Need help with pot still

[rubber duck]

Ryan your getting a lot of good advice. I'll add my 2C also.

There are no hard and fast rules on a pot still. I like 18" of 2in then slowly reduce to a 3/4in inside of 1in leibeg condenser, or a 1/2in worm. I also like kegs better then a pot, if your using a 5 gallon pot on a kitchen stove a shorter column might make more sense on account of the height.

Keep reading and make sure you know what your doing before you do it. I think most guys put in about 80 hours of reading before they do their first run.

[RyanP]

Thank you everyone for all the helpful advise. All the material goin into this build is absolutely free. All the copper pipe, filltings, everything is just material that has been picked up off the job site over the years. We've got 5 gallon buckets slap full of nothing but copper fittings from 90's to reducers to t's and anything else you can think of. I dont know if this is gonna work or not, but we came up with something a little different last night. From the top of the pot, we soldered two 3/4 inch stacks coming up a foot and then brought them together to a T. Then came out about another foot with 3/4 inch pipe to a reducer where we have a 3/8 worm thats about 12-23 ft in total length that will sit in an iced bucket of water. Will going from two 3/4 inch stacks reduced to one 3/8inch condenser be too much of a decrease in diameter and create back pressure or will it flow ok? Heres a quick rough sketch up of what we got so far. We can cut in a parrot or thump tank at any point in time if we want to. Im just not educated enough on how a parrot is exactly designed.

[WalkingWolf]

That design should work. 3/4 to 3/8 reduction to the worm will be fine. The coils in the worm will knock down the vapor. IMO your rate limiting junction will be where the two 3/4 come together and go into a single 3/4. If you could make this single a 1" you'd get a significantly better performance. Get a wash on and give it a go.

good luck

[Mud Mechanik]

http://homedistiller.org/forum/download ... &mode=view
This is a parrot, probably the prettiest one I have ever seen, but still a parrot. The distillate from your still drips in the cup on the side of the parrot and enters the tall tube at the bottom, when the level reaches the top it will float a hydrometer for constant abv readings, the overflow from the tube will fall into the outer cup where it is routed to your collection jar. It is just easier to see when your abv is falling, and if you are as good of a craftsman as Kentucky Shinner, it will add lots of class to your still

[exon]

I know nothing

RD sez 'average bloke may read 80hrs before 1st run.'

I'll easily exceed that!

Conventional wisdom gives the ixnay on a thermometer for a potstill, but many folks suggest boil chips.
EZ enough !
and can't hurt...

I like the idea of some copper wire wrapped around a triangular mandrel into coin sized rings of 3 - 4 wraps.
or bent pre-82 US pennies...
or 1/2" long pieces sawn off some 1/2" copper tube.
exon

[RyanP]

So we got it set up inside on the stove top and water to just run some water through to check for leaks. Everything is good, but we dont have a good seal on the top of the pot with the lid. We got couple paper clips and clamped them down, but theres got to be a better and easier way. Any suggestions?

[Mud Mechanik]

mix you up some flour and water to a "little thicker than toothpaste" consistency and make you a gasket, works like a charm.

[ArkyJ]

Mud! That ain't no Parrot. That's art. Be a shame to use it. A damn fine centerpiece to the dinning room table and a conversation piece to boot.
ArkyJ

[myles]

It would help if we could see a picture of your pot. There are different options for getting a seal and some of them only work in certain situations. I suspect you have a basic stock pot - but could be wrong.

That parrot is a nice bit of work. There is more to this craft than just efficiency. There are still designs out there that are really good a turning wash into alcohol, but sometimes we need more than that.

Even in a pot still there are options - if running a thumper I might go for a smaller diameter neck to increase vapour speed to aid in production of smaller bubbles. Basic pot to condenser, you can run bigger tube for increased production speed. Doubling up the number of necks gives you more surface area with minimal expense, compared to larger tube.

Bring art into the equation and you could go even further. Want a tapered lynn arm?

