Modifying a Jacketed Boiler

[Blue Chip]

This post is how I modified my jacketed boiler from Oak Stills.

Background:
It is a 26 gal. pot belly that I purchased four years ago and before that was using a keg. I always used water and filled the jacket until the level was just visible on the sight glass. Which is probably half of the jackets volume. I use this to cook, mash, ferment, and distill in. It worked great and saved me a lot of work and time by not squeezing or transferring wash. I grind as fine as I can, which is around cornmeal and it drains fairly well with minimal scooping if any. I only strip with this and collect low wines into a five-gallon boiler which I have two of. By alternating these I can strip in one while doing the spirit run in the other all at the same time. FWIW I primarily do all grain.

Changes:
I have been wanting to play with one and done runs and was talking with Windy City about his single pass two plate setup about the time he mentioned using a self-contained steam setup in this thread.

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I upgraded to a larger diameter pressure gauge for better resolution along with a new pressure relief valve, vacuum breaker, and a steam vent to release the air in the system. The steam vent was the only addition; the others were just upgraded.

My current setup could bring my pressure as high as 14psi if I used all 30 amps (240v 1PH) from my two elements. It has a 15psi relief valve and has never lifted but by changing things around I could drop to 3psi or less I was told. So, I ordered the parts he recommended and made a manifold to mount everything out of some scrap 316SS round stock I had. Since I only needed to just cover the elements the sight glass I had would not work. I ordered a different one and got that all plumbed up.

Results:
Absolutely one of the best upgrades I could have made in my opinion. It heats up faster, has faster throttle response, and lower pressure. The most I have made is 1.5lbs. I am now running two 4” procap plates from still dragon and the response time with making power adjustments would have taken much longer to see from the old setup. By removing the air and only having a minimal amount of water it allows for easier control. It may not sound like much was changed but this is a totally different animal. I thought it worked great before but as they say “You don’t know, what you don’t know.”
Hopefully I explained this well enough, if not ask away. I’m sure Windy will chime in if needed. I can’t thank him enough for his help and passion for safety.

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