Home Distiller

Let's all give tolona the benefit of the doubt for now, shall we?

tolona, the whole point is that the kinds of stills we are running should not be able to build up much pressure, if any. And they should always have some kind of pressure relief system (usually being open to the atmosphere at a certain point in the design). Otherwise you have a pressure bomb on your hands, and it could seriously hurt or even kill you, and anybody close by.

nh–yankee, you are talking about a different situation, a combustion type explosion, though if a still explodes through straight pressure, then its spilt and partially vapourised contents will become a serious fire and explosion hazard.

So we're getting to the bottom of this... On the one hand you got a bee's dick whatevever that is then on the other hand you have an explosive force which can blow you up....ThenI I read about these three guys down in Athens GA who were running some whisky in their garage....... Exploded all over them. Put 'em all in the hospital. Now I might be from the sticks, but it does seem there is some pressure built up here...........

tolona wrote:So we're getting to the bottom of this... On the one hand you got a bee's dick whatevever that is then on the other hand you have an explosive force which can blow you up....ThenI I read about these three guys down in Athens GA who were running some whisky in their garage....... Exploded all over them. Put 'em all in the hospital. Now I might be from the sticks, but it does seem there is some pressure built up here...........

Tolona.

The post I did about trolls, was not directed at you. It was directed at another party who posted a follow up post in this thread, and has been trolling crap all of the forums for a week or so.

Second, if 3 idiots down in Athens GA blew them selves up with an explosion while running whiskey, then they obviously knew NOTHING about what the F they were doing, and darwin was thinning the herd. There is NO reason why a still should run ANY amount of pressure. If your still does, then you have built it WRONG. Mote there are exceptions to every rule, but until you become a VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE expert at distilling, you simple will have NO reason to ever build a still that is not simply open to the atmosphere, and thus will build NO pressure of any significance.

H.

tolona wrote:Exploded all over them. Put 'em all in the hospital. Now I might be from the sticks, but it does seem there is some pressure built up here...........

no the reason you get a still exploding is some idiot that thinks he knows everything about distilling builds a still out of what ever he finds at the plumbing store and builds it wrong to the extent it explodes and almost kills him/them

simple as that

i know someone (friend of a friend of a friend that i have met once at his house) that has built his own still totally out of heavy gauge SS and it is all sealed when the output tap is closed i have told him time and time its a bomb waiting to happen
and to get on the web and look and read around but he wont

i am in 2 minds whether to inform the police on him as it is just dangerous but then again i don't want to be "that guy that called the cops"

"That guy that called the cops and saved the neighbors little girls life" sounds better

eternalfrost wrote:just curious... whats the advantage of a 'ponu'?

didnt read through the page just looked at the schematic. seems overly complicated to do something that other dead simple designs have been proven to excel at (VM LM or a simple pot)

especially if you are saying it can build up pressure.... bad news

well i have been able to distill up to 94.5% and as low at 35% just by changing the power input and the cooling input

all with out having to change a thing on the still

there is also the fact that it is only 600mm high and it is very forgiving on the heat input and the cooling input side of things i cant think of a better design for a small home stove top still that can fit easily in a back pack for transport and hiding

besides all thos facts

i don't like to be dull and the same as everyone else and the design intrigued me and i wanted to see if it would work

i do not know of another one of the Ponu stills anywhere and i love a challenge

as other veterans here will know i have other bets about other things i plan to make just to rub certain peoples noses in it when they work (looks around thinking about a steam powered system he is planing)

Ugly wrote:"That guy that called the cops and saved the neighbors little girls life" sounds better

his kids are there 1 weekend in 4 and he never uses the still on that week end from what i have been told

Some or most of the pressure built up by expanding (heated) vapors in the boiler will (or at least should) be negated by the vapor collapsing in the condenser. Any still should be open to atmosphere somewhere. Thumpers will cause some pressure build up in boiler #1, has to or it wouldn't work. An aquarium pump won't bubble through the water if it ain't got pressure. Most kegs have a burst pressure of 60 psi, if you get over 5 psi something's wrong I'd say. If you run a thumper you can build or buy a pressure relief valve from Milehi or Brewhaus or other places on the net that are preloaded for 5psi. You can build one with a marble/ball bearing and spring and some copper fittings that you can control the blowoff pressure on. You can also add one of these devices to any boiler if you're concerned.

Let's hope he sticks with that plan AE since it's too late for him to win a Darwin award as he's already bred.

Ugly wrote:Let's hope he sticks with that plan AE since it's too late for him to win a Darwin award as he's already bred.

ROFLMAO
HAHAHAHAHA

i carnt stop laughing

its just sooo true

Tolona, I owe you an apology for my previous harsh words. Perhaps you are not a troll as others that I respect have pointed out. Your silence so far is confirmation.

Pressure is not a normal state in a still. A still creates steam and then condenses the steam almost like putting a mirror over the spout of a kettle and collecting the drops. Just because a 'boiler' is used has nothing to do with steam engines.

Steam engine boilers have to pass rigerous safety tests for withstanding pressure. Still boilers don't have to pass those tests because they have no pressure to speak of.

Just consider how a petrol engine works: get a little gasoline or alcohol, add a little air, compress it, give a spark, and BOOM with enough energy to power the 1st world as we know it in all it's glory!

New guy here! I've been reading your forum for a while. Have read the parent site several times and still don't feel qualified to do my first build yet. Collecting parts and reading and learning. Thanks to the guys making the point no preasure. Open to the atmosphere. I get it. Thank you!!!