Why you need to watch your still

[scarecrow]

Since going to the keg still I reckon I've done about 25 runs. Mostly Rum and Bourbon. Never had a hiccup - Until today.

As always, I charge the keg with about 15 litres of wash, chuck in the copper boiling chips and a tablespoon of oil. Had to use extra virgin - maybe the inexperience caused the problem lol

Sealed it up, fired up the 3 ring and started to do a bit of tidy up while waiting for the fores to start. Same as I do every time, never had a glitch.

I usually get a bit of chuffing for about a minute and then it settles into the strip run.

Not this time. It was pissing out.

I turned the gas bottle off and it kept pouring out for about another 3 minutes. This is after a quick cleanup.

All up it puked about 6 litres in the blink of an eye. I had to flush the coil, the lyne arm and rinse out the parrot. Not to mention cleaning the table and mopping the floor

I put a new seal on and started again. I wasn't going to chance another puke, so I ran the start into a bucket.

All was good. As always, a bit of chuffing at the start so I turned the inside ring off to drop the heat a smidge and away we go.

This is why you need to be on your toes. It's not a game.

scarecrow

[Kentucky shinner]

Whoa great tip scarecrow, thanks for sharing this experience with all of us. Do you think you heated up to fast or was it the oil? I have never added oil to my wash.
KS

[DOLIKEADRINK]

ShiiiiiiT what do you recon caused it to happen??

Cheers: Dolikeadrink

[scarecrow]

I did nothing different to what I always do.

The cricket stump dip stick said 15 litres.
I always add a tablespoon of cooking oil to help reduce foaming.
I always run 3 rings flat out on a strip run.

I have absolutely no idea why it did that.

Same recipe I have used for the last 12 months.
It was the last 6 kg from a bucket of blackstrap. It was my 8th bucket.

I'm thinking it was too much heat, too quick. It was pretty warm in the shed today.
That was one major puke, eh?

scarecrow

[SuburbanStiller]

gaak that's a nasty one. The pic makes it look like crude oil was coming out, was it actually that black? Was your wash that dark going in? Did you collect the boiler puke and rerun it as is?

[scarecrow]

My rum wash is straight blackstrap molasses, no sugar, so it makes a very dark brown wash.

I just poured the stuff back into the pot and stripped it. Product had a slight tinge of brown, but it went into a 40 litre container of stripped washes waiting for a spirit run.

scarecrow

[Smokehouse Shiner]

Yee Haw! Now were stillin! Man that was one serious puke. If you were runnin a thumper it woulda puked it too I imagine. Shit happens. Stills puke. Mite wanna back the heat off on the rum washes they are foamy(like you didn't know that ). Thanks for not bein too proud to share that. Sorry it happened and I'm glad youre safe. Can't believe you had the prescence of mind to get pictures of the whole thing. I woulda been too busy cussin and cleanin to worry bout it.

[pistachio_nut]

Every time I screw something up and fix it, I run safer. My last screwup got fixed, but I had a very similar one tonight. And I found another join in my hosing that I can add a clamp to, so I'm going to do that. I added a water valve at the still instead of at the faucet so I can adjust the flow at the production site, that was a nice addition.

Normally I have a four hour warmup before my still starts throwing off vapor. Tonight, it was TWO HOURS EARLY. I had the gas up a little higher than normal, and ran ten gallons instead of fifteen, and look out.

The good news is I made a decision a while back to check my warmup every 10 minutes with a repeating alarm on my watch. The second good decision was to elevate my collection point several feet above the gas, and move it several feet away from the gas. I would say the vapor came out of the neck of my collection container six feet from the gas, outside in the wind. Another good call is to make sure my collection point is downwind of the gas.

Now I have another safeguard to work with. I will run the water one hour after startup, which gives me a three hour margin of safety, and a one hour margin of safety on a short run. Next is to further elevate and move away from the gas. I can get another two feet away OR a foot higher, either one. The vapor floats up, so maybe up is better than away. I have a long condenser, so that narrows how much higher I can go.

The bottom line is that I understand that running a still is dangerous and I respect that by learning something new each run, taking notes, finding places to implement safety protocols, etc.

You know, I could add a fan to the rig at the collection point just in case something went wrong and I wound up with alcohol vapor pouring out of my collection container. That would help, too. I don't want a single point of failure anywhere in the setup.

[liggettjonathan78]

pistachio_nut, Nice tips I would surely follow these

[scotty]

thanks for posting. it keeps us all on the alert

[Smokehouse Shiner]

The vapor floats up,

Pistachio,I believe high proof ethanol vapor is heavier than air and thus wants to migrate down, not up. That's why its a good idea to have your burner elevated from the floor. Thought I should say something as it's a common misconception. A fan for clearing out unknown leaks would best be placed on the floor. Very wise to have backups and safeguards just don't want you working on the wrong theory.

[rad14701]

I think the confusion lies in the fact that ethanol vapor is heavier than air yet lighter than water vapor... Things didn't read right for me when I originally read through this either... It was one of those moments...