Running in pot still

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MmmPeace
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Running in pot still

Post by MmmPeace »

Hey all, well I have a wash ready for a sacrificial and a ujssm for my 1st run all ready to go :thumbup:

My still took almost a month to get to me but alas it has arrived. I have the essential extractor ll from brewhaus, with the 15.5g boiler. I am going to be running as a pot still but I have a ? I know to not run the water to the condenser at the top and only run it in the Liebig for pot still mode, but my still has the ports open for the condenser water to run through. Should I connect the hoses as though I were running it with reflux and just never send water to the top condenser? I don't want to just leave the holes open for fear of losing a lot of product... also I was planning on only using the top section with Liebig attached and not having the center column while in pot still mode, will this help/hurt me? Thanks all, I have been researching and learning for months, finally the time has come!

For reference on what I mean when I say holes at the top:
IMG_6038.JPG

P.s. The still is cleaned and I will be doing a vinegar run before the sacrificial run :D
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TxBrewing
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Re: Running in pot still

Post by TxBrewing »

No product should come out of the water connections. If there is, then something has gone wrong. The reflux condenser works about the same as the Liebig. It is basically a water jacket on top so that when the vapor cools it falls down the column instead of down the inner tube of the Liebig
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MmmPeace
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Re: Running in pot still

Post by MmmPeace »

Wow, just realized what I asked... the tubes run through the still, they aren't just holes in it... doh!
Last edited by MmmPeace on Thu Feb 16, 2017 3:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Badmotivator
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Re: Running in pot still

Post by Badmotivator »

The reflux condenser water path is totally separate from the product vapor path. If you do not connect the water lines you will not lose vapor out of those holes. Try it with water in the boiler, or during your vinegar run, to satisfy yourself that this is true.

Using this as a pot still (no reflux) it won't make any significant difference whether you have that center portion included or not.

Hope that helps.
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MmmPeace
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Re: Running in pot still

Post by MmmPeace »

Thanks guys, stupid ? On my part :) thanks for the reassurance and info!
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Truckinbutch
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Re: Running in pot still

Post by Truckinbutch »

MmmPeace wrote:Thanks guys, stupid ? On my part :) thanks for the reassurance and info!
Do you think we all got it right the first time ? The stupid question is the one that you fail to ask .
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corene1
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Re: Running in pot still

Post by corene1 »

Just a thought. Although you are running in pot still mode. Put all your packing in place and give it a good clean also. You will need some copper contact in the vapor path in either mode that you run.
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