Home Distiller

Any electrician should be able to tell you the current or power rating of a standard power point.

You might have a look at the fuses in your place. usually they are rated in Amps and you do good staying below these limits.

(I myself run on propane and use this still head for stripping. Mine knocks down all I can throw in and the propane burner is rated 9000W)

Thanks !

There are 3 fuses, the main fuse says 30A and the 2 little ones say 20A.
I guess that using a 2000 to 2400 W immersion electric element is safe.

sounds more than safe ...

Be careful.

Each fuse/breaker at the switch board usually serves several power outlets. You need to know the power/current rating of the individual power outlet, which should be a lot less than the fuse/breaker for the whole circuit.

If you are using 220 v, then chances are your power outlets are 10 amps, or 2200 w.

Watts (heat source) / volts =amps needed. A 15 amp circut would be a (U.S.) standard for a 2500 watt element. And a 20 amp circut for a 3500 element. My "Authority Having Jurisdiction" would require the slight cushion (if it were being inspected haha).

If you have any spare room in your service panel, it may be best to install a dedicated circut.

Older panels are often very limited in capacity however.

Sounds like you need and electrician to evaluate your capability. You could try to locate an exsisting dedicated appliance circut. Then make a jumper (extension cord) with #6, #8 or #10 wire romex.
But certainly the best solution would be to have an outlet in close proximity to your stilling area.

It shouldn't be a big deal. Your sparky will know (if he is worth his salt)

LWTCS - The nipples are made from stubs of 6mm brass tube . The fitting is drilled with a 6mm bit (carefully ) and the stub is tapped in with a hammer . With plenty of flux and heat , apply the solder and job done . I experimented over several months and found this to be an ideal solution and a lot less bulky ( and expensive ) than using reducers and multi diameter t-pieces .

elut - the heater is an element taken from an electric hob . It is a total of 2000W comprised of 3 elements . These are 350w , 650 w and 1000w . They can be selected in 6 different stages in any combination (i.e 350/650/1000/1350/1650/2000) by the original switch that came with the hob . It is mounted in a frame made of ali chequerplate that does not conform to any safety standard in the known universe but with a bit of common sense I have managed to avoid electrocution thus far . There is no thermostat and the only downside is the thermal transfer between the element and the base of the ali boiler . I have considered the use of an immersion element but prefer the adjustability of my existing set up . I am in the fortunate position of having an almost endless supply of scrap domestic appliances that I can rob bits from to play with . A washing machine element is about 2200w and may be the ideal solution for an immersion heater but lacks the adjustabililty of the current set up . If you let me know what country you are resident in I can probably let you know what your domestic supply will cope with but if you can use parts robbed from appliances designed to work in your country then you will have no probs . The element that I use comes from a 4 burner hob that will run off a standard ( in the UK) 13A supply with all 4 elements in use at the same time . The 4 elements are of differing max wattages and I have used the largest . What you are trying to achieve is a constant heat source . Good luck and let me know how you get on .

If you let me know what country you are resident in I can probably let you know what your domestic supply will cope with but if you can use parts robbed from appliances designed to work in your country then you will have no probs .

Hi Johnh ! (and others)

I'm currently living somewhere in South Korea (where shining for personal use is tolerated due to cultural laws, btw)
but will hopefully come back home in Europe sometime next year.

Here is a picture of what seems to be my appartment's fuse panel:
(There 3 of the 20A, the last one didn't get caught by the picture)

I've found a nice 3kw element with a temperature regulator included.
I guess I should include a "circuit breaker" with it, right?

Thanks a lot to all of you for your patience, help and info !

Sorry for the length of time replying . i believe that in S Korea you are on 220 v . If you have 20A fuses in the distributor board then you will be fine with a 3kW element . Can you explain what you mean by having a temperature regulator included . If it is a thermostat then you will get the element cycling on and off which will make it impossible to make cuts and almost impossible to make a decent product . What you need is a constant heat source . Depending on the size of your still 3kW should be fine . Putting an RCD in the supply to the element would be a good idea but not strictly necessary as you will be running at 15A or so , so if there is a short your supply fuse will blow pretty quick . I do however have a fairrly lax attitude to the whole health and safety thing . Where did you get the element from as it may be easier to advise whether it is suitable if I know its source . Good luck and let us know how you get on .

johnh89 wrote:Sorry for the length of time replying . i believe that in S Korea you are on 220 v . If you have 20A fuses in the distributor board then you will be fine with a 3kW element.

