Home Distiller

(from right to left) main thumper. line to 1st "T" goes to seconnd "T" then to coils(at top end).also goes to the reflux/secondary thumper. line out from reflux/secondary thumper to "T" then to coil. line from coil to catch bottle. both thumpers heated by seperate electric heat elements. secondary thumper is a glass salsa jar wrapped in owens corning pink insulation, then placed in a small coffee can. the coffee can is there to prevent quick expansion of the glass, and also as a catch in case the bottle does crack or shatter(so I don't have alcohol running onto the hotplate...that would be "Very Bad"). although I did use plastic tubing for the lines...this is temporary...this is still in the design stage and will be changed when I build the permenant model(it will all be copper and stainless).

cool...

it's only a "temporary..." bomb...

multiple postings, the admins are just gonna luv u... NOT...

Are you saying the vessel on the far right is a thumper? Or is that your primary boiler?
Also, can you further elaborate more about your reflux/secondary thumper? Reflux to a thumper with out a way to drain potential overflow would render this system kind of ,,,,,,,,fiddly.

Also, with such a small system,,,I wouldn't think that a secondary heat source would be necessary?

Scrap that death trap of a thumper made from a jar... The glass is dangerous, the lid seal is toxic, and who knows what you have the tubes sealed with... That rig is just plain unsafe and should never be run again... The resulting spirits could be downright toxic... This is almost exactly what I had envisioned from your description and this image verifies my initial concerns... Copper and stainless steel are the only still components considered safe for good reason... No glass and no synthetics...

You can do better, and if you can't then I'd suggest buying your spirits as they would at least be safe for human consumption...

EDIT: And that sure looks like rubber hose instead of copper for the vapor path...

yes the pot on the right is the main boiler(thumper). the secondary is also set up as a boiler(thumper) and is the reflux chamber for the main boiler(Thumper). I've had all sorts of heating issues on previous designs. the vapors would cool in the mainline to the cooling coils ,and stop the flow completely at 172 degrees.that was before I put a heat source under the reflux chamber. then I thought to myself that instead of just going with a line straight to the reflux chamber and out to the coils that I'd put in some divider"T's" at the top end and let the vapors go from both sources to the coils. the main problem now is getting both boilers(thumpers) to keep relative temperatures. they seem to fight back-n-forth. if one is at temperature the other is usually under...when I get that one to temperature the other on drops by 5+ degrees...and "sometimes" after getting them both to temperature one will go up to about 190-200 "All by it's lonesome". i am thinking the only way to solve this is to place valves in the outgoing lines from both to prevent the backpressure from causing these heating issues. i'll try that...and if it works i'll integrate that into the design for the more permenent model...which will be all copper and stainless.

"MAN-ALIVE"...are people just not "READING" what I write here? "NOTHING FROM THAT STILL IS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION" ! the still was "ONLY MADE FOR PRACTICE". I AM ONLY SEEING HOW IT IS DONE HANDS-ON. one doesn't just Saaay go out and build a car out of plastic and glass...then go and drive it. they make model after model. they check out any issues it has then fix those issues. they ten go into the manufacturing phase. same can be said for my device. i'm not drinking the product !...I'm just getting the design for the device right before building "The Production Model"(...so to speak).

So you proved what...??? That you can prove what has already been proven for centuries...??? Heat a low alcohol based liquid and condense the resulting vapors as higher alcohol content liquid...

Now what do you really want to do...??? Do you want to build a real still and have conversations about that or just keep experimenting with components that aren't safe...??? Don't waste our time here if you aren't going to get serious...

First a boiler is not a thumper.. It's the boiler.

Second.. If you heat a Thumper you will defeat the inherent design that allows it to produce a higher ABV then the boiler, by introducing more heat, you will boil off more of the water and other chemicals that you want to leave in the thumper. The steam from the boiler should be the heat source to recondense the ethonol and the higher boiling point liquids will be caught in the thumper juice.

Stop stop stop. Your not getting it. Do not put any valves on this system
you do not want thumper temps and primary boiler temps to match either. Composition of your boiler charge determines temps and the secondary boiler temps should be lower if you are doing "it" correctly.
You should stop fiddling with that contraption till you understand more about the theory.

Heating liquid till it gets hot enough to evaporate is old news. The problem with testing any design is that the bottom line will be how good is the likker.

You are lacking some pretty fundumental background about a system that has an intermediate degree of complexity.

You should listen to what the guy's are telling you... Most guy's here on HD are in the persuit of making very high artizan products that would certainly rank very high in comparison to most shop bought product. Condensing a low alc wash to concentrate it into a high alc spirit, just to make sure the theory works is just a waste of time... Concentrate on getting a simple safe still together and then dedicate time to making some good cuts... You'll learn so much more...

Above all else, the safety aspects pertaining to our hobby are paramount and go hand in hand with any still you will see here on HD...

Have fun while learning the craft, but do it safely...

stilldesign101 wrote:"MAN-ALIVE"...are people just not "READING" what I write here? "NOTHING FROM THAT STILL IS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION" ! the still was "ONLY MADE FOR PRACTICE". I AM ONLY SEEING HOW IT IS DONE HANDS-ON. one doesn't just Saaay go out and build a car out of plastic and glass...then go and drive it. they make model after model. they check out any issues it has then fix those issues. they ten go into the manufacturing phase. same can be said for my device. i'm not drinking the product !...I'm just getting the design for the device right before building "The Production Model"(...so to speak).

The problem is you are running it. This in it self is unsafe dispite the fact you are not drinking the product. You have built the glass car and are driving it.

At this point you should turn your research around and look at what others have already found works. When you figure out why it does work from reading you can then move on to the next phase. You are just spinning your wheels on stuff that others have already wasted time on. When the time could be used for serious research. The way you are doing things it will take you many years of frustration to get even close to the knowledge that is present here at HD. So why not learn from here by reading about things that work. And why.

Example: Your still design is a basic pot still with a thumper that you added heat to. This design has been around for a very very long time. There is a reason the thumper shouldn't be heated. As pointed our already. This is a very basic design. So with any amount of good research you would have known that. So how much time money and heataches did you waist?

Spend your time money and heartaches wisely. By learning the rest of what you need to know from the plethora of knowledge contained in these pages of HD. It's all here you just have to find it.

valves on that contraption!!!!!. may i suggest that if you do run that build of yours with valves, first evacuate the house, then wear a full fireproof suit and helmet, then have the fire brigade on speeddial. or, just dont do it.

if this is your 10th try, i would say you're extremely lucky the other nine attempts didnt kill somebody. we're here trying to educate and teach in the hope that our hobby will one day be realised as a safe and ligitimate pasttime, whilst you are heading down the route of a newspaper headline which will read along the lines of " idiot moonshiner blows up family with his illegal distillery". this sets the rest of us up as irresponsible idiots who dont have a clue what they're doing.

please research this hobby first, then research some more. when you are ready to take this hobby seriously, then come back and ask us what we think of your 11th attempt, that you built using the vast amount of free knowledge available here.

and please dont run that still of yours again, until you know what you are doing. i dont want to be harsh or nasty, but if it's taken you 10 builds to get this far, it's probably better (and safer), to give up whilst you are still in one piece.

Another one for the what not to do thread

Wildcats wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 9:09 am Another one for the what not to do thread

Good find Wildcats , it’s moved

Yummyrum wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 12:24 pm

Wildcats wrote: ↑Thu Mar 02, 2023 9:09 am Another one for the what not to do thread

Good find Wildcats , it’s moved

thank you sir