Home Distiller

I have a lot of air-conditioning copper tubing from a friend, the tubing is 6mm in diameter and the inner part 4mm. I'm wanting to go with a pot still design but haven't got my boiler yet. I'm wondering if this copper tubing will do the job ok or is it too small, I'm wanting to make a simple Flake Stand and Worm condenser and I have the parts to start building this part of my still right away, I just don't want to waste time and then find out that the tubing is too thin to do a efficient job. The coil will be almost 3meters long if stretched out, I have it coiled up and will install it in a small tin that's 24cm high by 18 wide.

any advice will be much appreciated, looking forward to having part of my design built and ready.

In my opinion, that's too small diameter. I guess it depends on the size of the pot. I've used 1/2" (13mm) for pots from 6 gallons up to 15.5 gallon.

The smallest condenser tube diameter recommended is usually 1/2", or 13mm.

I personally would not consider using anything as small as what you have. The potential for blockage is too high, and I don't feel it would be very efficient at all.

Figure out the size of your boiler before you worry about a condenser, as boiler size and power input will dictate the requirements for you condenser.

Well I was going to go with a small boiler something that would hold about 8L or 2 gallon but after reading how great kegs are I may continue my search for a keg.

Thanks for the help. I'll scrap the idea of using this tubing, maybe I can chop it into small bits and use it as packing for my column

Fritz Distilleries wrote:Well I was going to go with a small boiler something that would hold about 8L or 2 gallon but after reading how great kegs are I may continue my search for a keg.

Thanks for the help. I'll scrap the idea of using this tubing, maybe I can chop it into small bits and use it as packing for my column

Kegs are really great! Don't get me wrong, I support those who decide to run a stock pot, though I feel 4-5 gallons is about the smallest I would go.

A little tip on condensers, it's better to go bigger than necessary than the absolute minimum. If you are to do stripping runs, it's nice to have enough condenser to be able to really run your still fast. It's also handy if you step up to a bigger boiler, as a larger condenser can be reused on the larger still, rather than having to build another.

Longer Liebig's that don't have a ton of water jacket volume (something like 1" over 3/4" copper is very good) seem to work very well in my experience. Around 30"-36" water jacket length is plenty long enough that you can achieve a good temp gradient, which helps avoid "huffing", while maintaining very cool water input temp with relatively little water flow.

Don't chop it up. While it is way too small for a worm, when you build your next still (notice you are already talking about packing so you are thinking beyond a pot still) you may want a double or triple coil, or a Graham condenser, or some other thing you have not thought of yet. You will regret wasting it.

On the small side for your immediate purpose . I agree with Hound Dog . Save it :The last thing you throw away is the next thing that you will need . The facts direct from a pack rat .

Hound Dog wrote:Don't chop it up. While it is way too small for a worm, when you build your next still (notice you are already talking about packing so you are thinking beyond a pot still) you may want a double or triple coil, or a Graham condenser, or some other thing you have not thought of yet. You will regret wasting it.

Yeah, I downloaded a book a couple of years ago call "A Step by Step Guide, Building a Home Distillation Apparatus" but it was more about building a reflux still which seemed great but kind of over whelmed me and I didn't have the money to invest building it so my project of building still got put on the shelve for another time. It talked in their about packing the column with copper sponges as it helps purify the product and send it back down the column. Maybe this is a topic for another discussion but I was thinking can you not pack a Pot Still column so it helps give a better output? It would be nice to build a pot still that give a end product that has been redistilled 2 or 3 times, like most whisky's have. I'm not interested in getting a super pure product as I want to get the flavours from my mash and ageing.

Ps. good news, I think I've finally got hold of a boiler, its not a keg but a stainless steal gas bottle. ill post a pic in another thread. Link To Thread

That's another topic of argument on this forum but the main consensus is that you don't get much from putting something in the column of a pot still. Without forced reflux it all heats up and just inhibits the flow. Reflux isn't returning condensates vapor back to the boiler to be vaporized again from the same back set. It is a whole process taking place in the column itself.

Fritz Distilleries wrote:Yeah, I downloaded a book a couple of years ago call "A Step by Step Guide, Building a Home Distillation Apparatus" but it was more about building a reflux still which seemed great but kind of over whelmed me and I didn't have the money to invest building it so my project of building still got put on the shelve for another time. It talked in their about packing the column with copper sponges as it helps purify the product and send it back down the column. Maybe this is a topic for another discussion but I was thinking can you not pack a Pot Still column so it helps give a better output? It would be nice to build a pot still that give a end product that has been redistilled 2 or 3 times, like most whisky's have. I'm not interested in getting a super pure product as I want to get the flavours from my mash and ageing.

Ps. good news, I think I've finally got hold of a boiler, its not a keg but a stainless steal gas bottle. ill post a pic in another thread. Link To Thread

Just my personal opinion but neither of the designs in that guide (one if it's the old old version) is worth building... You can do better for less money outlay...

Copper packing in a pot still only cleans the vapor if the rest of the rig is stainless steel... Otherwise it does nothing once the column reaches operating temperature... It will only help compress the foreshots a bit as the packing warms up but after that, nada...!!!