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+1 Chris.
Time to re evaluate your equipment. Replace the plastics with DIY PTFE gaskets and whatnot or at a minimum go silicone. Unfortunately, there could be bigger problems than that. Some of the cheaply refined or recycled metals coming out of certain places in the middle/far east are heavily contaminated with not so great things. In some cases they can even contain radioactive substances. If you can, build your own that way you know EXACTLY what went into it. Please don't hurt yourself anymore with this thing, the world has enough suffering in it and honestly, it puts a lump in my throat.

It's even plausible that there could be nickle plated elements in your rig, that'd do it.

Alchemist75 wrote:Replace the plastics with DIY PTFE gaskets and whatnot or at a minimum go silicone.

I'd hazard a guess that it came with silicone gaskets.

Alchemist75 wrote: The only synthetics identified as safe at this point are PTFE and silicone. Silicone has been identified as leaching some into ethanol but it's not clear that it's harmful....yet. .

Alchemist75 wrote: Time to re evaluate your equipment. Replace the plastics with DIY PTFE gaskets and whatnot or at a minimum go silicone.

Alchemist75 , That's twice in the one thread you have suggested that using Silicone is OK ...sorry ...it's not an acceptable material on this forum . PTFE otherwise known as Teflon is the only synthetic material that we will accept the use of .

No more talk of Silicone

Hi all,I contacted with the person who sold to me the still and asked him to send me a new set of gaskets.The new gasket set is totally different than the former ones..He said he sent silicone ones.I will try to search FTPE gaskets because after resding your suggestions I want to replace them with the best ones.After replacing the gaskets I will prepare a sugar mash with Turbo yeast...I hope this time things go well for me..Thank you all...

Dorlioner26 wrote:I will prepare a sugar mash with Turbo yeast...I hope this time things go well for me

Turbo yeast? Who said that was a good idea?

Hi all,
I am writing via Android and facing a failure everytime I try to download a pic.Size rally matters it says;)
How can I solve this problem?I found out a vert important thing on my still that I like to share with you..

You have to make your picture smaller. It has to be under 4mb, and under, 800×800 I think?

Anyways, use this web based resizer. I find it pretty easy.

https://resizeimage.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Hi,I hope this time I can upload a few photos..

And this is my still..

This is the rear side of the thermometer on the barrel..I have just discovered and was shocked to see that ot was not made of steel..

I wish some guys made a comments about the picrures:(

I had nothing to say. I can't tell if the seal is silicone or blue PTFE and I have no idea what the other seals are in your still.

I've never wanted to put anything that can rust into a still build so I've never needed to know how that affects anything or had any other reason to research it.

Those pictures certainly don't look so good!

Remove or replace every component of your still of which you are not 100% sure that it is either PTFE (=Teflon), stainless steel, or copper. Thoroughly clean the remaining parts. I suggest you then distill water once again, and carefully test whether the itching effect remains in the distllate. You can mix a dough from flour and water, and use that as a one-time seal on your still, should you get leaks from removing your mystery material gaskets. If the negative effects disappear, then you will know with reasonable certainty that they came from one of the components you removed.

Hefezelle thanks for your advice..common sense tells it to do so..NZchris I rather find the way you help people mean..You don"t have do nothing..and also you don't have to specifically spot it.I got what I needed..by concentrating peoples advice in this forum,I figures out the mist suspicious parts in the distill..I will replace them with the stainless steel ones.I will never use brass materials in my still again.So the forum made its mission,am I correct?

Dorlioner,

What happens when, after making these material changes to your still, you find you once again suffer the conditions: itching, sneezing, and/or difficulty breathing? Will you come back and ask again what can be causing this?

Perhaps it is your health that should be questioned. Your doctor found no rash or source for the itching symptoms. I hope the cause isn't deeper. Have you had your liver enzymes checked? Liver disease can cause skin irritation and as such, should not be overlooked.
ss

Dorlioner26 wrote:NZchris I rather find the way you help people mean.

