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jdonly1 wrote:I want one Any one want to sell one

I got enough bits here to make a column and liebig condensor if you can take care of the boiler and the mesh.
You'd have to talk to hook about winding your coil though.

Take it to PM if you like.

So, what you're saying, maoule, is that minime wasn't smokin crack after all, right...??? That VM's really do have a high output rate at high ABV... That's the way I read it, anyway...

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Are you gunna use this contraption as a single pass, or are you gunna strip somehow and use it as a spirit run refinery maoule?

I think you're results will be better with a whole lot less cleaning up if you were to strip your sugar wash with a potstill, then fill your boiler for the VM with 40% clean low wines.
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I hadn't thought about that. Since I have 2 columns and 2 boilers (1 is a 7.75 gal sanke) that are interchangeable, I have some flexibility.

So, what you're saying, maoule, is that minime wasn't smokin crack after all, right...??? That VM's really do have a high output rate at high ABV... That's the way I read it, anyway...

Definitely, it truly is simple to run. I have a few changes to make yet on the water plumbing, but once I get the amount of water dialed in, I think it'll be plug and play. Yeah, for a bit there I was worried minime was spending too much time out in the cold, but now, I think he was a bit conservative about the potential of the VM.

maoule wrote: Definitely VM, it truly is simple to run. I have a few changes to make yet on the water plumbing, but once I get the amount of water dialed in, I think it'll be plug and play. Yeah, for a bit there I was worried minime was spending too much time out in the cold, but now, I think he was a bit conservative about the potential of the VM.

Hey Maoule, from my experiments with the 3"Bok versus the 3"VM column I could not get either to go much over one US gallon per hour without sacrificing purity. I've asked several times for someone to verify my results but nobody else seems to be running stripped wash on 3" column. Even Manu is cagey about volume and does not post numbers but he's running some kind of continuous setup.
I'd be happy to hear of better output but I'm fairly certain there's not much more potential from 3". I'm very happy with results anyway and truly amazed with the simplicity of operation.
Good luck with your project and please keep us posted regarding your output numbers

minime wrote: Hey Maoule, from my experiments with the 3"Bok versus the 3"VM column I could not get either to go much over one US gallon per hour without sacrificing purity. I've asked several times for someone to verify my results but nobody else seems to be running stripped wash on 3" column. Even Manu is cagey about volume and does not post numbers but he's running some kind of continuous setup.
I'd be happy to hear of better output but I'm fairly certain there's not much more potential from 3". I'm very happy with results anyway and truly amazed with the simplicity of operation.
Good luck with your project and please keep us posted regarding your output numbers

Thanks. I want to verify the results on my next sugar wash stripping run and put that data here.
Let's talk about the mesh in the liebig... was I correctly understanding how you were doing it, with it being inside the product tube, not between the water jacket and tube? Like I said, I had 18" of it loosely in the tube. It would seem any restriction even past the valve is just that, a restriction. Was the purpose solely to distribute the distillate for efficient cooling?

maoule wrote:Let's talk about the mesh in the liebig... was I correctly understanding how you were doing it, with it being inside the product tube, not between the water jacket and tube? Like I said, I had 18" of it loosely in the tube. It would seem any restriction even past the valve is just that, a restriction. Was the purpose solely to distribute the distillate for efficient cooling?

You should only need a small amount in the liebig... Perhaps an inch or two, at most, loosely inserted at the output end should suffice... It's sole purpose is to condense any straggling vapor that may be pulled/pushed down by already condensed product...

maoule wrote:Let's talk about the mesh in the liebig... was I correctly understanding how you were doing it, with it being inside the product tube, not between the water jacket and tube?

That's right

maoule wrote: It would seem any restriction even past the valve is just that, a restriction. Was the purpose solely to distribute the distillate for efficient cooling?

With such a small liebig I was a bit concerned so I handled it different than Rad suggests. I took an 18" length of copper mesh and slit it length wise then cut that in half lengthwise. I rolled that into an 18" tube of very loose packing and PULLED it into the liebig full length.
I was way beyond the sweet spot collecting about 5500ml per hour at one point and not a wisp of steam was visible and it was very cold in the shop so would have been immediately apparent.
When blowing into the liebig I couldn't feel ANY back pressure whatsoever.

Mine was a full piece 18" rolled loose/tight enough to fit in the 3/4" tube. I will play with it more, although, when I got everything settled down during the 2nd attempt spirit run, there didn't seem to be any problems with the liebig condensing everything. Have you tried yours w/o any mesh? I wonder if having it present, especially with your 1/2" liebig, doesn't keep more of the vapor refluxing. I know when I pulled it from mine, the difference was huge.

maoule wrote: Have you tried yours w/o any mesh? I wonder if having it present, especially with your 1/2" liebig, doesn't keep more of the vapor refluxing. I know when I pulled it from mine, the difference was huge.

No, never tried without. If we can collect enough to start dropping purity it doesn't really make any difference anyhow long as we're condensing everything coming down the pipe.
Looking forward to your results. Hope you've got a big ole batch so you've got lots of time to play

maoule wrote:I pulled the mesh from the liebig, turned everything back on, equilibrated and opened the valve wide open not expecting much... holy shit, the condensate started shooting out of the 3/8" take-off tube, steaming hot. I scrambled to the cooling valve and got it cooled down a little.

Too much mesh in the liebig, I guess?

Had a similar experience when I first started stilling. Haven't used mesh in the Liebig for neutral runs ever since, only use it for pot stilling (especially for low wine runs).

It just shows how finely balanced the vapour flow can be in a VM still, just a little bit of mesh can make a big change in it.

I have been watching and pondering the results.
minime and I seem to be in a class of our own. I also run large quantities of 40 to 45% through my 3.5" schedule 20 3". This is an id of nearly 90mm. I did the same comparisons. 2 years ago. I wasn't happy with the results of the vm setup. I retired it. What a temperamental beast it was.
I change to a bokakob but not a slant plate. Mine is more like a two cup.
here are some pics and you'll notice the vm is too simplistic. the second picture is the modification to make a bokokob. Since I have made two modifications to the unit for performance and regulation. The first mod was to vent the top of the heat exchanger to prevent siphoning on the valve. The siphon drove me crazy trying to regulate the takeoff flow. The second modification was to triple the cross section of the pipe through the plate. There was such a velocity of vapor that it could flood the entire liquid management unit because no liquid could return to the column. I increased the opening to 32mm from 12mm.
As for rates. I can concur with minime about the rates. The VM and the LM have a max of about 8 L/hour at 5.5k and a good pure run it at about 2L/hour max. the only significant difference in our setups is he is running an insulated column and I am not. If you would like to see it running at low speed, 2.2k here are a couple videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0ji5pn7eO8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3FOWlBBkfI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

pintoshine wrote:I have been watching and pondering the results. I did the same comparisons. 2 years ago. I wasn't happy with the results of the vm setup. I retired it. What a temperamental beast it was.

Pint, not sure why you found it temperamental. I find VM the most stable and easiest to run of of all! What problems did you encounter?