Home Distiller

for a 1 gallon stove top still

electric: hits peak and cools then heats to peak again(nearly no stability unless you have an accurate thermostat{i dont})

or

gas: sets a steady temp that gradually gets hotter(more stability and much longer but needs constant adjustment to keep temp)


boil then set to desired temp(quicker)

or

gradually get to desired temp to allow a more strict temp at distillation(much longer)

mind you, this is for a fractioning still.

Hey there spankey. A 1 gal fractioning still? You sure? Even if you spent a month stripping low-wines for that and charged it with 40%...you'd be lucky to end up with a glass full of neutral. Just want to make sure you understand...sorry if I'm repeating something you already know.

For fractioning...the "cycling" you describe is a bad problem. You "want" steady heat source for your fractioning run.

The two main phases you need to deal with are up front...for equalization..you want steady, fairly strong heat...to drive enough vapor volume up to provide for good reflux raining down from your reflux condenser. From there, once you've stabilized the column...the heat needs to remain steady. What is delicate here..is how fast you draw the product off...vs how much you are returning back down the column as reflux. Drawing it off too fast..will collapse the stacked fractions and pull them up through the column. So, the take off here has to be done slowly enough to maintain stable vapor temp at the top of the column such that you are drawing off only the purest fraction of alc that you can get. Having pulsing heat (from plate cycling) would only disturb this balance.

The ratio of the amount you take off, vs return...is referred to as your 'reflux ratio'. Once you've established your fractions and begin taking off product...you can control this ratio by "either" heat and/or take off rate. Teh slower your take off rate (for a given amount of heat)...the more you are returning back down the column, the higher your reflux ratio. The more heat you run...for a given take off rate...the more vapor is being sent up the column...hence more reflux. Some designs of reflux stills are more sensitive (fickle) to take off rates than others...so I'm just pointing out you can control it either way...more heat, or slower take off. Finding the right balance is important to your success. Too much heat will flood the column and not produce very good results. Too much take off will not maintain your fractions and will just pull higher and higher temp fractions up through the tube (like a potstill run).

The point is you "want" steady heat. Gas works just fine. The only problems with it are mainly safety related..ie., open flame around high proof alc/vapors. And again, you can adjust your reflux ratio either by heat and/or flow-rate. But, it's certainly not a matter of "constant" adjustment.

I'm not quite understanding your last point (gradually get to desired temp to allow a more strict temp....etc?) given how a fractioning still works. You have to remember...there's a condenser in the top of the column for returning the vapor that reaches it either back down the tube as reflux..or out as product. The more vapor/heat you push up the column...the more "reflux" you get. Running a fractioning still too low/heat is one of the more common problems people have first learning to use them. Particularly when they come from potstill side of things.

There's another heat option as well...not on your list. An Induction plate...(if you have a compatible pot)..will work just as well as gas.

my pot wont allow for induction.

i hope you dont mind if i print this out. (im smart enough to never bring a laptop in the kitchen)


tou explained it perfectly. thank you.

SpankeyBrewster wrote:for a 1 gallon stove top still

electric: hits peak and cools then heats to peak again(nearly no stability unless you have an accurate thermostat{i dont})

or

gas: sets a steady temp that gradually gets hotter(more stability and much longer but needs constant adjustment to keep temp)


boil then set to desired temp(quicker)

or

gradually get to desired temp to allow a more strict temp at distillation(much longer)

You can't control the temp in a pot still. The ABV of the boiler charge dictates the temp. The only thing you can control is how fast or slow you take off product.

Please read these threads in the must read new distiller reading lounge.

Why you can't control a still with boiler temperature
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=16635

Do I need a thermometer on my pot still?
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=13294

Novice Guide for Cuts (Pot Still)
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=13261

Basic Distillation 101
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=13266

So, I can just hook my heating element(s) "straight up" to 220V and let 'er rip? I need NO temp control?

IlliniDistiller wrote:So, I can just hook my heating element(s) "straight up" to 220V and let 'er rip? I need NO temp control?

No, the heating element/s have to be controlled...

Welcome to HD...

Drop on by the Welcome Center and tell us a little about yourself...

Samohon wrote:

IlliniDistiller wrote:So, I can just hook my heating element(s) "straight up" to 220V and let 'er rip? I need NO temp control?

No, the heating element/s have to be controlled...

Welcome to HD...

Drop on by the Welcome Center and tell us a little about yourself...

