My First Still - Help

[Harriscat]

Hello Guys,

I am new to the art of distilling, I have done a fair amount of reading about it and am aware of the dangers of using plastics in distilling. I purchased an Amazing Still, I shall be using a simple sugar and turbo yeast mash, after it has fermented and been distilled I will be filtering it through activate carbon. I do plan to move onto a metal still, my main question is, will the product that my still gives me kill me or blind me?

Thanks

Charlie

[Ricky]

read some more! methanol is where the bad stories come from and your "amazing still" has no provision for a methanol cut. granted that there is not that much methanol but i tend to lean toward the side of safety on this issue. i think that your still will do fine for stripping and some of the simplest potstills would be good to do a spirit run with. do a little more research and you will be fine.

[Old_Blue]

The "product" you still produces probably won't kill or blind you if you do it right or don't abuse it, but the substances that can leach into your product from plastic most likely will. There are more post on here than you can read in one night on the DANGERS OF USING PLASTIC, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, except fermenting low % washes.

The weekend has just started so go throw that thing in the trash and start reading. You can thank us later.

[CoopsOz]

I agree, it is better to er on the side of safety, however, all the stories that you have heard about moonshine making people blind comes from the old days of unscrupulous operators. In the past, to make the product go further (make more money) some in the past have added all manner of things to there product, also the goverments of the day were spreading rumours so people would buy the taxed hooch. I'm not saying your still is or isn't safe to use as I've never owned or operated one.

[Harriscat]

Thanks, So what should I worry more about, the head shots or the absorption of plastic?

Charlie

[BW Redneck]

You need to worry about both. These links list the many grievances of using this kind of still.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2891

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3603

Please, build or buy an ordinary pot still. A pot still won't contaminate your booze, and is pretty cheap.

[Jameson Beam]

You need to worry about both. These links list the many grievances of using this kind of still.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2891

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3603

Please, build or buy an ordinary pot still. A pot still won't contaminate your booze, and is pretty cheap.

Hi Charlie,

Welcome to the wonderful, exciting , thrilling - sometimes chilling world of distilling.

Above all, do not - repeat DO NOT try the plastic or ice / wok approach. I wasted a month on those damn things. After getting my chit together, I went an made me a simple, simple pot still from household equipment, and it still works to this day.

The simplest design to start with is something like this:
http://www11.asphost4free.com/JamesonBe ... _Still.gif" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Some short cuts i have found is using old 5/8" pieces of garden hose to make flexible couplings. (fits perfectly around 1/2" copper pipe for air tight fit.

Also if your to lazy to make a coiled "worm" for you condenser, just get an old 5 - 6 gallon beer cooler and drill a 1/2" hole at bottom and 1/2" hole at top. Then run a straight through "shotgun" 1/2" copper pipe through from top to bottom and seal with plummers putty. Fill with Ice Water every so often - and volia - a condenser...

Just dont make the same mistake I made mon ami.

Vino es Veritas and Good Luck,

Jim.

[Old_Blue]

Harriscat, I take back what I said about throwing your amazing still in the trash. Keep it and use it for a fermenter - but nothing else.

[Jameson Beam]

Hey Charlie,

I believe i need to clarify what i talked about earlier on that still design.

First, the flexible hose coupling should not have any space between the copper tubings. If you use it, there should be a copper to copper connection with no rubber exposed in the vapor path. This is defined as any path the alcohol vapors take from the boiler, to the still head, to the lyne arme (if using a pot still - not a reflux) and thru the condenser to the output spout.

These vapors should only contact stainless steel or copper / tubing.

That still design also is not mine - but came from Tony's Home Distillers main site - http://homedistiller.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I would read the Introduction, Theory and Equipement sections first before making a decision on what type of alcohol you want to make - whether it be neutral alcohol (a reflux still) or flavored alcohols such as whiskey, rum, brandy etc. (a pot still).

I had a few questions on this design from another posting i made. Just trying to clarify...

Vino es Veritas,
Jim.

[blanikdog]

I just can't visualise a flexible hose coupling that won't expose the vapour to rubber/plastic. The copper/ss tube will have to be cut to the correct angles perfectly or rubber/plastic will be exposed and, how does one then bend the hose. Either the outside of the bend has to stretch - which is possible - or the inside of the bend has to compress - not nearly as possible. If the ends of the pipe are cut square and the hose is bent/flexed, the vapour MUST be exposed.

Somewhere there will be rubber/plastic exposed to the vapour. There just has to be, It's quite irrelevant where the design came from, but any risk of vapour contacting rubber/plastic must surely be avoided????????

Well, that's what I think anyway.

blanik

[alice]

I just can't visualise a flexible hose coupling that won't expose the vapour to rubber/plastic. The copper/ss tube will have to be cut to the correct angles perfectly or rubber/plastic will be exposed and, how does one then bend the hose. Either the outside of the bend has to stretch - which is possible - or the inside of the bend has to compress - not nearly as possible. If the ends of the pipe are cut square and the hose is bent/flexed, the vapour MUST be exposed.

