Home Distiller

Hi all,

Reged yesterday and had quite a bit of help from Dan in PM and he advised finding an old copper boiler.
Went out today and procured one for free and found I can get any fittings and bits of copper needed free also which is always a bonus!

Here she is, going to do a bit of reading and cleaning and see what I can come up with - comments and suggestions extremely welcome as I have never done this before..... only ever made wine/beer.

Here she is!

Cool!, can I have it!.

I think that one's an indirect boiler, so the coil will have to come out unless you are going to use it as a steam coil. To do that you will have to take the bottom off, and they are usually attached with hard solder, so you will need some heat. The element port at the top might make a good place for an angled lyne arm or column which can be removed for charging? You can use the coil for a condenser, though a leibig is easier if you have running water.
I know I mentioned using steam through the coil, but for simplicity I would recommend direct firing with propane. Burners can be got from BES plumbing supplies, it's what I use, about £25-30?
As always the necessary warning; Never run a still, especially a direct fired still, indoors or in any structure that would make you sad if it went up in flames along with its contents and occupants.

Hahaha..... nope :p
Need to get a large stillson or similar to remove the thermostat etc as something is rattling inside her :/
Also need to figure out exactly whats in there and suss out some kind of plan....hmmmmmm
Got all the foam off now and a quick rinse down, going to clean all the grott off next when the wife returns as the kids have some sickness bug - there's always something
Just reading other peoples build threads looking for ideas / materials I would need for a liebig condenser. I will have to measure how much this tank takes and get an idea for size of the condenser etc.... not an easy task this building stuff isn't as a noob pmfsl

Really a cool looking boiler can you give the diameter & height? Also it looks a bit old you might want to do a lead test on it.

Hey Dan,
I can get a burner with gas for nowt too lol - one was thrown in the skip today! Will try and pick it up tomorrow
Aye the vapor can be nasty I'd imagine......I'd never try it indoors and have a place with running water etc.

Hopefully I will find out more once I get the element etc out but that's a job for tomorrow as I haven't got the tools here atm.
Just going to polish her up a bit tonight

Bushman, its around 70x55mm but it con-caves underneath and that's to the top of the cone.
How do I do a lead test?

They make lead testing kits such as this one:
http://www.healthgoods.com/3M_Lead_Chec ... dcheck.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

and just test the soldered parts with that I presume? Or random copper areas as well incase they have been contaminated?

Bushman, its around 70x55mm but it con-caves underneath and that's to the top of the cone.

70MM = 2.75 inches X 55mm = 2.16 inches Me thinks something wrong with those numbers 3 ounce is a fairly small boiler

Coyote

It looks grotty but I'd be surprised if it was old enough to have lead in it.

The problem with the vapour, blackgrouse, is not just that it is nasty, but that it is flammable, and in confined spaces explosive!

Do a google search for indirect water cylinder, you'll get some ideas of what's going on with the ins and outs of yours.

Concerning the concave base; the exact same shape as the base of direct fired scotch stills. It's like these things were designed with the home distiller in mind!

Haha 700x550mm sorry*

About 150 litres? Is that right? It looks smaller. I had one about 100 litres size but in the end cut it down to about 35 litres, for the simple reason that I started doing hundreds of litres of ferments at a time, and that's just a bit bonkers, so now I do 25 liter ferments and experiment much more, and the waste and everything is more manageable.
Not that you can't run 25 litres in a 100 litre still, but I am a bit excitable/weak minded when it comes to these things.

I would have thought it was smaller but im no expert at maths Dan, I'd have GUESSED 60-70 max. It was removed because it was too small from the house it was in.
I was planning doing a 50 liter fermentation for my first run..... just because I have that size tub.

Ok worked it out..... more like 100-125 taking the top / bottom into account. I wont ever do more than 100 fermenting anyhow..... I cant drink much during the week as I drive in my job so it isn't worth the risk and there's only so much I can drink at weekends lol

Coyote wrote:

Bushman, its around 70x55mm but it con-caves underneath and that's to the top of the cone.

70MM = 2.75 inches X 55mm = 2.16 inches Me thinks something wrong with those numbers 3 ounce is a fairly small boiler

Coyote

I was thinking he ment CM

Looking a bit better!

That looks pretty badass, BG, good luck and keep us posted!

Shall do - honestly I thought it was too small when I saw it...... guess I was wrong!
Just asking around if anyone within a few miles has an element spanner I can nick tonight

I dont spose that tells us if its got lead or not ?

Coyote wrote:

Bushman, its around 70x55mm but it con-caves underneath and that's to the top of the cone.



70MM = 2.75 inches X 55mm = 2.16 inches Me thinks something wrong with those numbers 3 ounce is a fairly small boiler

Coyote


I was thinking he ment CM

Me too but I rarely miss a chance to poke something fun

If that's a beer on the workbench we have very similar work ethics

Hahaha yes it was.... I don't usually drink on a school night but needed a light refreshment!
Tequila beer..... love it but my arse turns into a water cannon if I have too many

Damn element is stuck solid.... going to get a proper spanner instead on using a bench vice and try heating it a bit. Dont want to remove it with my dremel as I want to use it as a blank later.

And coyote :p :p :p :p cheeky get :p

A bit of heat to burn out the plumber's tape and it should come away quite nicely. The tape turns to concrete afer it's been there a while. Limescale won't help, either, but even a shitty Wicke's plumber's torch will help a good deal.

BSS is a plumbers supply company. You could just give them a call and find out what the numbers mean, or google them.

What I found is....

http://www.lawnet.sabah.gov.my/Lawnet/S ... 961%29.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
(b) if made of copper, comply with B.S.S. 699: 1951 for copper cylinders for
domestic purposes (grades 1, 2 and 3).

black grouse wrote:What I found is....

http://www.lawnet.sabah.gov.my/Lawnet/S ... 961%29.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
(b) if made of copper, comply with B.S.S. 699: 1951 for copper cylinders for
domestic purposes (grades 1, 2 and 3).

Might be worth doing a lead test, then.

Update...... got a camp double burner but might just use 1 side and 7 full tanks of gas.
Ripped the copper slightly getting the old element out.... was a nightmare and found NO coil inside? Ohh well lol

Maybe I can just braise it?

Would this work on a still this size?



If so I will "order" the parts from my skip friends lol

I was thinking of this.....