Oak Stills 8-Gallon Milkcan (stainless) First Impression

[serpentruss]

Just received my still from Oak Stills today. This is my upgrade from my 1-1/2 gallon pressure cooker pot.

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.

[BlackStrap]

Before running any "product" through the new still.

It is highly recommended To do a 50/50 vinegar/ water run AND a sacrificial run...
The sacrificial run removes any residues that high proof alcohol will loosen up.

Be Safe & Have Fun
BlackStrap

[serpentruss]

Before running any "product" through the new still.

It is highly recommended To do a 50/50 vinegar/ water run AND a sacrificial run...
The sacrificial run removes any residues that high proof alcohol will loosen up.

Be Safe & Have Fun
BlackStrap

I hear you. I have some cheap vodka I'm going to dilute just for that purpose. My column and worm parts are well used, so I may just distill the vinegar wash through a turn down to my driveway.

[PalCabral]

Oakstill sell good quality stuff and have create customer service. I am sure you will enjoy your purchase.

The 8 gallon boiler has one distinct con and it's the position of the electric heater. It sits too high up meaning you need to leave a minimum of +12L (3,2 gallons) behind in the pot to prevent the heating element to get exposed (and self-destruct). In a boiler of only 8 gallons, having to leave +3 gallon behind becomes a problem when running stripping runs, as you are force to cut off too early, and in spirit runs if you want to collect feints. For me it was an impediment that I was lucky to avoid by upgrading my order to a 13 gallon boiler, which has two element fittings and the lower one only needs 10L (2.8 gallons) behind to spare the elements from self-destruction.

Not meant to cloud your purchase but to make you aware that you must watch out not to go too deep in your runs using the 8 gallon boiler.

[Pure Old Possum Piss]

Oakstill sell good quality stuff and have create customer service. I am sure you will enjoy your purchase.

The 8 gallon boiler has one distinct con and it's the position of the electric heater. It sits too high up meaning you need to leave a minimum of +12L (3,2 gallons) behind in the pot to prevent the heating element to get exposed (and self-destruct). In a boiler of only 8 gallons, having to leave +3 gallon behind becomes a problem when running stripping runs, as you are force to cut off too early, and in spirit runs if you want to collect feints. For me it was an impediment that I was lucky to avoid by upgrading my order to a 13 gallon boiler, which has two element fittings and the lower one only needs 10L (2.8 gallons) behind to spare the elements from self-destruction.

Not meant to cloud your purchase but to make you aware that you must watch out not to go too deep in your runs using the 8 gallon boiler.

Sorta like my 26 gallon. It takes about 3 or 4 gallons to just cover the electric elements.
With a full kettle i dont worry about it, but if I'm doing a stripping run of less than 10 gallons I have to add some water to be sure the elements don't run dry towards the end of the run. The 100% SS 5500W ultra low density elements ain't cheap. But they damn sure help to keep from scorching corn on them.

[bilgriss]

I'm certain that the thermometer is meant to measure the vapor temperature, not the liquid.

Please do the vinegar run and sacrificial run before using on anything you might drink.

If either of these statements make you wonder why? - please follow the links at the bottom of the page in the "Required Reading" section, and don't do anything that involves heating alcohol until you have read everything there and can answer those questions. There's a very real safety reason for my typing this, and along the way, you will learn things to make a much more pleasant product more quickly.

Good luck along the way! I also have an 8 gallon milk can boiler, and have run it on 120V with a 1650 Watt element very successfully. It's a great start!