[goose eye]

good job

like that holly berry. stays green in the winter an breaks up smoke real nice. magnolua will to but it
takes some work

so im tole

[RyanP]

Ok so we got some good progress. We got the still running today with just water. Had to do some adjustments on the lid, but got it sealed tight. Cleaned out the pot and everything else and got it set back up on the stove. Ive had some basic mash working since last tuesday afternoon. 2 gallons water, 2 lbs sugar, 2lbs corn meal and a packet of active dry east. The mash was still working but since we were gonna trash the first actual run, we tossed it in and put some heat to it. Got the temp up to around 175 and we didnt gettin any results for a good 20 -30 minutes. Slowly increased the heat and stopped it around 200 F. At that point we started to get a steady drip that eventually turned into a steady stream. We tossed the first 5 oz at the beginning. We got almost a quart of almost clear product. When i say "almost" it had a slight haze to it. We threw it in the freezer since we didnt have a alcometer to test the proof. Its been in for over 3 hours and the consistantcy is the same from the beginning. Im guess it to be 70+ proof, but who knows. I have a question. We poured the mash off the top of the bucket and left the corn meal in the bottom. We can add more water and sugar and yeast to exsisting corn meal and start another batch up right? We've got pictures of setup on my neighbors phone but i cant figure out how to get them to my email.

[WalkingWolf]

yea -- you can toss in more sugar and let'er rip. Put 2 pounds of sugar per gallon of water and you'll get a little more output. Running 2 gallons at a time will be difficult to get decent cuts. As you say "almost" and then "have a slight haze" -- that slight haze means you were already into the tails pretty good. Just my opinion -- upgrade to a minimum of 5 gallon (20 liter) ferment. Upgrade the pot to a larger volume. You need enough wash to be able to get decent separation for the cuts. You can do it in small volumes but it's tight and the quality usually suffers.

congrats on a "first-run" and many more runs in your future.

WalkingWolf

[Samohon]

All good advice RyanP... I use the same setup as Rubber Duck and get excellent results constantly....
Once you learn to drive what you have safely, you'll be ready for any modification you deem fit to install...

Congrats on a first run, keep us posted...

[RyanP]

[WalkingWolf]

I'm too drunk to see anything but the larger pic. Anything you put together that'll get you liquor is a start. Looks like you got a serviceable rig together. From what I see your pot looks like a 16qt (4 gallon). That's what I got started on. You can run 3.5 gallons of an UJSSM ( without any WHEAT -- wheat will foam like you've never seen). This will give you a little more room for making cuts. I made some fine liquor with that rig. Problem I had is the pot fell apart rather quickly and I had to do two runs to finish a 5 gallon ferment. I upgraded to a 7.5 gallon "brazier" (or brasier ?) pot that could hold a whole ferment for one run -- you won't regret this upgrade.

good luck

[exon]

Yup... I got the same cheapo pot.
Gotta look for one of those 7.5gal brazier pots!
A more reasonable size.
Anyone got a source?
exon

[myles]

OK I can see the reasoning behind the brazing pots. Only about 6" high but nice and wide - brilliant for a covert reflux still. However when it comes to 6 or 7 gallons, do yourself a favour and get a small keg. If you can get a short fat one they are even better.



Tri clamp into 2" tube, and then do anything you like. They will last decades longer than any stock pot, and are already sealed and come with a pot neck conector pre-fitted. If you want a 5 gallon pot for on the grain distilling - WELL that is a different issue.

Use a stock pot if you must. A copper pot is better - even if you ave to make one yourself.

[WalkingWolf]

Space is still the issue with the mini keg. The total height on this is 32.5". I can still lower it 1.5" if I would have needed to. The height constraint was my limiting factor. I've seen a number of cook top configuration without the hood that have substanatial head room even to the point of running a column on a stove-top. This pot is a 7.5 gallon.

The other thing about the large foot print of the pot is it will extend over two burners and it does make a difference when you're heating up.

[WalkingWolf]

Yup... I got the same cheapo pot.
Gotta look for one of those 7.5gal brazier pots!
A more reasonable size.
Anyone got a source?
exon

This is the pot I bought. http://www.katom.com/370-SBR30.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[exon]

Tnx WW.

A beautiful cooking utensil, indeed!
...I'd have to float a bank loan to get that.
Will need to wait until I can get a pony keg for $25.
exon

[blanikdog]

... Had to do some adjustments on the lid, but got it sealed tight. ...

