Home Distiller

hello,
im new at this game and iv been reedin over these topics for about 2 months now, and now iv built me a 2" column 24" tall with a condensor thats 1 1/4" outside with a 1/2" inside x about 18" long. im planning on hooking this up to a pony keg (i think 7.5 gal) with a tri clamp. my question is , would a gas grill LP tank get the job done? i dont have a tank yet and i dont wanna waste my $$$$ on a tank that i cant use.
thank for reedin

[Mod edit - pic waaay too big. Reduce it and try again. Also ditch the black rubber bung and use a cork or some other set-up for the thermo holder. Other than that, welcome, and all the best.

HookLine]

sorry about the big picture

edit: dont worry about it

you should git about 4-5 runs off a 20lb/10 kg tank .

Nice picture of a door.

If you are asking : 'Will an LP tank work as a boiler?', the answer is a definate NO!
If you are asking if you can heat with propane, Yes, as long as you are not in the house or other closed building.

great! thanks for the replys,,, ill get a cork for the thermo, and will start with a 20lb lp tank.. just out of curosity, why not a rubber bung for the thermo part???
thanks again

a rubber stopper is not suitable for an alcohol environment. especially a hot high proof vapor... It will ruin the flavor of the distillate. I'm sure its not good for you either...

Good luck with your rig!

I'm in the process of making an oak bung but was wondering about the thermometer; what will hold it in place? Right now it is held with friction and I worry that without friction it may slip through and down the column. If I make the thermo hole too small then I run the risk of snapping the thermo while installing it. If something could break, I will break it. Thanks.

A couple ideas,, drill larger hole in center, and use a natural cork for thermometer or use balsa wood.
you could also use a cooking/digital thermometer with ss probe

I'm with Dunder....I use a cork with a hole drilled through it to hold the thermometer. You can get corks of nearly any size to fit whatever you need.

oh ,,, thanks JYD that makes sence,,,,,, so saying that,, should i also change the rubber gasket (where the column fits to the keg) to a cork gasket?,,,,,just incase????

absolutely. One of the basic rules we live by here is no plastic or rubber in your still. Hot ethanol is a great solvent and will leach out all sorts of things from plastics and rubber. So, we err on the side of safety and advocate NO PLASTIC.

Of course you are free to do as you please, but I would replace that rubber gasket with a teflon or flour paste gasket. Flour paste is just that simple. Take some regular all purpose flour, stir in a little water till you get a sticky moldable paste and use that to seal up leaks. It really works great and is so simple. Stpats.com sells teflon gaskets if you want to have a more permanent gasket. Teflon is one exception to the no plastic rule. Some members have done some testing and haven't seen any problems... again, its your choice. Just be sure you make an informed decision. If you read around this forum much you will find many discussions of the keg to column gasket... lots of great ideas and info in them.

Good luck and stay safe.

You can't go wrong using flour paste wherever possible, Mr.Spooky...

As far as the thermometer, many members run pot stills without using one at all... While they can be used as a rough reference indicator they do little else because pot stills increase in temperature as the ethanol diminishes in the boiler and the water:ethanol vapor ratio increases...

Good luck...

thanks for both the tips, i guess for her maiden voyage, (since ill just be runnin her a few times for a good cleaning), ill try once with the thermo in er and once without just to get the feel of things,,,, and cmon a 5lb bag of flour and a little water, you cant go wrong with that.
thanks fellas!

rad14701 wrote:You can't go wrong using flour paste wherever possible, Mr.Spooky...

As far as the thermometer, many members run pot stills without using one at all... While they can be used as a rough reference indicator they do little else because pot stills increase in temperature as the ethanol diminishes in the boiler and the water:ethanol vapor ratio increases...

Good luck...

so,,, iv done a little more reedin today and i saw a post saying that an ideal flow of output should be like a pencil lead or a little less.. my question is , if i toss my thermo like you said, and went by the flow rate that the post stated,,and tasted as the run went through would this be good? i mean i thought that the key was the correct temp.. if a mans runnin a pot still without a thermo how do ya know if yer holdin a good temp. thanks
in the mean time,,, ill keep reedin thanks again

you will just "chase" the temperature . the temperature gradual rises as the alcohol is depleted. mite start off at 78.3c (mostly all alcohol) and during the run rise to 100c (all water) with a reflux still only alcohol (mostly) is at the top of column so the temperature stays pretty much the same
alcohol/water "boils" at somewhere between the two so with a pot you start off with mostly alcohol ending with mostly water. the temperature
mite stay at say78- 80c for a while if your still/boiler/wash is big enough. a second run will stay longer at 78.3c (or closer)than the first because of
higher alcohol content.a third will be even closer.if you did a forth it mite stay right at 78.3c as it whould be mostly all alcohol.
with a pot still it becomes a "art". run off in small jars ,air out, and sample the next day (over night good) start with center jars ,mix what you like together.do this until you know what to look/taste/smell for. it is something like grandma cooks, just adding ingredients until it looks/taste right.

What Dndrhead said, Mr.Spooky... More than a few novices have come here dazed and confused after a long night of chasing the thermometer with a pot still...

Temperature increase is part of the natural progression of the ethanol extraction process... The ABV of the wash at any point throughout the distillation process dictates vapor temperature, not the amount of heat applied... Because you aren't running reflux in a pot still, at least not like you would with a column still, a majority of the run will be at a temperature well above the 78.2c pure ethanol temperature...

