Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Ive been trying to look up the pro's and con's of those Whiskey Helmets ,but so far am drawing a blank ...
Besides looking nifty an impress your mates do they increase yield ? Abv ? flavour ?
Is there a size for volume or just one fits all ... ?
I shot off a few emails to sellers but so far nudda .. :angry-banghead:
They go all over in price too from a say $300 - to $8-900...
So anyone got one of these ?

I think the idea is that the vapour slows down in the larger chamber and increases passive reflux.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

I've never used one but I think the idea is that they are supposed to help stop a puke getting to the condenser on a pot still, or onto the plates of a plated column. Use enough head space in your boiler and you won't need it.

Professor Green wrote:I think the idea is that the vapour slows down in the larger chamber and increases passive reflux.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

Hi Prof ,
Yea that's the line I was thinking also ....I'm starting to think besides another place to hang a temp gauge .. its a bit like mag wheels for a still ..dosnt do much but looks good.

Consider a thumper or bubble ball if you are chasing higher Abv from a pot

I have a 4 foot length of dented 4" that's round at one end and well out of round at the other.
I've been meaning to turn it into a pot by hammering closed and sealing the dented end and soldering a 2" ferrule to the top and 4" to the bottom so I can attach my boiler and PC to it.
Should work the same as a copper helmet/onion head but as usual, uni has its thumb up my ar** and I'm critically time poor.
Warra

I've been told that a helmet adds around 1/2 a plate of reflux to a pot still. Whether thata true or not, it will certainly help some vapour to condense and drop back to the boiler.

warramungas wrote:I have a 4 foot length of dented 4" that's round at one end and well out of round at the other.
I've been meaning to turn it into a pot by hammering closed and sealing the dented end and soldering a 2" ferrule to the top and 4" to the bottom so I can attach my boiler and PC to it.
Should work the same as a copper helmet/onion head but as usual, uni has its thumb up my ar** and I'm critically time poor.
Warra

Hey Warra,
Ive got a few ideas also in that direction .. :-B I actually came across an old antique copper fire extinguisher that I've been meaning to re-purpose ( Coles your eyes and skip ahead if your faint.) its already got a 4in hole in one end and is fairly round so chop out the middle and it should be about the same as a few ive seen online.. but like I said there's no hard rules for how much metal and size..maybe a case of trial and error..

Is the fire extinguisher soldered at the joins? Probably is lead solder if it is. :handgestures-thumbdown:

Sam. wrote:Is the fire extinguisher soldered at the joins? Probably is lead solder if it is. :handgestures-thumbdown:

Nup .. Rivet and braised from what I can see .. they have a fair amount of pressure in them so I doubt just a solder job. The bottom and top rings are welded with solid copper , the top and bottom dome are welded and there's one seem that riveted ....soooo one way to find out .. I'l post some pic's when i'm working on it.

Sweet :handgestures-thumbupleft: