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Is a 2200 watt element too big for a 3', 2" column? I've upgraded as it took too long to boil 25 litres with a 1kw element, but I fear I may have gone to far.

Depends....is this a reflux column or the top of a big potstill? I think anything over 1800 W is definately pushing it in a 2 inch diameter reflux column....even moreso for a 3 foot tall reflux column.

I think anything over 1800 W is definately pushing it in a 2 inch diameter reflux column

Are you saying I could do myself some damage (pressure buildup) or I just won't be able to condense all the vapours, and as a result lose them out of the top of the column?

BTW..its a Bokakob inline reflux column

I is not very likely that you could damage yourself (except if you deliberately block all openings of the still to the surrounding atmosphere and shut off the cooling water while boiling at full heat). But the vapor speed inside the column becomes just too high and that hinders the separation. The vapors rush through the column without having time to interact with the refluxed liquid.

Not sure what your skill level is like (engineering wise) but if you kept the 1000W element the ideal would be to add that into your still as well.

Then you can use the 2200W for a fast heat up and swap to the 1000W for the actual distillation process. otherwise you are going to use a lot of water to keep the temperature down with the 2200W element.

Are you saying I could do myself some damage (pressure buildup) or I just won't be able to condense all the vapours, and as a result lose them out of the top of the column?

BTW..its a Bokakob inline reflux column

You shouldn't damage anything, but you may flood the column and push unrefined liquid to the top of your column. You'll notice this when you have liquid being pushed out the top, or you hear burping/bubbling sounds from within the column. Basically if you run too much power, you get a vapor flow that's too fast. This blows the liquid up in the column rather than letting it drip down like it should. The reflux doesn't happen and you effectively turn your column still into a pot still. You can try running at the 2200 watts. Be prepared to unplug quickly or clean up a mess. I run 1500 watts on a 2 inch diameter by 5 foot length column. I can't run 3000 watts without flooding. I only have two 1500 watt elements or I might could provide some more info. I can cool 3000 watts with no problems. The column just can't handle it.

Damn...sounds like I made a boo boo. I've got a 240v to 110v stepdown converter, If (after boiling) I was to plug in the element via the stepdown, will that generate enough heat to keep the still going?

="CoopsOz"]Damn...sounds like I made a boo boo. I've got a 240v to 110v stepdown converter, If (after boiling) I was to plug in the element via the stepdown, will that generate enough heat to keep the still going?

Approx 1/4 the power on 110V that you get on on 240V .

So will 550watts keep it boiling away happily? (after it has boiled of course).
I no longer have the 1kw element as I sold my still spirits super reflux on ebay and had to put the element back in it?

550 watts should keep things boiling, but you will get slow output rate. IMHO it's better to run the most power your column can handle. I would give the 2200 watts a try. 5 or 10 minutes after it gets boiling good should be enough to see if the column can handle it. You can try packing the column less dense if you have any flooding problems. I've flooded mine many times trying to get it to run 3000 watts. I finally decided it was definitely too much power on a 2 inch. If your column doesn't push out liquid, but has weird fits where the head temp rises and the proof of the output goes down, then you are probably on the edge of flooding.
If you just want to run the 550 watts, then insulate your boiler well so that all of the power is going up the column instead of heating the room. How is your element attached to the boiler? If it's easy to remove/reinstall then spend the extra $10 for one of the proper size.

IMHO it's better to run the most power your column can handle.

Yer not really shootin' for quality are ya?

CoopsOz wrote:

So will 550watts keep it boiling away happily? (after it has boiled of course).
I no longer have the 1kw element as I sold my still spirits super reflux on ebay and had to put the element back in it?

Could you use a diode in series to halve the power?

Yer not really shootin' for quality are ya?

Actually using maximum power is the way to get the best quality out of a column still (note: minimum power is the best for a pot still). On a column still, by maximising the power input, you can maximise the reflux ratio for a given output flow rate. By maximising the reflux ratio you get the best performance for a given column height.
This is not the case with the pot still. With the pot still you get some reflux from the condensation on the lyne arm. The amount of condensation is directly proportional to the air cooling of the arm. The air cooling is amount fixed, so the amount of reflux is fixed. If you increase power you effectively reduce the reflux ratio. If you decrease power you effectively increase the reflux ratio and improve quality. The rules between pot and column still are not the same.

beauty, now I've got conflicting answers....I'm gonna try both ways tommorrow. I'll let you know how it goes

I just tried a 25 litre wash with the 2200w element.....it flooded, I then plugged in the element via a 240v to 110v step down converter, the resulting 550w wasn't enough to keep things boiling. So what's next, do I build some sort of controller, add a 1000w element and switch it on after boiling or go gas. I'm on the verge of going to gas. It seem's you have far more control.

CoopsOz, before ya do anythin' expensive, or start rewirin' yer system, simply insulatin' yer boiler might be all ya need to do to keep a boil with 550 watts internal heat.

I hope it works for you as it's a cheap and simple fix.

Nanosleep, if yer definition of quality is purely based on the ammount of distillate delivered per minute, then I agree. But if yer basin' quality on the smell and taste of the distillate then runnin' yer still as fast as it can handle won't give ya a better product.

And if Holy's suggestion doesn't work you can add a 3800 W element. It will reach boilup faster and when switched to the lower power supply will run at 950 W.

CoopsOz, If your 550W element isn't producing any vapor then you are loosing at least 550W into the room. Insulating the boiler should help this. Getting a proper sized element is the best solution.

Nanosleep, if yer definition of quality is purely based on the ammount of distillate delivered per minute, then I agree. But if yer basin' quality on the smell and taste of the distillate then runnin' yer still as fast as it can handle won't give ya a better product.

When I say 'quality' I mean 'purity'.

I am not running the still as fast as I can. I'm running the most power I can. Try running the most power you can and collecting at your normal rate. You'll see what I mean. Be careful not to flood the column.

What factors determine the purity of the distillate? The percent alcohol of the ferment, height of column, material of column packing, and reflux ratio. After you've built your still you aren't going to change the height or the packing material. The only thing you have left which controlls purity is the reflux ratio. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding something here, but this is what I believe to be true.

We want to maximise the reflux ratio. We could do this by taking off one drip per hour. You get an excellent reflux ratio, but you spend years doing a run. There is a minimum output rate we want so we can get something to drink in a reasonable amount of time.

Now we have a fixed column height, the packing material is choosen, and the output rate is fixed at our desired minimum. How else can we increase purity? We still need to increase the reflux ratio to get more purity. The only option left is to produce more vapor so we can return more as reflux. The way to produce more vapor is to put more power into the boiler.
You can take output at the normal rate and get an increased purity, or you can take output a little faster and get the same purity.

I hope this sheds some light on the point I am trying to make.

Of course none of this applies to a pot still.

I'll stop hijacking the thread now. If you want some more discussion, let's start another thread.