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Hi I'm new to the forum, and was hoping i could get some good feedback and information from those more experienced. I am looking to build a new still, and it will be my second. I built a simple pot still with a tea kettle, cotter worm and water bottle. I trashed it after many hours of breaking, fixing, and breaking again. It worked and i got quit a bit of spirit from it. More than anything it was a period of trial and error with my recipes. Now that i have a recipe i like, I want a still that will work well and fast. I've done a little looking around, and my choices are right not the internal reflux, valved reflux, and bokakob design. I've been reading around on the site a little and have found a general distaste from people about the internal reflux. So between the Valved and Bokakob, which should I build and why?

Hi towercrane,

I've just built a VM (vapour management) still that produced 95% alochol on its first run. I spent a few months reading the parent site, but also bought books from The Amphora Society. I'd especially recommend The Compleat Distiller by Nixon and McCaw. One post here said that it would be so boring to build a still that worked perfectly, but personally, I find fixing problems is not much fun. The VM principle is very simple, the still is easy to build, and it works great.

A pot still is very handy for doing "stripping runs", used to make a higher percentage product called "low wines". The book Making Fine Spirits by Zumurgy Bob, also from The Amphora Society, has full instructions which will also help when building a VM still.

M

What would be the difference between the VM still, and the Reflux still? or are they synonymous?

towercrane wrote:What would be the difference between the VM still, and the Reflux still? or are they synonymous?

That question will be answered during what we consider mandatory research here in the forums and on the parent site... The short answer is that a Vapor Management still is merely one operational design of reflux column... Other types are Liquid Management, Coolant Management, Cooling Management, and Power Management, plus any combination of those... And then there are the various pot still operational designs...

You have spent time developing a recipe you like for a simple pot still. So I would think you would want to build a larger pot still. So you van get close to the same results? But then again your going to have to go through the whole process of recipe development again. With a new still.

There are some good threads in the new distiller reading lounged that explain the different types of reflux stills. But I'm not real sure that is what you need?

What are you wanting to make? Whiskey, rum, vodka,?

well i made whiskey with my pot still, yielding 50-65% alcohol. I want to obtain higher percentages, without doing multiple runs. So i guess what i would be making with a reflux would be closer to vodka. From what i have read and learned, reflux (and VM) produce high percentages, but cary little to no flavor of the mash. So even if i use my corn recipe, i expect it to come out tasting more like vodka.

I have done more research, and exploring the forum and parent site, and have decided to construct a boka still. I drew up these plans, please tell me what you think. I want a 12" condensing head with a 6" double coil. I want to use threaded copper couplings for ease of storage and cleaning. A 4' column packed with either pot scrubbers or these Rochete rings (I know I spelled it wrong). I saw somewhere they had 21 degree plates inside, so that's what I drew. If there is a better angle and overlap please tell me. I also found the tri-clover clamp that will eliminate the need for brazing. I will just get the stainless steel flange and construct a copper ring around the bottom of the column as per some of the treads I've read. The whole thing will be out of 2" copper. Let me know what you think.

Good choose! Plates degree should be around 30 degree. Precision of angle doesn't matter 21 as good as as 40 degree.
Just keep path area between plates approximately equal to pi*R*R of your column to not create bottleneck for vapor.
It's also a good to have detachable head.
Make an additional short empty column (1 foot or so) so you can make low wine and distillate using the same head.
As for packing - yes you can use scrubbers but it better to use anti- slug copper net.it's twice wider than scrubber ,so less effort,ts to pack. And you will get more uniform rolls.

How to make a mesh roll:

-Unroll the scrubber Then roll it in other direction For 2' tube you will need second scrubber rolled on top of first one However it's easier to use slug net

Thank you sambedded, that is very helpful! I just bought a 10' length of 2" pipe, the couplings, 1/4 tube, and some other stuff. I'm going to start the build tonight. I'll post pictures either later tonight or tomorrow.

I just shove the rolls they come into 2" pipe. You have to squish them a bit but a lot easier then rolling two of them together. And it also performs better in my still.

Here's my progress with the still so far

towercrane wrote:Here's my progress with the still so far

Very good progress!

i must have soldered those plates 10 times before i got them to stop leaking.

