OK. Misleading title. It was in the coolant tube, not the still.
Running a small run through the gin still (5L stovetop) at a fairly low drip rate which meant I couldn't regulate my coolant flow low enough. So I let the liebig get warm to about halfway, then I open up the valve and run some coolant for about 2 - 3 seconds before shutting it off again. Doing this about 1 or 2 times per 100;l of distillate collected. Which was fine until I got distracted and missed one. The liebig got hot down it's entire length and started to heat the water in the inlet tube, wich was under (reduced thankfully) mains pressure. At which point the hose failed!
There was a pop and the vibration rattled the end of the condensor against the jar I was collecting in... and I got wet, which appears to be a theme with me and distilling! I was right next to the still and had the heat off within about 2 seconds and a repair made in less than 30 seconds.
So pay attention out there, especially if you've just changed something in your normal process!
"I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo
It’s safer to control the supply before the condenser, rather than to restrict the flow out.
Mine have reduced pressure, restricted flow, and on/off control using a solenoid and a temperature controller looking after the condensate temperature.
Corn Cracker wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:54 pm
The busted end of that hose though, i bet that was startling.
A little. The pressure wasn't so high that it rained, just a gentle flow. I really wish I could have seen the hose just before it popped. It must have swelled up like a balloon.
NZChris wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:58 pm
It’s safer to control the supply before the condenser, rather than to restrict the flow out.
Mine have reduced pressure, restricted flow, and on/off control using a solenoid and a temperature controller looking after the condensate temperature.
Funnily enough I was thinking about your solenoid setup while turning the water on and off and monitoring the condensor with my hand. I shall be heading down the automation route in the future once I have the space to leave the still set up and not have to strip down and hide it at the end of each run. I do now understand why you do flow control before the condenser. Up until now it hadn't made sense to me.
"I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo
Whoo , good save . Thanks for sharing . Just another random thing that can go wrong when you take your eye off the job .
I’m thinking that surely you must have had uncondensed Alc vapour coming out end of Liebig too by that stage iff’n water at bottom ( input) was so hot it melted hose .
Yummyrum wrote: ↑Sat Jul 10, 2021 3:30 pm
Whoo , good save . Thanks for sharing . Just another random thing that can go wrong when you take your eye off the job .
I’m thinking that surely you must have had uncondensed Alc vapour coming out end of Liebig too by that stage iff’n water at bottom ( input) was so hot it melted hose .
Quite probably, although I didn't smell anything and it got shut off pretty damn quick. The distillate was very warm though.
For the benefit of those reading this who might not understand what the problem was, by having flow control at the outlet, when the tap is switched off (or even very low theoretically) the coolant, which is being heating by the vapours / distillate will expand. That expansion had two effects; one, it forced hot water out of the leibig via the inlet (because the outlet was blocked) and two, it increased the pressure at the inlet. The two combined to pop the inlet hose. By having flow control at the inlet, you ensure that the expanding water can just overflow out of the outlet unhindered.
"I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo
Heat softens plastic. That's why you can get away with dunking a hose end into hot water to fit it to a tail that is too large for the hose.
It's also why you can expect a blowout when you are restricting the flow of high temperature water that is under pressure. The outlet water from from my Liebigs is hot enough to kill the grass the hose is lying on, easily hot enough to pop the wrong type of plastic hose if it was under pressure.
Up until a couple of years ago, I had an endless supply of free water and would send warm water down the drain all day. Now that I have to pay for it, my condensers are all oversized and automated and the spent water is so hot that you can't hold your finger under it.
I'm learning, so this is a question, not a suggestion of assistance.
We too are in an area where the 'water must be paid for' and at a quite high rate at that, unfortunately. So I'm curious about a secondary 'cooling circuit' because a fan, radiator, and low volume pond-type pump would be a very inexpensive manner of circulating 'cooling water' that a worm is sitting in.
Block ice is also relatively inexpensive here, at times.
I'm appreciating the 'flow restriction on intake' as opposed to 'output'.