I'm sorry you see it that way. I won't apply for a job as a social worker
BTW, it's been frustrating trying to get relevant information from you. I hope you weren't doing the same when you were talking to your doctor, because if you were, he could easily have missed something.

So the forum made its mission,am I correct?

I hope you're correct, but you won't know for sure until after your next run, I've never heard of brass causing anyone to break out in spots and you didn't say what the blue seal was made out of, if it isn't PTFE, that may be the cause of your problem. Let us know how it goes please.

Whatever is going on with that brass looking fitting above, it isn't 100% brass. That looks like rust and brass doesn't rust. Nor would stainless steel.

Even if it were brass, let me cite from Wikipedia:

To enhance the machinability of brass, lead is often added in concentrations of around 2%. Since lead has a lower melting point than the other constituents of the brass, it tends to migrate towards the grain boundaries in the form of globules as it cools from casting. The pattern the globules form on the surface of the brass increases the available lead surface area which in turn affects the degree of leaching. In addition, cutting operations can smear the lead globules over the surface. These effects can lead to significant lead leaching from brasses of comparatively low lead content.

hefezelle wrote:Even if it were brass, let me cite from Wikipedia:

To enhance the machinability of brass, lead is often added in concentrations of around 2%. Since lead has a lower melting point than the other constituents of the brass, it tends to migrate towards the grain boundaries in the form of globules as it cools from casting. The pattern the globules form on the surface of the brass increases the available lead surface area which in turn affects the degree of leaching. In addition, cutting operations can smear the lead globules over the surface. These effects can lead to significant lead leaching from brasses of comparatively low lead content.

Lead doesn't rust either. That in the pic is rust, as in iron oxide, unless I'm not seeing it right.

Making a research about the use of brass in distillation,I found out someone's blogg with a very detailed explanation of its possible side effects..he says even lead free brass material used for tap water contains upto %8 lead..one can imagine how hazardous it would be when meeting with the high temperature of alcohol vapour..so why take risks?I replaced them and waiting to get the stainless steel parts for it..I tried diffrent samples..One came fron a friend is Istanbul using the same still like me..he is so cautious about the cuts but unfortunately it was bad for me again..when I told him about the result he said it must have been the 'yellow material'that's how the mechanics call it here..Another sample came from another friend using copper still..the sample was three distilled and had a wonderful odour and taste..Nope,it didn't make any good either..I thought to myself and came to conclusion like it was the copper which made such nasty effects but when talking about it he said no..He dived in the tail(dunno if its the right idiom;))in order to get more smelly taste..Ahhaa..Could it be that?I really don't know but don't want to give up either..A friend said I never gave full details about my wash or still ir materials..I am trying as much as I can..but I wrote before I bought the still from a mechanic..He could.have made some mistakes amd yes I found out that he used a sceptical material"yellow".I also found out that the gaskets were dyed rubber:((..I repeat I haven't got any health issues..Liver and blood tests are normal..No physcologic problems either...well one wonders if there is someone who admits it ..lol..I can upload pictures with the size the forum accepts..so I don't tgink I can upload more quality pictures..Since I am writing vith android I apologize frim the people who tried to help under thos topic because I can't quote your sentences guys..but many thanks for your interest in my issue..

Another sample came from another friend using copper still..the sample was three distilled and had a wonderful odour and taste..Nope,it didn't make any good either.

What other materials did he have in the still? What were the gaskets made out of? The thermowells? Even if it's something that you both think is irrelevant, or don't want to be the problem because a solution would be difficult or expensive, don't keep it to yourself.

I also found out that the gaskets were dyed rubber

You should swap them for something safe before you run the still again.

Yep,I swapped them..I had it made from the stainless steel..Now I am trying to find PFTE gaskets..I am not thinking of using copper filter wire(mash)again...I don't have a chance to figure out the purity of the copper I have bought..some say it is a must tu use copper in distillation though if your still isn't made from it..Interestingly,my uncle lives the similar symtomps like mine..

How is your health, Dorlioner?

Have you found an answer to your question yet?