Home Distiller

Hi All !
It is quite chilly in my stilling space during winter and it has no permanent water supply
Got tired of dragging the garden hose across the yard every time, thought i might well kill 2 birds with one stone and build a condenser that keeps the workshop warm and needs no plumbing

All that was needed was a centrifugal fan from a broken portable air conditioner and about 15 meters of 10 mm copper tubing
I made a round wooden base and top ring , spaced it with threaded rod pillars to form a cylindrical structure and wound the coil, strapping it with cable ties during winding
Stripping at 3 kw it keeps the workshop nice and cozy and needs no plumbing !
Product comes out a degree or 2 above ambient

OK. Looks impressive.

But success still depends on how much heat you put into the boiler. And with that much copper (15m), it probably is very reactive, that is... a long time between vapor production to output at the spout, making adjustment of the heat input very awkward/difficult.
ss

Nice work Tiki .

Proof of the pudd’n is in the eat’n and if you’re sticking 3kW up its clacka and its coming out liquid then thats pretty bloody awesome

Enjoy the “free “ heat in your room

still_stirrin wrote:OK. Looks impressive.

But success still depends on how much heat you put into the boiler. And with that much copper (15m), it probably is very reactive, that is... a long time between vapor production to output at the spout, making adjustment of the heat input very awkward/difficult.
ss

SS When heating up at 3kw , a finger on the top tube tells me when the fan must be switched on. If stripping i leave it at 3kw ,30 seconds later i will see product
After warmup, finger tells me to go to 1.5 kw if i want to go slow ( i have dual electric element )
This is the only control i have over my heat input

Yummyrum wrote:Nice work Tiki .

Proof of the pudd’n is in the eat’n and if you’re sticking 3kW up its clacka and its coming out liquid then thats pretty bloody awesome

Enjoy the “free “ heat in your room

Thanks !
It is shivering cold at this moment , but the ferment still has a few days to go !

Nice system!
No water spillage too!

I have a 8 m 15 mm ss spiral and very happy with it.

Energy and resource saving with efficiency has been primary the focus when I work on still designs.
I do like the simplicity of your design in cable tying the tube to the cross bolts over calculating the spacing and drilling holes in the supports in mine.
If I may suggest, turn the unit upside down and place legs on it so its drawing air from below, in theory the air will be cooler while allowing the hot air to rise without being redrawn back in.
Nice.

I have made a number of air cooled heat exchangers using a secondary water path as well directly Air cooled.
This is my Direct Air Cooled Condenser, new acronym "DACC"

I had access to large Squirrel Cage Fans but I chose a propeller or Axial Fan as I wanted the exhaust air to be directed upward, with the Squirrel cage the air is directed outward/sideways, if this was positioned close to a still it could cool the still or affect a gas flame, as I use gas for heating.

The performance is excellent, the build is simple however the cost of 8 odd meters of 3/4 annealed copper tube is high compared to an old aluminium car radiator and copper tube to make a lybig or coiled condenser.
Into only requires low airflow to be kept moving over the coils, I run the 12V radiator fan at 6V 2A, works great.

I have to rebuild this unit as I originally made it from MDF, this has absorbed moisture and has expanded the MDF.
The rebuild will have an additional 3/8 coil worked in between the larger 3/4 coil for reflux condenser/dephlegmator circulation

Neat !
I like the even coil spacing and the cage build
I had some trouble feeding the tube perpendicular to the cage while coiling, ( no assistant ) so the spacing is not as even as i would like

My concern is that 3/8" tube is on the small side for 3kW. Do you know what pressure your boiler is running at?

Tiki wrote:Neat !
I like the even coil spacing and the cage build
I had some trouble feeding the tube perpendicular to the cage while coiling, ( no assistant ) so the spacing is not as even as i would like

I like your simplistic approach.
Regardless I can 3D print spacer blocks with hooks for the tube to go over the threaded rod.

I drilled the cage supports, then cut them length wise across the center of the tube holes then screw clamped the coil after winding it over the inner cage supports.
I tried threading the coil through the supports, if I had to it could be done with a new fresh coil, but the short answer is dont try unless you are paid to do it.

I think I will do the same design but as I have it saved, but this time I will use 10mm cladded Aluminium panel.

NZChris wrote:My concern is that 3/8" tube is on the small side for 3kW. Do you know what pressure your boiler is running at?

Chris
No significant pressure in the boiler that i can detect . i normally test boiler seal by blowing into the condenser product end, the third breath will have enough pressure for some air to escape from underneath the spring held lid
It has not shown any vapor loss at 3kw yet ,i do keep a watchful eye on the still at all times, taking care that the boiler has enough headroom and nothing is escaping while running