Home Distiller

On my test/cleaning run I used a 5 gal bucket with 60 degree water from the tap . This seemed to warm up 80+ in a short amount of time. I had extra buckets standing by. I emptied out over half off the top and added fresh cold. This seemed to warm up too fast. Should I be using a much larger container or is it beter to not use a pump and run cold in at the bottom of the cooling arm with cold tap h2o and use a hose off the top nipple of the arm and out to drain or save for plant watering later.

Thank You very much in advance

bingo

If you are going to recirculate your cooling water, 5 gallons is likely not enough as you've found out. If your water is free (like on a well) you can just run total loss and drain it wherever you want. If you want to recycle the cooling water you'll need a big reservoir (like a 53 gallon drum) or you can rig up a cooling radiator using a car heater core or small radiator or something similar and run the water through that. There are many ways to skin that cat.

What kind/size still? You might want to read through Hawkingrage swamp cooler thread...
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=31859

Thanks for the replies. I should have known better. Remembered I have a 30 gal blue plastic barrel less lid. I did my first real run yesterday and ran for 2 hours. the water was still cold.

bingo

I have just built a copper pot still with a leibig condenser. The boiler will accommodate 5 gallons of mash. I use city water and hate the thought of wasting it. I am trying to come up with an efficient way to recycle the water flow through the condenser.

Any idea as to what kind of water pump would do the job ? Perhaps a pump used in a landscape water fountain ? I am thinking of getting a 20 gallon igloo cooler and rigging up the hose so the inflow to the condenser is fed from the bottom of the cooler while the returning water is fed back into the top .

Still not sure on the best way to keep the water cold enough during the run. I am interested in hearing what solutions you guys have used.

Thanks for any input
Tom

i use one of these for a 5 gallon run http://www.walmart.com/ip/Homz-17-Gallo ... 8/21690863" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow remember that price is for 8 of them. for a full keg run i use one of these http://www.walmart.com/ip/Rubbermaid-Co ... d/20550889" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I found a submersible pump that would deliver a little over a gallon a minute. I was thinking of hooking the outflow from the condenser through a cold plate prior to feeding it back into the water source. This cold plate is for beer. I figure it should work with water. What do you guys think ?



https://www.midwestsupplies.com/cold-pl ... Mgod2F0AOQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I run a 15.5 gallon beer keg pot still with a 24" liebig condenser. I use a 5 gallon bucket and a very small fountain pump. During a 7.5 gallon run, i'll change the water 4 or 5 times. These are complete changes and I don't change the water till the distillate temp reaches 100-110°F. The bucket gets pretty steamy, but still knocks down the vapor, even on a fast running strip run. I'm on well water, but I run the propane heated still in the garage and don't want hoses in and out. No problems and no complaints. I'll continue this way.

buflowing wrote:I run a 15.5 gallon beer keg pot still with a 24" liebig condenser. I use a 5 gallon bucket and a very small fountain pump. During a 7.5 gallon run, i'll change the water 4 or 5 times. These are complete changes and I don't change the water till the distillate temp reaches 100-110°F. The bucket gets pretty steamy, but still knocks down the vapor, even on a fast running strip run. I'm on well water, but I run the propane heated still in the garage and don't want hoses in and out. No problems and no complaints. I'll continue this way.

I think the pertinent question was how big should the container be so that the water won't have to be swapped out... And that answer is to have more cooling water than boiler charge and the more the better... Some here run a 15 gallon keg boiler and use a 55 gallon plastic drum as a water reservoir, letting the water cool for the next run rather than wasting it...

Here is what I came up with. A 30 gallon rain barrel, with a fountain pump , and a small radiator with a cooling fan mounted on the back. I found I really don't need the radiator unless I run the pump at a slow rate. I can run it full speed and the water does not have enough time around the condenser to get warm. It all recycles itself back through the barrel. I throw in a couple of frozen water bottles now and again. My only concern is the water getting funky after awhile and having some nasty stuff entering the tubing ? Any of you guys have a problem with that? Not sure I want to risk adding anything to the water supply. I may just switch it out every so often.

Another idea for extending the cooling potential of a recirc is to use blocks of ice - just freeze them in tupperware containers a few days before, then drop them in.

I was able to run a 28L pot still/liebig once - started at 60'F rose to 90'F on a 20 gal recirc. Not ideal, but adding the ice to the 60'F water helped. I froze about 8L of water. I did have to change out water twice - so lost about 10 gal - but if you are running and dumping you are losing more than that

An alternative to the original poster is to install a valve on the intake of the liebig - I have that also for tap water runs - lean it down so the distillate is coming out luke warm/warm and ensure you are not releasing vapors out the end and that valve will save your water usage. If you are using a garden hose connection, get a single valve/shutoff for about $5

Doggie, when I ran my VM the typical run was 12+ hours. I have a lot of freezer space so I would have 4 one gallon plastic milk cartons frozen and add one at a time to my 55 gallon garbage can. This helped keep my return water from heating my reservoir to fast. The nice thing is I could also use them in my ice chest for boating.

New members need to realize this is a small amount of ice in comparison to the shock treatment we discourage with ice in a flake stand which is a much smaller surface area.

I know this will sound like over kill but..

I have a 15 gallon boiler and used a 55 gallon barrel for cooling water. But I found that the water in the barrel was getting hot also.

So I decided to skin 2 cats at once. My wife likes fish so... I built a 2500 gallon pound. Now I have a good source of cooling water. Like I said, a bit overkill but it takes care of the water problem AND I made the wife happy.

Monty

Just curious if you guys add anything to the water to keep it clean? I worry a little about leaving water sit stagnant for long periods even though its inside my garage. I don't want any funky stuff getting into the tubing.

Tom

Sedaterman wrote:Just curious if you guys add anything to the water to keep it clean? I worry a little about leaving water sit stagnant for long periods even though its inside my garage. I don't want any funky stuff getting into the tubing.

Tom

A small amount of bleach will chlorinate the water and knock down most nasties... 1 tsp/5ml per 5 gallons/20 liters should suffice...

That's probably not a bad idea, when I ran my VM with circulating water after it cooled at least in the spring through fall I would just water my plants and start over with fresh water.

I am moving to recirc . 55 gal drum that will contain chlorinated city water that can degass and be used for the next wash as it performs it's primary function of cooling the current run .