Did you seal it with flour past, ryan?

[The Baker]

I've just started using a worm condenser for my pot still so am no expert;

(I'm making a few alterations to the way the coil is fixed to be certain it runs downward all the way.
Which is not as bloody easy as it might sound, though a lot of that is due to my inexperience and clumsiness!)

BUT, I would never think of using a coil with only 3/8 diameter; I am sure that will be the limiting factor in the throughput you can achieve.
If that is the material you need to use for your coil, would it be worth while to cut it in half and run a double coil half as long?
It will be interesting to see what others say but several have spoken in this thread of the limiting effect of too small a tube.
Though I am not too sure whether they were talking of the coil
(I think blanik posted a message previously about how good a bigger coil is)
or maybe just the column.
Anyway good luck.

(Mine is 3/4 diameter, which is probably bigger than usual, and over 20 feet long, but I have a three-ring burner and want to distill a greater quantity in less time, less often.)

[blanikdog]

Mine is a keg with an piece of 2' copper pipe about 8" - 10" long with a 90 degree elbow at the top. It is a neat fit into the kettle and and sealed with simple flour paste to make life easy and uncomplicated. I made a lyne arm from copper sheet tapering from 2" down to 3/4" and fitted with a compression fitting to secure the coil which sits in a 20litre bucket with water entering the bottom and what little that exits coms out the top. No ice,, no thermometer, no maths, no science and no complications, again. The whole shebang is matched with a parrot.

Prior to lhis I had a 3/8" coil which was as useful as a large pinch of billy goat shit. The 3/4" coil reduced stilling time by several hours.



I haven't had much input into in this thread unless it was related to safety, as Ryan kept asking questions that could be easily answered by reading the forum. God, Allah, Jehovah or whoever helps those who help themselves, same in here and, more importantly, self help is a more solid learning experience.

The way this forum is expanding it will have 10,000 members by the end of 2011 and these people can't all expect to be spoonfed . We all have to try to reduce what will become a rather heavy load for those who already do a hellova good job, and I'm not talking about admin, mods and mentors. I'm talking about the folk who just answer stuff and make a real effort to contribute.

Stay Safe

Edit: forgot to mention that the lyne arm is fifteen degrees down from the elbow.

[myles]

On the issue of double coils - yes you can run parallel coils BUT each leg still wants to be about 20' long.

In some respects a double coil of 3/8" would be better than a single coil of the same cross sectional area as the two 3/8" tubes. The wall thickness will be smaller(probably) and the total surface area is greater.

Getting the coils to run true is easy enough if you use physical spacers between the coils to maintain the pitch angle.

[RyanP]

... Had to do some adjustments on the lid, but got it sealed tight. ...

Did you seal it with flour past, ryan?

No paste, used binder clips.

As for the ones who have been on me about not searching for the topics ive asked about, sorry. I guess after so long a forum needs to remove the submit button.

[blanikdog]

No flour paste. And it isn't leaking. How do you know? Ahhhh, you used a candle.

That's it from me Ryan. You have no idea or you just don't listen, or you don't care. I hope that when the explosion occurs you will be alone.

[RyanP]

No flour paste. And it isn't leaking. How do you know? Ahhhh, you used a candle.

That's it from me Ryan. You have no idea or you just don't listen, or you don't care. I hope that when the explosion occurs you will be alone.

Wow! really? Why would you wish harm on someone? Im pretty sure that a simple binder clip would give way before a stainless still pot explodes.

[Mud Mechanik]

Blanik is referring to all of the advice that has come your way and yet you post a comment about not sealing the lid on a boiler. The binder clips will be the weak link in the event of an explosion but if there is no vapor leaking from the lid (if is were sealed), the chance of one happening is reduced to nearly nothing. I'm sure you have picked up on it by now if you have been reading, safety is stressed here more than distilling.

[goose eye]

some likker burns clear

so im tole

[exon]

There is a definite, and specific reason why safety is a primary concern with this subject matter.
My friend, pictured here, did not know the extent of the alcohol fire as it first occurred.
He actually compounded the bad effects when it happened.
The healing process was very long, and extremely painful.
Best to be cautious.
exon