Only practice will determine how each individual pot still functions throughout the distillation process...

Good luck...

mmmm hmmmmmm, now im pickin up what your putin down. when i first got the idea of tryin my hand at this, i thought that id make a smaller oven type pot still. after gettin my feet wet with the wash, i fired that mother up, and at that moment i thought that gettin and holding the right temp was impossible. THANKS FOR THE SCHOOLIN!
now im off to forums to see if there is a right or wrong way of starting up and shutin down a pot still with a liebig condensor such as mine.
thanks again, yalls

Mr.Spooky wrote: now im off to forums to see if there is a right or wrong way of starting up and shutin down a pot still with a liebig condensor such as mine.

For your style of still, and with most all pot stills, you need to turn off any coolant before powering down, or as soon as you power down, otherwise you risk the chance of having shock-cooling causing the boiler to collapse (implode)... There are a few horror stories posted here about people walking away without turning off the coolant only to come back to find their boiler all sucked in (technical term)...

I have a little bit smaller liebig,1/2 in 3/4 x 2 foot. I also have a 14" long coil at the top of my column.

When I'm done, I kill the flame and leave the cooling water on. Haven't had an issue yet- as long as you leave it open and not sealed up like w/ a valve, as in a VM or LM.

thanks rad . might have just saved me keg

There are a few horror stories posted here about people walking away without turning off the coolant only to come back to find their boiler all sucked in

rad, Can you please post links ???

rad,

surely you're joking, and just hazing the new guy..

The only way what you have described could EVER happen is with a still that's got perfect seals all around, and has a valve shut closed after turning off..... and even then you've got a wild imagination.. What's your boiler made from? a beercan?

No Potstills (nor reflux) should ever be sealed shut. Basically making a BOMB otherwise.

Only partly joking...

With a liebig you don't have as much to worry about... A valved reflux column, on the other hand, could potentially collapse due to excessive vacuum which cannot be equalized fast enough through the needle valves... It can also happen with large pot stills with a thumper, but would probably only happen if enough cold air was to shock cool the boiler...

I highly doubt anyone with a beer keg boiler has anything to worry about...

what? that flies in the face of what i've understood about the valved reflux design entirely. My understanding is that the needled valves only control the return of already condensed alcohol back to the column. The top of the condensor is still open to the outside air.

anyway.. for your consideration - liquid nitrogen into a pool, and dry ice as well.. a hot boiler is gonna have a lot more heat that would have to be dissipated through shock cooling. I suppose if you dropped a still that had finished its spirit run, and still had a quantity of backset in the boiler in it, into a POOL full of liquid nitrogen, you might achieve what you are talking about.. but you'd have worse problems than just forgetting to turn the coolant off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2mj-Sq2oeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhXA9ON6 ... re=related

Pics or it didn't happen.

rad14701 wrote:

Mr.Spooky wrote: now im off to forums to see if there is a right or wrong way of starting up and shutin down a pot still with a liebig condensor such as mine.

For your style of still, and with most all pot stills, you need to turn off any coolant before powering down, or as soon as you power down, otherwise you risk the chance of having shock-cooling causing the boiler to collapse (implode)... There are a few horror stories posted here about people walking away without turning off the coolant only to come back to find their boiler all sucked in (technical term)...

rad14701 wrote:Only partly joking...

With a liebig you don't have as much to worry about... A valved reflux column, on the other hand, could potentially collapse due to excessive vacuum which cannot be equalized fast enough through the needle valves... It can also happen with large pot stills with a thumper, but would probably only happen if enough cold air was to shock cool the boiler...

I highly doubt anyone with a beer keg boiler has anything to worry about...

What the hell you talking about? There is no way that should be able to happen in a properly designed still, pot or reflux. I am pretty disappointed in you Rad, you know better than this.

(And while I am on your case, you might want to consider deleting this post yourself. You in a stirring mood today, ain't ya. Not impressed.

EDIT: I deleted it, and AE's response to you, prevent it getting out of hand.)

One thing I will come down on hard and quick as a mod here is unsafe tech info and advice, especially people deliberately messing with newbies about it, even if only in light hearted jest. Safety is always the first and highest priority here. We cannot afford to have people getting hurt, especially newbies. Everybody got that?

Depending on what happens next on this thread, I am seriously considering chopping some of it out.

Mr.Spooky, your still should NEVER be able to be fully sealed up. There should ALWAYS be a permanently open path to the atmosphere somewhere in the design, precisely to prevent a vacuum collapse, and especially the opposite case, pressure explosions. You should also always turn your heat source off BEFORE you turn your coolant flow off.

well, i aint got no valves on it,,, the liebig is open on the end, and there will be a cork on the top where i WAS gonna put a thermometer. i mean, i understand if ya plug the end of a shotgun with your finger, the barrel will blow up,,, just kiddin.
whitchever way i decide to turn it off, ill just kindly walk away and give it some time to do what its gonna do, kinda like them little pipe thingies we use to play with.
I AINT SCARED
dident mean to start a scuffle

Ain't your fault, Mr.Spooky, you just got caught in the middle. Carry on as you were.

hookline you sayin a one barel coper outfit caught in the rain wont try an crush the ketle. if you is you is wrong. that is why you see safety release valves on some. think if you look back to one of the posters
that put on deminstrations of the old way he saw it first hand.
all yall usein doublein kegs an putin grain/fruit in it to cook can have a problem to if you dont break a joint fast enough

so im tole