Not sure how it works

[liquordude]

Hello Everyone
I am new to this site but have been distilling for about 3 years.

Anyways I bought this on ebay and was unsure how it worked.
It is 2"x41" Got it for $40 shipping included.

It is all stainless steel and the heater element works great.

The part I am not sure how to use is the cup and the 2 tubes
going down to the the bottom. The tube on the bottom (Pic 4)
does not run through as the heating element slides into the bottom.

If nothing else I can cut the bottom just above the the tube and
use it as a stripping column as my other columns are copper.

Also I am sure this was a water distiller and the outside cleaned up well
but the inside has a lot of water scale on it. Anybody know a good way
to remove the water scale?

Thank for any help you can give me.

[Hackers]

="liquordude" The part I am not sure how to use is the cup and the 2 tubes
going down to the the bottom. The tube on the bottom (Pic 4)
does not run through as the heating element slides into the bottom.

From what I can see that is your cooling system. My guess is you simply need to attach an input and output hose to complete. Hope that is of assistance.

[nanosleep]

On water distillers the cooling water output from the condenser is usually fed to the boiler via some sort of cup with an overflow tube. The idea is that the boiler is continually kept "topped up" by the hot water exiting the condenser. The cup and the boiler will generally be connected with a small diameter tube to reduce convection currents and heat loss. The overflow level of the cup will match the desired level in the boiler. Most of the water exiting the condenser will overflow the cup and go down the drain. A very small amount will go into the boiler to replace what was boiled away.
I can't tell from the pictures, but it appears there is a cup attached to the side of a small boiler. Is this a water distiller?
I'm not sure this device has much use for distilling alcohol. The boiler looks very small. You'll have to modify the cup to boiler connection so no water can dilute your mash. Water distillers don't typically have packed column, although there may be some baffles to prevent "dirty" water from getting splashed over into the condenser.

[markx]

Hydrochloric acid works best for removing the water scale. That's what we use when cleaning a clogged up water distiller

[riff42]

I think there are several scale removers in the cleaning section of stores. Lime-Away is one, I think CLR is another. Watch out, the stuff is wicked bad for the skin, use appropriate protection!

[pintoshine]

I agree with riff42. CLR and Lime away are mostly sulfuric acid. Muratic (hydrochloric acid) is real hard on stainless because of the high concentration of chlorine.

[liquordude]

Thanks for all your help guys.
I did find another one on ebay that show the hose setup.
This guy also has a link to some info on the distiller.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-World-II-WATER- ... dZViewItem

[junkyard dawg]

funny little picture...Avatar? whats that thing called?

neat still. I bet that could be easily made into a reflux column. Remove the heater and attach to keg. Copper scrubbers and thats about it...