Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Thought I would strike while the irons hot. On the back of my parrot build, I thought I would get a bit more practice and use up the bits and pieces I had laying about, so I've had a go at making a crimped liebig that I saw in Mcatac's thread Another Pelican Build with a twist viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8280.

I wasn't able to get 25x15x15 reducing Tees as used by Mcatac - Bunnings here only keep 20x15x15, so I have made it 700mm of 3/4" over 1/2". I crimped the 1/2" core with vice grips at 50mm centers as instructed by Mc. It worked a treat. The crimped pipe fitted nicely inside the jacket (just a bit of resistance on one of the crimps) and water flows freely through it.

I intended this just to be a bit of practice, but the finished product was better than expected, so now I'm encouraged to go on and build something to attach it to. Would this be suitable for a 2" pot still, something similar to Doubleuj's plan in thread viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10181. or would the smaller pipe condenser still work with Mcatac's Pelican plan? I'm considering getting a T500 boiler.

Nice work :handgestures-thumbupleft:

That condenser is perfect for any 2" pot :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Zak Griffin wrote:Nice work :handgestures-thumbupleft:

That condenser is perfect for any 2" pot :handgestures-thumbupleft:

My intention from the start was to make rum and whisky so a good 2" pot would be a good bit of kit, within my skills to make. To make it easier to break down and store, is it OK to use brass compression fittings to screw the condenser onto the rest of the head? I suppose this way I could also utilise it as a PC if I build a reflux head down the track, which is most likely. I've been bitten by the copper bug well and truly!

Grab a stainless compression fitting mate, brass (may) contains lead which is no good.

Stainless are obviously a bit more expensive but you only have to buy one!

The t500 boiler is as good as any place to start, go and build your own copper pot head for it tho, then once you have got that done no doubt you will want to make some form reflux still, go a boka of some kind.
Then after that you can focus on your 4" bubbler.

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Zak Griffin wrote:Grab a stainless compression fitting mate, brass (may) contains lead which is no good.

Stainless are obviously a bit more expensive but you only have to buy one!

Will do, thanks Zac

"The t500 boiler is as good as any place to start, go and build your own copper pot head for it tho, then once you have got that done no doubt you will want to make some form reflux still, go a boka of some kind. Then after that you can focus on your 4" bubbler."

Thanks scythe, this seems to be the natural progression.

I'm looking at a 2" pot head. Room to store and operate this is a bit of an issue for me. What do think the minimum 2" column length could be before 2 x 90 deg angle bends to the condenser?

Another quick question regarding the boiler. Have any members had experience with the 2000w Turbo Boiler offered by Keg King? This is the one they pair with their Keggomax stills. It's available online as opposed to the Still Spirits model from LHBS.

You could buy a keg and put one of the 5 star 2400w weldless elements in it. Put a drain in the bottom and bobs your mother's brother. Roughly the same price and a 50l boiler.

Plumby wrote:You could buy a keg and put one of the 5 star 2400w weldless elements in it. Put a drain in the bottom and bobs your mother's brother. Roughly the same price and a 50l boiler.

I did a similar thing for my HLT, unfortunately I cut the top out of it to make it a big pot. The element from Keg King works great. Not having much luck finding another keg locally.though.

Column height on a pot still is irrelevant, you could put the elbows directly on the boiler connection if you wanted to.
Column height for pot stills is about convenience more than anything else.
Pick a height so that the output is where you want it.
Also will need to watchout for pukes so a couple of hundred milimeters would make sense.

I have a piece of 2,inch here that's 250mm long and 2 pieces around 100mm long. If you what them you can have them, saves buying 3m for $90.

Plumby wrote:I have a piece of 2,inch here that's 250mm long and 2 pieces around 100mm long. If you what them you can have them, saves buying 3m for $90.

Excellent, thanks Plumby. I'll PM tonight when I get home. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

scythe wrote:Column height on a pot still is irrelevant, you could put the elbows directly on the boiler connection if you wanted to.
Column height for pot stills is about convenience more than anything else.
Pick a height so that the output is where you want it.
Also will need to watchout for pukes so a couple of hundred milimeters would make sense.

:handgestures-thumbupleft: thanks again scythe