CCVM design feedback

[MooseMan]

Nice score!

Yes they are often highly polished on the inside. Polishing stainless to a high finish prevents anything sticking to it.
Nothing to worry about, it's all stainless in there.

[StillCity]

good to know. now that its dry, it looks more like polished stainless.

By the way, in case anyone is looking for cheap tri-clamp stuff, try this:
https://www.californiaextractionsupply. ... _order=asc

I got a 48" long 3" stainless spool for $15, and other stuff for similar prices, from their used/refurbished section. It delivered today, and is in very good condition.
Beats AliExpress's prices, and standard market prices by a mile

[StillCity]

I need advice on column packing. My goal is to collect around 95%, as I was able to do on my old still which had a 1.6 inch, 24" high column with copper scrubbies.

I'm trying to decide on packing material ( scrubbies, mesh, SPP, ceramic rings, marbles etc.)
Also, will I need to pack the entire column? because 7 liters of SPP is going to be pretty expensive.
If I pack, say, 35 inches of the column, is that the equivalent of a 35 inch column, or does the extra unpacked height have some benefit of it's own?

Column height = 70"
inside diameter = 2.87"
heigh/diameter ratio = 24.4
column volume = 7.4 liters

[Salt Must Flow]

I really like using black Lava Rock with my 3" VM. I use 4 rolls of copper mesh at the base of the column then pour Lava Rock to fill the rest. I pour a good bit in, slap the side of the column to make sure it all settles well, pour in more and repeat. It has always provided me with 95%+ ABV every time with zero hint of flooding ever. It's a tiny fraction of the cost of SPP. It works so well that I no longer have any interest in SPP. I was going to make my own SPP too, but decided to try Lava Rock first.

[StillCity]

thanks for the info. I just read some threads on lava rock, and it looks many have found it to be a very good solution for the price. I'll look into it more

[StillCity]

Salt Must Flow, did you ever regret putting the casters on your keg? any stability issues?

I'm weighing whether to do casters or just legs

[Salt Must Flow]

Salt Must Flow, did you ever regret putting the casters on your keg? any stability issues?

I'm weighing whether to do casters or just legs

2024-03-28 11_20_22-file.php (1202×1600).png

No I absolutely love having swiveling castors on all my boilers. No stability issues at all. Now I'll admit that when I install my 6' x 3" dia column on top of the keg, I use a clamp to secure my VM head to a truss. Once clamped, I then install the product condenser, water lines, etc... I don't like to leave my VM still 'free standing'. Too many accidents can happen to cause a tall still to fall over. I've had a dog trip on my water lines. I've even tripped on my water lines before. I'll always secure the head to truss to make me feel more comfortable. Now if you can't secure the head directly to a truss, you could always install an eyelet in the ceiling and secure the head using a nylon strap or something like that. It just ensures that the worst case scenario can never happen. People have said that 3 casters are ideal if you have uneven concrete. I prefer 4 casters and I can adjust each to adapt to uneven concrete to ensure stability if needed, though I've never really had to do that.

There's a lot of ways of doing it, but I had 4 stainless Hex Rod Coupling Nuts TIG welded to the base of the keg. Now the casters screw directly into the nuts.

For me, swiveling casters are super convenient. I can roll the boilers around with ease. I don't like to have to pick things up and carry them around if I can keep from it. Work smarter not harder. I even made wood platforms with swiveling casters for my 55 gal fermenters. They weigh about 430 lbs when full, but I can move them around pretty easily.

I figured that if I ever didn't want to use casters, I could always install something like this in their place. I don't foresee that ever being the case though.

[Steve Broady]

People have said that 3 casters are ideal if you have uneven concrete. I prefer 4 casters and I can adjust each to adapt to uneven concrete to ensure stability if needed, though I've never really had to do that.

Fun fact: I’ve seen a proof that any 4 legged object which is not stable on all 4 legs can be rotated by some angle less than 90 degrees and there MUST be a position where all 4 legs touch the floor (unless the floor has abrupt vertical changes in height, at least). I’ve tested this in a restaurant with success. Using a round boiler and parts which can be rotated into any desired position means that a boiler with 4 casters can easily be positioned in a stand configuration.

[StillCity]

good to know you like the casters, seems like a smart move. I hadn't thought about securing the top of the still, I will definitely plan on that now.
This bad boy is gonna raise the center of mass a little: