from my 2" 15 gallon beer keg setup that I currently have.

First question has anyone done this before and is there anything that I'm not thinking about that might cause me problems. I know it will be borderline too big for just a small hobby distiller like me. But I'm hoping I may be able to retire one day and have this in case I decide to take things to the next level. I know my son is chomping at the bit for me to retire and maybe start a small legal distillery.

Second question with the keg setup I have now I'm currently working with a 4500 220v element with 220v controller.
Will two elements be enough to heat it up mostly just stripping runs. Maybe 1 element at the very bottom and another offset a few inches higher I don't know.

Just bouncing ideas off of you guys here as you all know I don't ask very many questions here and tend to find the answers I'm looking for looking through old posts but didn't know what to look for in this case. I appreciate any help you guys can give me.

[still_stirrin]

I have two 4.5kW elements in my keg boiler. But, I run them on 120VAC circuits, so they’re more like 2.2kW total when running wide open. But I rarely run full power once the boiler charge gets near to boiling. For the potstill head, on a stripping run I’ll run at 8 to 9 amps (950-1050W) to each element (on separate circuits, each with at Triac control). For the 1 meter tall glass marble packed reflux column, I will run it at 7 to 7-1/2 amps (850-900W) per circuit. Both stillheads are 2” copper (you can see them with the links in my signature).

So, your keg boiler should be fine with a single 4.5kW element if you run it on 220VAC. But, if running on 120VAC, I’d suggest adding the 2nd element.

As for the bright tank, I’d use it as a fermenter (at least in the near term). Is it jacketed? A 30-35 gallon fermenter is a good size to mate with a keg boiler because it would have a 3 boiler charge capacity. Plus, a 35 gallon boiler is big, ie - it would take a big fermenter to “feed” it and you’ll have a lot of product from it (for a hobbyist). But, it would be too small for even a small (craft) distillery. So, it would not be a vessel worth modifying for “boiler duty”.
ss

[bunny]

Why is it whenever most guys want to "up their game" all they can think about is "BIGGER"?

You could double your game just by duplicating your current keg arrangement.

You could probably also double your current game by going to a 3" column.

Food for thought.

[PLAYMP]

I use a 40 gallon stainless brew pot that I use for mashing, fermenting (off grain), and then doing a stripping run in a single go. I only use a single 5500W element so heat up takes a little under 2 hours and I’m very liberal with reflectix to try to speed that up as much as possible. But I still think it’s been invaluable and really feel like it’s let me level up as a home distiller.

[Wildcats]

Sounds like it'll make you a good fermenter. I personally don't think you can ever have enough equipment. The more the merrier as they say. If you can get it for a good price... Then I'd jump on it. And if you want to use it as a boiler down the road... Then you have it on hand. Imagine being able to strip 25 gals at once... Would be nice. Just me two cents... Have fun and stay safe.

[Twisted Brick]

Why is it whenever most guys want to "up their game" all they can think about is "BIGGER"?

You could double your game just by duplicating your current keg arrangement.

You could probably also double your current game by going to a 3" column.

Food for thought.

Default answer is 'it's a guy thing', but when a when a good deal (there's actually a dedicated HD thread on these kinds of random windfalls) drops in your lap, one takes a hard look and asks the right questions.

[jessespa]

Thanks guys like I said just using you guys as pretty much a thoughts board. I know you guys will tell me exactly what you think and appreciate that about this forum.
SS: my kegs work great and have been using them as well as my milk can boiler for quite some time now. I hear what your saying and yes it would be a bit on the small side for a craft distillery. Oh and to answer your question it is not a jacked tank.

Bunny: yeah everyone wants bigger. I wouldn't mind upgrading to 3" i would really like to bump up to 4" that is kind of what got me wondering about this tank was the large tri-clamp on top of it.

PLAYMP: Yeah I already grabbed the matching fermentor/mash tun that I plan to use with my steam outfit since most of what I do is on grain. No more 8-10gallon mashes for me using my milk can with 16-20lb corn. I think what helped my cooking more than anything is using steam to cook my corn.

You guys know how it is walking into a barn with a bunch of big shiny tanks and what not and wondering what can I do with this and that.
I was just happy I got the fermenter and still thinking about options for the brite tank.

[Salt Must Flow]

Hey guys I've been thinking about upping my game a little bit.

I have a guy here locally that has a brite tank from his brewing days that he's looking to unload for a decent price. I believe it is 35 gallon i know it is breaking the 30 gallon rule but I'm working with what I can get my hands on.

I figure it has plenty of tri-clamp fittings and may need to maybe add 1 or 2 for elements and block the rest of the fittings off. It does have a nice 4" ferrule in the top of it so that will help me as well. I've been trying to upgrade from my 2" 15 gallon beer keg setup that I currently have.

First question has anyone done this before and is there anything that I'm not thinking about that might cause me problems. I know it will be borderline too big for just a small hobby distiller like me. But I'm hoping I may be able to retire one day and have this in case I decide to take things to the next level. I know my son is chomping at the bit for me to retire and maybe start a small legal distillery.

Second question with the keg setup I have now I'm currently working with a 4500 220v element with 220v controller.
Will two elements be enough to heat it up mostly just stripping runs. Maybe 1 element at the very bottom and another offset a few inches higher I don't know.

Just bouncing ideas off of you guys here as you all know I don't ask very many questions here and tend to find the answers I'm looking for looking through old posts but didn't know what to look for in this case. I appreciate any help you guys can give me.

One heating element would bring it up to temp to temp just fine, but will take half as long as it would with a 2nd element. One element would power a stripping run just fine, but at half the potential takeoff rate that having a 2nd element would. You would want a product condenser capable of handling both elements. People will warn you about foaming & puking when stripping with too much power depending on what's in the boiler. If you're concerned about scorching something when using one element at higher power, you would normally reduce power. If you have two elements, you can operate both elements at reduced power giving you twice the input in comparison to a single element.

You don't always need a 2nd controller to operate two elements. One element could just run at 100%, but I do like having a 2nd controller to be able to reduce power to both elements if/when I want to.

I really appreciate having a larger boiler for stripping. I haven't optimized insulating it yet. I just wrap it with a cotton sleeping bag and secure it with some straps. I've considered different ways of optimizing the insulation, but never moved forward with any better method. The only inconvenient thing I can think of with my stripping boiler is that my drain is as low as it can go on the side. I have to hose it out while tipping it. My stripping boiler has a flat bottom and sits on a wood base with 4 swiveling casters. There's no great way of making it 'self draining' like a rounded bottom boiler that has a center drain hole. I don't foresee ever getting rid of it or it becoming obsolete.