Bugger me

[filb]

scan.2.jpg

:oops: Well up until reading this forum i was reasonably content with what i had to work with
So it turns out that my strange kinda coffee machine is (yes he got me to) a cranky ole bastard still that until reading here that they suck i thought i had something that was ok im not that greedy
and it seems to function ok for what i use for i get about 2.7--3.0 ltrs of 94-88% out of a 25ltr wash before i shut it down so i guess i cant conplain until now can i make better spirits i mainly use TPW or All bran washes tweaked a little.
My question is can i modify the cranky to be a better reflux still i have little funds but i think i am quite handy and do have access to gate valves and ball valves with the right knowledge on here maybe someone on here could give me an answer ill chuck up a few pics of the instruction he gave me maybe this might help
thanks

[filb]

interesting 77 veiws and no comments if this is in the wrong section maybe a mod can move it for me
thanx

[fattypatty]

interesting 77 veiws and no comments

I know very little about relux stills but I do know that I cant read any of the writing in the pic, try uploading a bigger one.
Also maybe clarify what your ideas currently are to improve it (ie the use of the ball valves)?

[MacStill]

It's so busy here lately and one slipped through :angry-banghead:

There are things you can do to that rig to improve it dramatically, my first choice would be to throw it under a road train and celebrate :D

My second choice involves an axe and a sledge hammer.

I hope this helps :teasing-tease:

[karrotbear]

Note: Limited experience with Reflux Columns.

It looks like yours would be a LM (Liquid Management) type deal. What gets me, at first glance, is the cooling jacket running all the way up your column. I can see why one would put it there, to essentially make your whole column a condenser, however this could (correct me if I'm wrong) influence the run time and the equalising of the column itself with vapour levels not forming correctly and the liquid making preferential paths through your column. (Because the whole thing for a reflux is getting the boiler to temp, and the column to temp, letting it equalise so that there is as much liquid - vapour interaction as possible and then take off slowly). It might be better if you make a coil for the top (where the thernometer is) and remove the cooling jacket from the whole column. (Possibly look up the Boka design - there are a few plans out there and see if you can modify it enough to get there) (or even try a offset reflux head mod).

Not sure how much help a VM (vapour management) mod would do for this still. As I said I am pretty inexperienced.

Essentially, what I have read and experienced, you want to have a column with no cooling until the vapour hits the very top of the still head (where it encounters a Reflux Condenser - usually a double helix coil, in your case (if it is a small boiler) a single helix would probably be okay) which knocks it back down through the mesh and back into the boiler (based on the level of water running through your condensers). The rising vapour then interacts with the liquid boiling off alcohol and that is how you get your vapour levels in the still column. Once you have equalised you want to be able to decrease liquid input to allow vapour to escape through to the product condenser, which then condenses it and it comes out the grog pipe.

I even tried to redraw what I meant, but even that sucked in MSpaint :)

[Cane Toad]

Yeah sorry Filb,can't help you here,did you say it was a "cranky" still?? If so I do remember reading somewhere around here,the only way to fix these is to take to it with a hacksaw and turn it into a pot still :scared-eek:
The only thing I can offer is to look for Cranky in the search function :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[stevefzr]

Note: Limited experience with Reflux Columns.

It looks like yours would be a LM (Liquid Management) type deal. What gets me, at first glance, is the cooling jacket running all the way up your column. .......... It might be better if you make a coil for the top (where the thernometer is) and remove the cooling jacket from the whole column. ......... you want to have a column with no cooling until the vapour hits the very top of the still head (where it encounters a Reflux Condenser - .........

What it you added a second outlet to the column, say 15cm down from the top, and blocked up the one down the bottom? The bottom of the jacket would then have almost no flow and all the cooling in the column would be at the top, where you want it. I guess if there was still an issue, it would be that without a coil at the top there wouldn't be enough cooling? I've been wondering why the column jacket and the PC jacket don't have separate water flows in reflux stills so you don't have to run any water through the column jacket at all when using as a pot still. Wouldn't that improve the throughput?

Regards,

Steve C

[Zak Griffin]

This thread is 18 months old mate, I think everyone has worked out that these stills are shit by now :laughing-rolling:

[bayshine]

My mate bought one with the extension and with my power controller could actually get it to run and make a decent neutral :handgestures-thumbupleft:
But I felt sorry for his 12hr runs and made him a four plate glasser !
Do your self a favour and don't get one of these stills ever :handgestures-thumbdown:

[jexhed]

I thought I might resurrect this thread. I bought one of these before I found this forum and the comments on this reflux still. I thought I had made a mistake but I was pleasantly surprised. I made some enquiries to the guy who makes them to check he used lead free solder before I purchased it. He said he uses aquasafe solder and soaks the brass fittings in white vinegar/ peroxide solution so all good. I made my own 500mm extension as advised by him. My boiler is a 50L stainless keg that I fitted a 2200w electric element. I fitted a ball valve to the cooling water inlet to regulate the water. I made my first 40L batch yesterday. I started at 3.30pm and by 8pm I had 8L of spirit @ 94%. I found the temperature very easy to regulate and it stayed at 82deg C for most of the process. for the last 1 1/2 hrs it crept up to 89deg c but the spirit was cool to touch so seemed ok to me. I have read all the posts on this forum about this still but I am not sure what all the fuss is about, it worked ok for me.
That's my experience for what it's worth. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Zak Griffin]

A very strange thread dig/first post, mate... Why don't you pop into the welcone centre and introduce yourself?

[jexhed]

Hi Admin, can you fix up my post above please, looks like I had a dodgy hydrometer, I checked with a new one and now I have 5 L @ 78% and 3L @ 65%. Would it be worthwhile mixing all together to 40% and then distilling it again ?

[Zak Griffin]

Definitely re run it, Jex, and collect it in separate 200ml jars :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[jexhed]

Ok, thanks Zak

[jexhed]

Zak, what temp for the 2nd run 80 - 82deg ?

[Zak Griffin]

You can't control the temperature of the vapour mate...