Provided the actual outlet on the wall can carry 15 A. You are limited by the lowest rated component in the circuit.

If you are going to take 15 A from a 20 A breaker, then you also need to make sure that there is no other power hungry device (vacuum cleaner, etc) running off the same breaker at the same time.

johnh89 wrote:The stills dimensions are not super critical but I will give you a guess . The 3 tube sizes are readily available in the UK and are 28mm , 22mm and 15mm copper plumbing tube . You will need the following
1 x 28mm x 300mm long copper tube
1 x 22mm x 300mm long copper tube
1 x 15mm x 200mm long copper tube
1 x 22mm blank cap
1 x 28mm blank cap
1 x 15mm brass tank connector ( for lid of boiler ) (search on the forum for treatment of brass fittings)
1 x 28mm to 22mm pipe reducer
1 x 22mm to 15mm pipe reducer (both of these will need the pipe stop filed out from the inside so the smaller tube will slide through)
3 small stubs of 6mm copper tube for water in/out and product out .

Converted for us folk in the US... purely for educational purposes of course.

• 1 x 1" x 12" Copper Tube
  1 x 0.75" x 12" Copper Tube
  1 x 0.50" x 8" Copper Tube
  1 x 0.75" Copper Cap
  1 x 1" Copper Cap
  1 x 0.50" Brass Connector
  1 x 1" to 0.75" Copper Reducer
  1 x 0.75" to 0.50" Copper Reducer
  3 x 0.25" Copper Stubs (length your choice)

I have suggestion for cooling the output product. Insert the product tube an inch above the bottom of the outside tube. Then condensate will collect and be cooled by the water jacket. Of course, this makes fabrication tricky -- the product tube must pierce both the outer and middle tubes. Any suggestions for doing this?

I also have a question: Why is the top of the middle tube capped. Instead, why not let the middle tube extend up above the outer tube with no cap. I am reminded of many reflux condenser designs, which are not capped; they use sufficient cooling to knock down all of the vapor before it reaches the top.

And then I have an observation (pls correct me if I am wrong): The top of the inner vapor tube is open. One would think that reflux would fall into the tube and then go into the boiler. I am guessing that this does not happen because the vapor in the middle tube only condenses on the wall of the middle tube and then slides down the wall and away from the open top of the inner tube. If one wanted to increase the cooling capacity of the water jacket, they could insert mesh into the middle tube; but then the top of the inner tube would need to be blocked (maybe with a tee) to prevent any reflux, now falling down the inside of the mesh, from entering the inner tube.

And a final question: how much boiler heat can this pot still handle? If the answer is 1000 watts, then in order to handle 2000 watts, would the length of the still need to be doubled, from 12" to 24"; or is some other method preferable, like merely increasing water flow, for example?

just read the whole thread

has given me some food for thought! nice work!

Hi John and everyone else reading this post. I am a total newby to home distilling and have been reading this forum for quite a few weeks now and have decided to get started and build my first still. What i like about your design is its compactness and all the parts are easy to buy off the shelf from any diy store. What i was thinking of doing was building a still similar to your design but placing it on top of a thumper, instead of on the ss boiler. Do you think this idea is feasable. Thanks. Bluelammy.

Say Bluelammy,,
Thats an excellant Idea.
The extra distillation will help with more strict stilling technique, and help reduce vapor temps that can expose the condenser's small stature....

Please keep us posted. I would love to see your forthcoming solution.

cheers
Larry

Great looking still

How funny John89. This made me LAMFAO!! Check out my still construction pictures. The "Plastic Police" busted me too!!!!

Some of these old threads are gold. I have read a bunch of them. Luv 'em all.