What can you see inside a steam boiler

[Tōtōchtin]

I have a 59l boiler I had planing on just using as a pot still. Now I want to add a steam option. I was ordering some borosilicate tubes for water level. A friend believes I can see my water level thru my 3 inch sight glass on the top. I feel there would be too thick of vapor in there. He feels it's too hot for it to condense that much.
What's the consensus on this?
Thank you for your time,
Tōtō

[NormandieStill]

If you can see the level when distilling, I think you'll be able to see the level when making steam. Inside the boiler there should be mostly steam and not water vapour so it's more a question of whether the sight glass will get hot enough to prevent condensation from building up and obscuring your view. If you already have the sight glass on there I'd just try it before adding something new.

[shadylane]

Alcohol vapor is invisible.
I've used a sight glass between the pot and column and could see the liquid level in the boiler and the reflux draining back down. At the end of the run when there's no longer any alcohol the sight glass fogs up.

[Yummyrum]

Surface tension of water is higher than alcohol . This why glasses fog up with water but not when there is alcohol in there .
On the few times I tried steam stripping , I boiled dry on two occasions …. Thank fuck I was on gas . I fully endorse a boro side mount level tube .But you should protect it somehow incase you accidentally knock it.

[zach]

I put one of these on the side of my boiler to avoid dry fire running electric



I still f*** up and ran dry when steaming with a propane burner. It's a difficult to see in low light.

I can't imagine a top connection would help much.

I use to see the borosilicate glass in industrial settings 30 years ago, but too many horror stories about breakage. I would get something more robust like this:

[Salt Must Flow]

A really durable option would be a Tri-Clamp Weld Union Sight Glass. I once found a 2" sight glass for $5.00 and couldn't resist. I installed it on the side of the boiler just a bit above the height of the element. Easy to see if the level gets as low as the glass. I used a grinder to make it fit the contour of my keg then just soldered it on.

[Dancing4dan]

I use two kinds of sight glasses.
1) Permanently mounted to still pots and have clear Borosilicate or silicone sight tubing enclosed in a piece of aluminum tubing for protection. There is a slot cut along the length of the aluminium tubing so you can see the liquid level in the clear tubing. (THESE WORK FOR STILL POTS. NOT STEAM BOILERS)
2) For steam boiler I just use a length of heavy clear silicone chugger pump hose with a quick connect that can be connected to the drain valve of the vessel. Just lift the free end of the hose and open the valve. Gives a quick simple indication of the liquid level in the vessel. Shut the element off for a few seconds prevents spills. Take a reading and fire it back up.