What type of flux are you using? During my builds I found that improper flux make soldering painful. The best flux I've found is "Oatey Lead Free Tinnig Flux N95" With that flux soldering is easy.

Prairiepiss wrote:I just shove the rolls they come into 2" pipe. You have to squish them a bit but a lot easier then rolling two of them together. And it also performs better in my still.

When you roll scrubbers instead of just shoving them in - you will get tighter and much more uniform packing. Rolling second scrubber on top of the first roll is very easy - never head a problem.

sambedded wrote:

Prairiepiss wrote:I just shove the rolls they come into 2" pipe. You have to squish them a bit but a lot easier then rolling two of them together. And it also performs better in my still.

When you roll scrubbers instead of just shoving them in - you will get tighter and much more uniform packing. Rolling second scrubber on top of the first roll is very easy - never head a problem.

I tend to disagree. With this. As proof of better performance of my still. I guess j shouldn't have said just shove them in. I really roll them up a little tighter then they already are. Then I squish them a little so the will fit into the pipe. Positioning it so its a round peg fitting in a round hole. I then push them into place. One at a time. So if you were to take them all out at once. It would look like a stack of donuts. It's quite uniform. And works quite easily.

I've ran it both ways. Unrolled and then rolled back up. Like your way. And my way. And at varying densities. And so far I get better performance my way.

What type of flux are you using? During my builds I found that improper flux make soldering painful.

I've just been using the stuff i got at the plumbing supply store where i got the pipe. Got the solder there too. It was the first lead-free flux i saw. I haven't been using it on the plates, just the male adapter, which was the easiest thing i've soldered so far. Should i have used it with the plates? and i was working on soldering the take-off tube but the pipe and the solder wouldn't hold. is this an issue of not enough heat, lack of flux or something else?

towercrane wrote: I haven't been using it on the plates, just the male adapter, which was the easiest thing i've soldered so far. Should i have used it with the plates? and i was working on soldering the take-off tube but the pipe and the solder wouldn't hold. is this an issue of not enough heat, lack of flux or something else?

You should always use flux. Clean surface by sandpaper or metal brush, then apply flux and only after it start soldering. Otherwise solder will not "glue" to copper.

That explains a lot. Looks like i may be tearing out my beads tomorrow and soldering those plates for the 11th time. What's the best way to make the copper shine? I've done a real number on it with repeated heating and cooling. I've been reading up on it and vinegar and Coke seem to be common household cleansers. I've been soaking that black condenser of mine in vinegar for a few hours, but nothings happened. I also read that if you cut a lemon in half, cover it in salt and rub the pipe it shines like the sun, but that sounds a little strange. I'm sorry if i'm full of questions, I've been tinkering with that thing all day and every so often i'll come up with a question. I'm done for the day and have hit the computer to answer these questions, so i've got this forum up, the parent site, and three other pages. You've all been really helpful and i really appreciate it.

towercrane wrote: What's the best way to make the copper shine? I've done a real number on it with repeated heating and cooling. I've been reading up on it and vinegar and Coke seem to be common household cleansers.

Weak vinegar solution (all household vinegar is 5%) doesn't work. Citric acid is good for copper cleaning. Lemon juice or lemonade crystals (they contain citric acid) should help also. I've never tried Coke, but it may work .

caution with the lemonade it mite contain sugar witch can cause more trouble

Scotch Brite is what I use, it don't play around, and it's not too aggressive either, wipe with a clean dry towel when you get done with the Scotch Brite, don't touch with your hands, then flux and go

This is my finished condenser head! All that's left to do is order the tri-clover fittings, weld it onto my keg, pack my 4' column, and I'll be ready to distill. I spent an hour with a rag, lemon juice and salt cleaning the discoloration. It's not perfect, but it looks a lot better. the condenser coil is sitting in the lemon juice. I'll leave it overnight.

sambedded wrote:

towercrane wrote: What's the best way to make the copper shine? I've done a real number on it with repeated heating and cooling. I've been reading up on it and vinegar and Coke seem to be common household cleansers.

Weak vinegar solution (all household vinegar is 5%) doesn't work. Citric acid is good for copper cleaning.

Plain white vinegar (5%acetic acid) works well on copper. Can take a while. It is the main thing I use to clean my copper, plus a touch of scouring pad sometimes.

Citric acid is good too.