Unattended Still Blows Up Garage

[WIski]

If this has been posted already please delete.......

http://www.kptv.com/story/30309677/home ... -blown-out" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[wtfdskin]

Oops

[raketemensch]

So this guy had a leaky, gas-fired still indoors, and he went to sleep?

[woodshed]

Safety first ya'll. Asleep at the wheel is no way to go through life.

[jb-texshine]

I assume he was not a member in good standing with this site ,or not a member period or would have known better.

[Truckinbutch]

Goes back to what I've learned here . If you ain't in eyesight and arm's reach of your rig when it's running you are fixing to fuck yourself .

[jb-texshine]

I wouldn't be willing to run propane in my house or garage anyway,and I do run propane! Although I do run it in a 12x16 shed,but it is a dedicated shed with two attic type vents three windows and a air conditioner plus a box fan for ventilation. Enough to keep it cool during a run in July. And as I come up to temp I always plug the condenser with my finger and spray all solder joints ,unions and the tri clamp down with soapy water. No,not long enough to build much pressure. Barely enough to feel it push on my finger. Takes maybe 45 seconds total. Safety and peace of mind is priceless.
jb

[jb-texshine]

Plus I LIKE my house,wife,kids,dogs,clothes,and furniture....
. jb

[skow69]

6:36 am. Kinda make you think he fired up the night before and went to bed. Think it woke up the neighbors?

[T-Pee]

There was a day when my neighbors would have simply rolled over in bed thinking, "Huh. Wonder what that experiment was about?" and go back to sleep.

tp

[skow69]

Har! You must have been real popular.

[T-Pee]

Well, Independence Day and New Year's anyway.

tp

[jb-texshine]

I have been known to shoot exploding targets with a 22 in the wee hours of the morning for absolutely nothing except the urge to see and hear shit go boom! Then again my closest neighbors are about a 1/2 mile away.... Helps that I keep the wild hogs down on his 800 acre pecan orchard.
Jb

[Teddysad]

A darwin award winner of the week

[S-Cackalacky]

Seriously stupid. Just the kind of publicity we need with bills waiting in the House and Senate. If this person IS a member here, thanks for being a complete dick.

[Bushman]

Seriously stupid. Just the kind of publicity we need with bills waiting in the House and Senate. If this person IS a member here, thanks for being a complete dick.

i am guessing he was not a member with his statements. Where he lives in Washington is about 5 minutes from Portland, Oregon where they have some great micro distilleries. My guess is he got excited after visiting a few distilleries and got a wild hair and ventured out on his own. Like you said S-C one guy can ruin it for the masses that are doing everything right.

[jb-texshine]

+1 to one bad apple spoiling the wash!

[WIski]

What people need to realize is that there is inherent danger in everything we do. People get burnt roasting marshmallows over an open fire. I know I'm preaching to the choir but really how many people start fires with turkey fryers everyday? There's going to be accidents with everything including distilling alcohol. The people that want to sensationalize this event will. We need to keep reminding others that if done correctly this hobby is safe and that goes for everything everyone does including roasting marshmallows and frying turkeys.

[jb-texshine]

True.
We all run stills,how many of us have blown one up?
We all drive,how many of us have had car wrecks?
hell the members probably have a better record of not blowing shit up than nasa with their space shuttles...
I don't remember having done anything more than give someone a hang over,and that's been a while back.

[bearriver]

I remember there being a quote on the homedistiller parent site where someone talks about leaving his still unattended to equalize at night while he sleeps.

Poor choices yeild poor results.

[still_stirrin]

And some like automation controls so that they can leave their stills running unattended however delusional that may be.

I remember a poster here chiming in that he likes to drink beers while running. Different story...same ending...BOOM.

Be safe y'all.
ss

[Coyote]

Had one of those "Scare the Crap" out of you moments Sunday afternoon.

Set up the small stove top still with the new thumper that I have used 20 times or so.

Just as everything came up to temp and the thumper really started rockin' . . . THE DAMN THING FELL THE FUCK OFF!

IT FELL OFF OVER THE TOP OF A RED HOT ELECTRIC COIL ELEMENT.

Ohh look at the pretty blue flames on the stove top, on the floor, up the wall - temp went up in the Man Cave
by about 300 degrees in about 7.2 seconds.

Grabbed the sprayer On the sink and thanked the Lord that I had put the longer ( 6 foot) hose on it last year.
Knocked the flames down before the fire sprinkler heads popped.

All hair is fine - shur nuff wakes a feller up. Don't know why it fell off, the investigation continues. . .

For the new folks round these parts the Man Cave is an old walk-in cooler, all steel except the wood floor which Wifey
says now will be concrete before the snow flies.

Be safe kids

Coyote

[cranky]

Was that you Ranger Rick?


From the tell us about your mistakes thread on Oct 24th ( http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... &start=930 )

Never Leave the Still unattended
Never fire up the still without turning on the pump to the Liebig
Never drink and run your still
and fer damn sure dont combine all three!!
And that is all I am going to say.....

Carry On
RR

Just read the fourth line..

And that's all I am tellin' about this mistake...

Carry On
RR

In all actuality this is not the first or the last one who has and will blow up his garage this way but every time it happens it sets this hobby back and saddans me.

[shadylane]

He blew up his garage making Rakia?
Not brandy distilled from a thin wine ferment.
But Rakia, were the fermented fruit is distilled.
I forgot I'm assuming the News report was accurate.
There's two good sides to the story, they didn't say a moonshine still blew up the garage.
And thousands of people did a search about making Rakia.
Many of the video's they found were villagers using small, wood fired artisan copper pot stills to make Rakia for drinking on the farm.

[S-Cackalacky]

Every time I hear about a house blowing up, I cringe and hope it wasn't still related. There was a massive explosion today in Detroit(?). Turned the house into splinters and was heard 3 miles away. Turns out it was likely from a propane tank feeding gas to the house.

[S-Cackalacky]

He blew up his garage making Rakia?
Not brandy distilled from a thin wine ferment.
But Rakia, were the fermented fruit is distilled.
I forgot I'm assuming the News report was accurate.
There's two good sides to the story, they didn't say a moonshine still blew up the garage.
And thousands of people did a search about making Rakia.
Many of the video's they found were villagers using small, wood fired artisan copper pot stills to make Rakia for drinking on the farm.

Sounds like the reporter has been watching "Booze Traveler".

[WIski]

RULE #13 Always ware Depends while distilling.......

[Bushman]

Those are good reasons why I like my CM over my VM still. No valves to close that would allow vapor out the top and electric boiler that replaced my propane VM still. Both in my mind safety iimprovements.

[BaxtersDad]

I have a propane burner in the garage BUT...(A) I always have two doors open and a fan to deal with CO, (2) I turn on the pump before I light the propane burner and (C) I do NOT leave the still unattended, period. I pee in a modified half gallon gin bottle, which I call "pee bottle 3.0," it being an improvement on two prior designs at cutting the hole in exactly the right place! Photo on request! Pee bottle 3.0 is also in use on my boat for those middle of the night calls of nature, most of the men who drown in the middle of the night falling off boats have been found with their zippers open!

[pfshine]

Do you have a poo bucket 4.0?