I only ordered the boiler and a few odds and ends, not a complete unit. I also ordered a few 1-1/2 inch parts. My current still head is all 1-1/2 inch parts. Other than the kettle, the copper adapter from 4 inch to 1-1/2 inch was the most expensive item ($56).
It was packed incredibly well, in a small wooden crate, the other parts I ordered were wrapped in foam and tossed inside. Shipping from their site to my door, finished by UPS, was 6 days. Filling the order took 3, for a total of 9. Not bad at all.
I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised. There are a couple of nagging things. For example, the thermometer sent with the unit has a two inch probe. If you figure a max, 5 to 6 gallon run, It would never sit in the liquid of the pot. In my current still, I have a liquid temp (RTD) and I find it very useful. I also have it hooked up to an old digital chart recorder which is extremely handy for figuring out how fast you're warming things up.
I bought a short 1-1/2 x 4 inch spool with a 1/2 NPT thread and it came with another identical thermometer. The thermometer hits the opposite wall of the adapter. I was planning on putting in an RTD in this as well, so I'm not too upset, but you can tell no one in China test fit the two pieces which are sold as one part number.
The kettle came with a heating element, I ordered the 120 volt unit, and it looks to be a decent quality. It did not come with a controller, but I have a vintage Variac which is built like a tank. I'll be using that. If you just put a cord on the 120 volt unit and plugged it into the wall, it would probably trip your breaker. I measured it at 5.8 ohms with my fluke, which means it would pull almost exactly 20 amps. The element has three coils in parallel, so I wired one coil out of the circuit. that took it up to 8.8 ohms which should limit the current on a 120 volt circuit to 13 amps. I'll see if it heats well enough there. If not, I'll put the coil back in circuit and be careful with my controller.
The boiler is nicely finished. The welds seem really good for this price point. It's much heavier construction than I imagined. The tri-clamps are very basic, but the extras I ordered were really inexpensive and they're functional.
Right now, I have it warming up in my driveway completely full of water and a bit of Dawn dishwashing liquid. There was small amount of oil from the manufacturing process in the pot.
If anyone here has any questions about this product, I will be happy to get you the answers. I think I'll be running this by the weekend and add another photo of my complete setup.
Below is a photo of the still and the copper adapter that takes it to 1-1/2 inch.
