Home Distiller

Hey all,

What is the minimum wattage element I could use to do a 12 gallon wash in a 20 gallon still?
My still boiler doubles as a beer brewing kettle, and I'm looking at outfitting it with a 220V 5500W element. The thing is, when I use it as a still I'm out in the garage, where only 110 service is available. If I hook up the element to 110 it will pull 1375 watts. Would this be enough to distill a 12 gallon wash in the 20 gallon boiler without taking years to come up to temp?

It'll work, but it will take a long time to get up to heat. I would guess about 2.5 hours. I run a 5 gallon pot still with the same element on 110V - takes about an hour to come up to heat. Can you come up with a long 10 gauge extension cord?

While it would work, your heatup (heat on to first drop) time will be over 2 hours.

Check. That's what I was coming up with as well. That is way too long to wait.

I've thought about getting 10G extenion cord(s) but the garage is a long way from the house. What is the longest run you would recommend for this setup with 10G wire?

Any chance you could use a propane burner or hot plate on a second circuit to lower heating times and switch to only the element
when you are up and running?

[quote
I've thought about getting 10G extenion cord(s) but the garage is a long way from the house. What is the longest run you would recommend for this setup with 10G wire?[/quote]

Maybe need to go 8g. Our resident electricians can help you with that.

Yes, I was thinking 8G for the long run.

About using the burner to supplement - I've thought of that too. The thing is the flame would probably fry the cord to the element. Plus it would defeat the purpose of eliminating propane.

Use two elements. Inside you run one at 220V, outside you run both at 110V. It takes about an hour to heat up.

farmlander,

How long is the run? Numbers please.
ss

farmlander wrote:Check. That's what I was coming up with as well. That is way too long to wait.

I've thought about getting 10G extenion cord(s) but the garage is a long way from the house. What is the longest run you would recommend for this setup with 10G wire?

The circuit your plugging the heater into is wired with and fused for 12ga so there's no reason to go bigger than that.
I'm too lazy to dig out the calculator and the latest copy of the NEC.
But I'd suggest keeping the cord under 50 feet.
Just a thought if your limited to 1375 watts, I'd insulate the pot very well.

Shady, I believe he was talking about a 220v extension cord to go from the house to the garage.

5.5kW on a 220 V line draws 25 amps.

The NEC for power transmission for 8 gage is 24 amps, probably OK if less than 500 feet.
6 gage has a 37 amp limit.
4 gage has a 60 amp limit.

If I were running a new circuit, I'd plan for at least a 50 amp 220 V breaker and spring for 4 gage wire. But that's me.
ss

And if using 120 VAC, your heater puts out 1375 W, at 11.45 amps.

12 gage is rated for 9.3 amps.
10 gage is good for 15 amps.

Hope this helps you decide what to do. Data, data, data...
ss

I use a 2000w 120v element purchased from Grainger, it pulls 16 amps.

ben stiller wrote:Shady, I believe he was talking about a 220v extension cord to go from the house to the garage.

My bad, might have misread it due to alcohol, read it again and I'm still not sure.
Another shot of shine and I've decided it doesn't matter.

Run a 110 extension cord to the second element in the garage. Easy peasy.

shadylane wrote:

ben stiller wrote:Shady, I believe he was talking about a 220v extension cord to go from the house to the garage.

My bad, might have misread it due to alcohol, read it again and I'm still not sure.
Another shot of shine and I've decided it doesn't matter.

Im in the same boat, paddle like a mofo, or not!

farmlander wrote:Check. That's what I was coming up with as well. That is way too long to wait.

I've thought about getting 10G extenion cord(s) but the garage is a long way from the house. What is the longest run you would recommend for this setup with 10G wire?

I've been dealing with the same problem. I'm almost done gathering the materials to do my version of Jimbo's electric conversion. I've talked to a few electricians and they said I could run a 10 gauge cord from the dryer on my back porch to my garage. It's a 35' run and they said it would be safe. I got a 10 gauge electrical cord at Harbor Freight (UL rated) and will cut off the 110 volt connections and replace them with 220 volt connections after cutting the cord down from 50' to 35'. I was paranoid about getting bad advice so I asked two electricians about the safety and they both said it would be OK as long as I don't run over 75% capacity of my breaker. I have a 30 amp plug I'll be using, so at full capacity with the 5500 watt element I should be pulling 22 amps safely (this is also corroborated in Jimbo's thread). Maybe you can do something similar with your dryer plug?

Just throwing this out there. Assuming your garage is connected to your house. Usually in a garage there is at least 1 step. If you have a basement or a crawl space and a step then you prob have at least a 2x10 floor system. If you have this then is it possible to drill a hole and run a 220 wire to the panel?

Yeah I was talking about running 220 out to the garage. It's 60 feet feet from the house.

Good to hear the idea about modifying a regular 8ga extension cord with the 220v ends - sounds economical to be sure.