Home Distiller

Hi guys,

I'm from Northeast Florida and I'm new to fermenting and distilling and have been building my first still. I've soldered the copper together for a reflux still using the plans found on erowid.org. I got interested in this about 6 months ago and I'm anxious to get started on my first run. I purchased an 8 gallon milk can boiler and I'm looking at obtaining a mash tun and fermenter as well. I purchased an internal heat source which is attached to a 2" tri-clamp opening near the bottom of the milk can. I'd like to get to a point where I'm fermenting and distilling all-grain batches though I know that's probably a bit down the road. I might even be interested in opening a distillery at some point in the future if all goes well and I remain interested in this once I get my feet wet. I've found that I really enjoy rye whiskey's and bourbon's with rye in the mash bill so I'd like to eventually make something along those lines, but one step at a time.

On a side note, I'm having an issue with my reflux tower. The tower itself is not water tight at the points where the condenser water intake and exit runs through the side of the tower. The condenser is water tight, but I can't seem to properly solder the holes I drilled into the tower where the intake and exit run through. I'm assuming I shouldn't be distilling alcohol if it's potentially going to be coming out of the sides of the tower. I was considering taking it over to a local mom & pop local welder but I'd like to hear what any of you might have to say about this. I've tried re-soldering those openings many times and I can't seem to get it done. Should I be worried about this? Should I consider taking it a local welder? Let me know. And great forum here by the way. I'm looking forward to contributing a bit once I have some experience under my belt.

Thanks,

logic

I don't run a reflux still, but I've read enough to know that it needs to be vented to the atmosphere. This is especially necessary if it's a valved reflux. From what I've read, the reflux condenser should knock down any alcohol vapors before they can get to the top of the still where the water intake/outlet are located. There should be some kind of opening to the atmosphere at that point to avoid pressure buildup in the boiler to prevent it from going BOOM.

Good luck to you and stay safe.

S-Cackalacky wrote:I don't run a reflux still, but I've read enough to know that it needs to be vented to the atmosphere. This is especially necessary if it's a valved reflux. From what I've read, the reflux condenser should knock down any alcohol vapors before they can get to the top of the still where the water intake/outlet are located. There should be some kind of opening to the atmosphere at that point to avoid pressure buildup in the boiler to prevent it from going BOOM.

Good luck to you and stay safe.

+1,2 and 3...don't make a bomb. some pictures would help understand your design better.

as for soldering: clean copper is imperative. get rid of the excess solder, heat it up wipe off with a rag. once you have exposed the joint, clean it with THE RIGHT flux for the (lead free) solder you are using. ask the plumbing store guy what to use (not the home depot clerk) if you are unsure. put some on, heat it up, wipe the crap off, put more on heat it up, wipe the crap off...clean the joint as best you can....now you are ready to solder:
put on a little bit of flux, heat the bigger pipe first (overall) when hot, move the torch to the one side of the joint, apply solder to other side of the joint. solder will flow to the heat source. when it does flow, remove the heat source and allow to cool. don't overheat. you are now a plumber.
remember the the three cardinal rules of plumbing: shit don't run uphill, payday is on Friday and never, ever lick your fingers

HDNB wrote:remember the the three cardinal rules of plumbing: shit don't run uphill, payday is on Friday and never, ever lick your fingers

With one exception... Solder will run uphill due to capillary action...

Here's a pic of the column. I've tried and retried soldering (I've definitely gotten better, but I still suck at soldering as can be witnessed by the mess around each area) the areas described to be water tight and it's just not working. Hopefully I don't need them water tight as was mentioned above. To reiterate, when I fill the column with water to test if it's water tight, a trickle of water comes out of 3 of the 4 holes that were drilled into the 2" copper tower to allow the water intake and exit to pass through it. Those 3 holes were drilled to a slightly larger diameter than the pipe going through it as I had trouble drilling it cleanly. The one hole that was clean doesn't leak. Lastly, I have a cap for the top which has a hole drilled for a thermometer which is not in the picture. The cap is not soldered as it will allow me to clean and unpack the column more easily as needed. Perhaps that is enough to not have my column become a bomb. Thank you for the comments so far. Hopefully someone can further clarify after seeing the picture.

logic

Short answer. Yes. It is a problem. Vapour will exit the holes easier than water. They need to be soldered water tight. If you can't get it soldered correctly. Grab a new bit of 2in and build a different type of reflux still.