Exlplain please. If I can't control the temp of my still, why do I need to "control my heaing element(s)"? I understand that the boiling point of my wash is detrmined by alcohol/water mixture. Why then, do I have to control my heat? I'm more confused now than I was before!

IlliniDistiller wrote:

Samohon wrote:

IlliniDistiller wrote:So, I can just hook my heating element(s) "straight up" to 220V and let 'er rip? I need NO temp control?

No, the heating element/s have to be controlled...

Welcome to HD...

Drop on by the Welcome Center and tell us a little about yourself...

Exlplain please. If I can't control the temp of my still, why do I need to "control my heaing element(s)"? I understand that the boiling point of my wash is detrmined by alcohol/water mixture. Why then, do I have to control my heat? I'm more confused now than I was before!

You are cornfused by the difference between heat and temp. To separate things. Yes you can't make the temp go higher then the boiling point. But the more heat you put in the faster it will boil off. It the faster the liquid will evaporate. Slow boil will take a long time to evaporate all the liquid. Where a fast hard boil because of more heat input will evaporate the liquid a lot faster.

Reading the threads above should help.

I know I said I wouldn't post in your threads. But this wasn't about you. Trying to help someone else.

Prairiepiss wrote:

IlliniDistiller wrote:

Samohon wrote:

IlliniDistiller wrote:So, I can just hook my heating element(s) "straight up" to 220V and let 'er rip? I need NO temp control?

No, the heating element/s have to be controlled...

Welcome to HD...

Drop on by the Welcome Center and tell us a little about yourself...

Exlplain please. If I can't control the temp of my still, why do I need to "control my heaing element(s)"? I understand that the boiling point of my wash is detrmined by alcohol/water mixture. Why then, do I have to control my heat? I'm more confused now than I was before!

You are cornfused by the difference between heat and temp. To separate things. Yes you can't make the temp go higher then the boiling point. But the more heat you put in the faster it will boil off. It the faster the liquid will evaporate. Slow boil will take a long time to evaporate all the liquid. Where a fast hard boil because of more heat input will evaporate the liquid a lot faster.

Reading the threads above should help.

I know I said I wouldn't post in your threads. But this wasn't about you. Trying to help someone else.

Well now, that's simple. Maybe should be in a sticky somewhere??????

IlliniDistiller wrote: Well now, that's simple. Maybe should be in a sticky somewhere??????

It is.

Why you can't control a still with boiler temperature
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=16635

Prairiepiss wrote:

IlliniDistiller wrote: Well now, that's simple. Maybe should be in a sticky somewhere??????

It is.

Why you can't control a still with boiler temperature
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 46&t=16635

Well, some of us (me) are idiots. I read those posts. I did not get that out of it until you posted it in simple form. Once I saw your post and reread those other posts, I got it. I've been reading on here for many, MANY hours. I have not got a still yet, but am looking. Really wanna build my own. I've been looking at electric fired stills. Pot still is my start. Wife likes rum, and we like flavored spirits.

I need to go to the welcome section.....

Hey we all have been there at one point or another. That's why we like to tell people to read as much as you can. Then go back and read it again. And again it need be. Then the puzzle pieces start falling into place. A piece from this thread fits with a piece in that thread. And then a piece from another thread fits both. It's all a chain reaction once you have that ah ha moment.

+1 PP

You gotta do the reading!!! Sometimes takes 3 or 4 times to sink in my thick head

so, for the most part i answered my own question by trial and error. i have done dozens of pot and fractional still runs. fractional as in a CHEMISTRY definition style fractional still as well as a Nixon & McCaw fractional still.

after stripping runs i obtain a 2 gallon boiler full at just under 50%abv to which i distill by heating at a high temp(no restrictions) until the steam hits the column. once that happens through trial and error i set the temp of the gas burner to that which would produce 100ml per hour and let the system settle. after 10-70 minutes it should be producing fores. heads are easy to separate based on taste. once the taste becomes dull(i check every 100ml) you have body. check the thermometer. mine produces body between 78 and 81 degrees. if the system runs right and you monitor/regulate temps hourly you should hit tails at any temps over 81 degrees. at temps over 82 degrees you are no longer producing ethanol(discard everything over 82 degrees).

you need extremely steady temps and preferably open flame temps.

temperatures are in centigrade.

on HOT RUNS such as pot distillation it runs a constant between 85 and 95 degrees as opposed to COLD RUNS 77-82 degrees.


argue this and ill prove it with video.