Somewhere there will be rubber/plastic exposed to the vapour. There just has to be, It's quite irrelevant where the design came from, but any risk of vapour contacting rubber/plastic must surely be avoided????????

My thoughts precisely, blanik.

[Usge]

Not to add fuel to the fire...but if you use a slip joint...the copper would be overlapping. From there, you could use anything, biscuit dough, etc.

I would also add...for the record..that I have recently purchased an unmodified version of what they call the "Easy Still", "Mr Distiller", etc., for wash stripping. Apparently, they use silicon washer/gasket to seal the top to the pot. As well, there is a silicon grommet where the head pickup is that protrudes into the top of the pot. (that's 2 areas exposed to vapor).

I have no idea if the ES is different, but on mine..there is further silicone at the business end! From there, it drips into a hard plastic nose!! So, I've been setting about getting rid of as much of it as I can. First order of business was the nose/collection end! A 90 degree compression fitting elbow fits perfectly and seals well enough. I cut a square out of the bottom nose. And then inserted copper tubing in the other end of the compression fitting.

This solved 3 problems I had with the unit :
1) because distillate was dripping into open plastc nose...and some parts of the plastic housing have opening into the top...the fan up top would pull vapor and odor "up" and into the room! Not good. But, this problem is solved now with a fully sealed line. I should add...I also soldered the chlorine vent valve shut

2) the top coil is stainless, and it doesn't solder well. There are ways it can be done, but this was a much easier solution that did not require high temp or caustic acid fluxes. It fits perfectly in the nose without alterations other than cutting the floor for the tubing to pass through.

3) Because it requires no solder, it also allows me to now use some copper in the path by attaching a 3/8 inch OD copper pipe/tube to the other end of the compression elbow and let it protrude through the cut out in the plastic nose tip.

In the end, I'm not sure it would be possible to remove or find replacement for the silcone gasket for the top and grommet that holds the coil in place. Out of those 2, the only one directly in the vapor path is the grommet washer in the top of the head. (the hole for the tube is slighly larger than the tube, so the bottom edge of the silicone grommet that holds it is exposed). I'll keep working on it though

Mainly, I also wanted to contribute this here so anyone considering such a unit....would know there could be some unresolvable issues with them regarding silicone exposure....as well as to offer a possible solution to at least the worst offending part (the front nose). For clarification: I own the unmodified "water distilling' version of this. The ES version has lower temp heating element and higher speed/cooling fan for added reflux. But, as far as I can see...they both have the same silicon gasket/grommet setup.

edit: also wanted to add...that most compression fittings they sell are "brass"...which has it's own can of worms/problems. (ie..lead leeching). I found a stainless steel one (you need a 3/8 OD 90 degree elbow (compression fittings on both ends). Its about 16 bucks (compared to 3 for the brass one).

[blanikdog]

The simplest design to start with is something like this:http://www11.asphost4free.com/JamesonBe ... _Still.gif

Charlie, May I suggest that if you use this design, to have the water coming into the bottom of the bucket and out at the top. A piece of hose into the bottom of the bucket would do this. This will ensure that the coldest water is at the bottom where the distillate runs out, would be easier to control, and use less water than having holes in the bucket.

I would imagine that the design as shown would use a lot of water and with climate change now fully upon us, we really need to keep water usage to an absolute minimum.

blanik

[HookLine]

Not to add fuel to the fire...but if you use a slip joint...the copper would be overlapping. From there, you could use anything, biscuit dough, etc.

That's what I was thinking. Even PTFE tape would be okay, certainly a whole lot better than garden hose.

[Jameson Beam]

Not to add fuel to the fire...but if you use a slip joint...the copper would be overlapping. From there, you could use anything, biscuit dough, etc.

That's what I was thinking. Even PTFE tape would be okay, certainly a whole lot better than garden hose.

Yes, I have tried that with flour/water and PTFE tape, but since I have to break down the still after every usage (for several reasons that i really dont want to go into), I have found it still easier to go with the 5/8" garden hose approach. I know many people are leary of this, but these are straight through connections with no bending required. I do have a right angle and two 45 degree copper couplings from my still head to lyne arme to condenser that dont need to come appart and use PTFE tape.

But I do use the straight through flexible connections to disconnect the lyne arme from the extention and then the extention from the condenser.

Believe me, it is a tight, straight through, copper to copper connection with no bending and no rubber in the vapor path and i cut all joints to fit it flush straight through....

Vino es Veritas,
Jim.

[HookLine]

Mr Beam, I have enjoyed reading your work on Yahoo and think you are very well informed and experienced at distilling, and I am glad you have joined us here.

But I find it difficult to believe that you cannot solve the connection problem without using garden hose. What about flared brass gas fittings? I've seen them used by a few distillers and they seem to do the job. I use standard threaded brass plumbing fittings (de-leaded, of course) and it is easy to do and works very well (with a bit of PTFE thread tape, the only kind of plastic generally considered acceptable in a still, and then only in small quantities.) It is also very easy to assemble and disassemble.

Plonkas et perpetuam

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