Greetings logic don't dispair you can fix those leaks. The most important is that the area be clean and use a good flux paste. No flux core solder. Try cutting several pieces of solder the size that would fit the circumference of the pipe to be soldered, like a ring on your finger, you could doubled it up if the gap is fairly large, one on top of the other. Put in place before you solder. Do one side at a time then let cool and do the other side. Don't put the flame directly on the solder keep moving the flame around the area you want to solder and carfully watch the solder, as it just begining to melt all around move the heat away and watch the solder it should form nicely around the joint. If not a little more heat but don't be greedy to much heat will ruin your efforts. Pratice melting a piece of solder on a piece of scrap and you will get the hang of it pretty quickly. Remember not to much heat and make use the area is clean and fluxed. You can't have any leaks where alcohol fumes can escape. Safet Safety. Good luck.

Here's the flux that the local plumbing store sold me. I've completed the whole column with the exception of these leaky areas using this flux. I hope this is/was adequate.

First, I wish you had checked here before building that antiquated Cooling Management reflux column because it is very inefficient... If the lower tube leaks, remove it and patch over the holes... Then drill new perpendicular holes either immediately above or below the upper tube... You can also wind a ring of copper wire to fill the gap for easier soldering... I've had to do that a time or two myself over the years...

rad14701 wrote:First, I wish you had checked here before building that antiquated Cooling Management reflux column because it is very inefficient... If the lower tube leaks, remove it and patch over the holes... Then drill new perpendicular holes either immediately above or below the upper tube... You can also wind a ring of copper wire to fill the gap for easier soldering... I've had to do that a time or two myself over the years...

Yeah I got the gist from reading here that this design is not well liked. I had already almost finished building it before reading here however. I have some copper mesh for packing and I can probably pull some of it out into wire though it would be very thin but I guess if I wrap it around enough that might help. Wrapping the solder around the pipe as was recommended earlier doesn't work very well because as one part of the loop begins to liquify before the rest, there goes the rest of the ring on the floor. I appreciate your suggestion above, but I don't feel really confident in patching the holes in the pipe and starting over.

It took a lot to finally commit to building my column versus buying one. I was very paranoid about buying one and having it shipped and at the same time a little intimidated about trying to build my own having never worked with solder or copper pipe. I purchased my boiler from MoonshineDistiller.com and to be quite honest I still get a little concerned about something being shipped to me from a company using that name even though it isn't an actual column. But I really like the milk can boiler I got from them. I suppose if the authorities come knocking I'll paint the picture that I'm strictly fermenting and brewing beer and make sure the column is stored somewhere offsite when not in use and I'll probably brew a little beer anyway just for good measure.

you really should consider some changes, the reflux tubes won't do much as is, but you have a great pot still head going there.

if it were mine: i'd cut the tubes going through the column. heat the product condenser at the top (to flow the solder) and turn it 90 degrees so i could hook up water to it. cut the tubes close to the column, file/sand/grind down smooth and clean and then solder the leaks as described above.(just leave the tubes that intersect the column, they won't do anything anyway other than seal the hole in the column)(you don't have to "fill" the tubes with solder; just seal the column, and leave the tubes in it.)

then if you really want to add reflux (i have external CM and never use it) add a 1/4" copper coil, externally, just below he take off (9 or 10 wraps, 10 feet will be lots), and valve it separately (see Prariepiss' CM mods (in his signature any post) and understand the benefit of separate valving for the reflux coil vs. the condensor device. T-pee documented his build well...he and i have the same build, with the same mods.... you can convert yours to this fairly simply with better results...

Hi logic,

I'm a NE FL guy too. Just getting started. Have you looked at Rockytopstills.com?

John

Raptor wrote:Hi logic,

I'm a NE FL guy too. Just getting started. Have you looked at Rockytopstills.com?

