Home Distiller

Not sure where to ask this, tried 'searching' first, no luck, so here goes, any thoughts/opinions/advice on those 3-5 gallon SS pot type condensers on the big auction site ?
I do not have the 'approved' space inside for anything larger, still just in thinking stages of all this, thanks.

where is the 'big auction site', PM me the URL if it's a sensitive matter.

Boom

I bought a still off an ebay seller before knowing what I was doing.
It was not as advertised, and when I tested the solder it was positive for lead.
There were other toxic materials used as well.
Ebay forced the seller to take it back and I got a refund minus shipping it back.

Build your own, it's the safest alternative.

Would not buy anything from Ebay unless it was a brand name item. the home made units simply aren't predictable, and you were right to test everything before using it.

The site is ebay, I have a listing number it is; eBay item number: 121776085240 any advice opinion appreciated. Thanks

It's trash. Save your money. You can build a bigger better one cheaper.

You should read much more here.
The diameter of the copper is way to small. The fitting at the boiler is probably not lead free, it's sealing not ethanol resistant. The seal of the lid probably too. Probably the copper tube is not clean inside. The thermometer is useless at this place.
Shit design. Forget it.

Thanks to all, and i am weary eyed reading, in terms of building, I am ok with wood, metal not too much, it would have to be an easy build...

You would probably be much happier with a 5 gallon or larger than with a 3 gallon because you can run larger washes and it would be easier to make cuts on a larger boiler.

ptofimpact wrote:Thanks to all, and i am weary eyed reading, in terms of building, I am ok with wood, metal not too much, it would have to be an easy build...

Pot stills are easy, what you need to do is figure out what you want to do.
If you want to make Rum & Whisky then you need a pot still.
If you want to make pure spirits then it gets more complicated.

There are many good build threads here on the site, I know you said you're getting weary but I still suggest reading more but focus on build threads for the type of still you want.

Next determine size, if you are leaning towards an easy pot still build you may want to look into the use of a keg.
If you can heat with propane outdoors a keg is easy, there are fittings you can buy to go direct from a keg to a 2" copper pipe.

You will need to learn to solder, but this isn't difficult and there are many resources available.
I watched Youtube videos about copper plumbing, then I practiced a while, then I built my still head.
It's been working great for me ever since.
Building a liebig isn't hard - again there are instructions galore and you have all the support here you could ever use.

A couple great things about building your own.
1. that sense of "I did it myself" pride. It may not be the prettiest but what I built is mine and I did it myself so it's a thing of beauty to me.
2. Un-traceable. Unless you live somewhere where this hobby is legal the advantage of building your own is that no one need know why you are buying a couple feet of 2" copper pipe and some fittings and various lengths of smaller copper pipe and some solder...

Study a few threads here, and you can pick up everything you need in an hour if you have a Home Depot/Walmart/target in close proximity.

Copper soldering seems daunting until the first time you do it, then you'll be amazed at how easy it is.