John

I just took a look since you mentioned it. Their site only has one product for sale and that's the still that the guy builds. I could cut the pipes on mine and turn it into a pot still like the one on that website you mentioned, but I don't need to buy his. I've got everything figured out except for the column at the moment. I may be leaning toward turning mine into a pot still as was mentioned previously in this thread by someone else.

logic

the first pic on that site has the cold water in the top, waste water at the bottom....that is backwards...when you do your mods, cold in at the bottom, waste water out at the top.
coolant water should be valved, either at the tap, or in line if you are recirculating. there are at least two good reasons for these suggestions, i'll leave it to you to find them.

I'm in NE Florida as well, and I'm using a very basic pot still; however, I'm acquainted with someone who is very good at soldering copper ( think plumber) and very discreet. If all else fails, this might be the way to go.

HDNB wrote:the first pic on that site has the cold water in the top, waste water at the bottom....that is backwards...when you do your mods, cold in at the bottom, waste water out at the top.
coolant water should be valved, either at the tap, or in line if you are recirculating. there are at least two good reasons for these suggestions, i'll leave it to you to find them.

Yeah I noticed that on the site as well. Maybe he just mislabeled it.

Well I was finally able to seal the holes in my column. Thank god! I'm also in the middle of reading The Compleat Distiller and that book discourages putting the cooling tubes through the column like I did and which was also discouraged above. I will run it as it has been designed a few times initially just for the experience and then I will sever those cooling pipes and no longer use them. I thought the tubes were what made the still operate as a reflux still, but the book seems to indicate that the tubes actually make it less efficient as a reflux still and that the packing is what determines if it operates as a reflux still or just as a pot still. If this is the case then I can run it either way as I please. If I'm misunderstanding this completely, someone please correct me.

logic wrote:Well I was finally able to seal the holes in my column. Thank god! I'm also in the middle of reading The Compleat Distiller and that book discourages putting the cooling tubes through the column like I did and which was also discouraged above. I will run it as it has been designed a few times initially just for the experience and then I will sever those cooling pipes and no longer use them. I thought the tubes were what made the still operate as a reflux still, but the book seems to indicate that the tubes actually make it less efficient as a reflux still and that the packing is what determines if it operates as a reflux still or just as a pot still. If this is the case then I can run it either way as I please. If I'm misunderstanding this completely, someone please correct me.

Nevermind, I just reread HDNB's post above about turning mine into a reflux if I sever the pipes. You have to have some way to cool the vapor before it reaches the condenser and the packing isn't going to do that. I think I got it now.

Alright, I took HDNB's advice and turned my rig into a pot still which is probably what I really wanted and needed to do all along. I cut the reflux pipes and turned the liebig 90 degrees and attached a valve on the water intake to control flow as was also recommended above. I immersed it in vinegar and then just this evening completed the cleaning run with a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water. It took about an hour and 20 minutes to get up to temp. and I let it go for about 4 hours after that before shutting it down. Luckily everything is sealed water and vapor tight. I collected about a gallon of the vinegar/water solution on the other end and there was still 3 or 4 gallons left in the boiler. Alot of it got away as vapor as I was running the condenser sporadically. I have an 8 gallon boiler and started with somewhere between 5 and 6 gallons of cleaning wash. My question is: should I have continued with the run? I felt like 4 hours should have been more than sufficient and looked but couldn't find anything on here that said anything about running the cleaning wash to absolute completion so I'm assuming I'm good. I plan to do a sac run tomorrow with some cheap wine and then get into doing my first ferment shortly after that. I'll be sure to check the tried and true recipe section and will likely start with a sugar wash, but would like to get into AG eventually. Take a look at my modifications and feel free to comment:

logic

I think you are going to be just fine . Blow just a bit of vapor on that sac run too . Not a lot , just enough to vapor clean the condenser a bit before you start condensing the alc vapor .

so it's been a week, how did it go? (ha, never mind -found you on first sac run!)

you could still pack that column if you are cleaning up some feints for a more neutral product (like for panty dropper or something) it's long enough for some passive reflux.