Twin boiler vm lm isolation build

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Re: Twin boiler vm lm isolation build

Postby bluc » Sun May 03, 2020 5:51 pm

No they are temp controllers I use one on my cheese fridge. Temp turns it on off not watts.. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Last edited by bluc on Sun May 03, 2020 5:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Twin boiler vm lm isolation build

Postby Capstar34 » Mon May 04, 2020 12:29 pm

bluc wrote:No they are temp controllers I use one on my cheese fridge. Temp turns it on off not watts.. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Spuing, I better order the right ones then lol! :doh:
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Re: Twin boiler vm lm isolation build

Postby scythe » Mon May 04, 2020 2:51 pm

Another thing to consider with your boiler, and as you are a boily yourself, would be to lay your boiler over horizontally, this will allow you to get more head height if required.

With reflux stills height equals speed all other things being equal.
The more packed section you have to faster you can push vapour through it.

Do you and the missus really drink that much?
A bubbler like the 5star neutraliser can make 3-4L of good neutral in a single run, maybe as low as 2.5L if you are harsh with your cuts.
2.5L of 95%ABV that is, which equals over 5L of 40%ABV.
Which might cost you 4-6hrs to make.
Do that once a month and your sorted I would say.

But don't let me stop you drinking, after all it's why we are here.
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Re: Twin boiler vm lm isolation build

Postby Capstar34 » Tue May 05, 2020 10:23 pm

scythe wrote:Another thing to consider with your boiler, and as you are a boily yourself, would be to lay your boiler over horizontally, this will allow you to get more head height if required.

With reflux stills height equals speed all other things being equal.
The more packed section you have to faster you can push vapour through it.

Do you and the missus really drink that much?
A bubbler like the 5star neutraliser can make 3-4L of good neutral in a single run, maybe as low as 2.5L if you are harsh with your cuts.
2.5L of 95%ABV that is, which equals over 5L of 40%ABV.
Which might cost you 4-6hrs to make.
Do that once a month and your sorted I would say.

But don't let me stop you drinking, after all it's why we are here.


Hi Scythe,
Thanks for the input mate, I thought about lying the boiler on it's side but height isn't really an issue. The packed column is 2.1m now . I can't see going any higher that much beneficial. I may be wrong there though. Still stands over 4m high all up.
As for how much my wife and I drink, well.... We are not drunks but both work long hours, mine physically and mentally and my wife just mental. Yer I meant the pun lol. At the end of the day we both enjoy a scotch and it is quite easy for us to drink a bottle between us when we knock off. So that 5ltrs wouldn't last more than a week or so. It would be nice to age some in oak barrels and demijohns with chips but just honestly do not get the time to get ahead. I would easily work over 100hr a week on average, that's not including yard work ect. I hate not having my own whiskey as I tend to feel the pinch the next morning.
I love the fact of being self sufficient where possible. I hate having to see doing a run as a chore as I really enjoy it. It is very satisfying. But when I have so much work all the time it's hard to relax and enjoy the process. With winter coming I will get time as I slow down for the off season. Plan is to enjoy the time doing some runs with a still I have made myself and kick back and do bugger all while watching some lovely liquid flowing into some glass jars!
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Re: Twin boiler vm lm isolation build

Postby Capstar34 » Mon May 11, 2020 11:03 pm

Well I gave it a go last night. I only ran two 3600w elements with no controllers, temperature held perfect at 78 to 79 degrees until tails. I used the LM (boka bob) to remove fores and heads then let is stabilise for 20 mins and opened up the VM. (Took 2 litres as heads) I was completely impressed with the output. Plan was to strip the wash fast and run back through. I achieved an average of 90%. Couldn't run it much faster as it was overflowing the parrot. Heads through th LM was 92%. Max from Vm was 93%. After just under 1.5 hours the temp suddenly spiked and fluctuated so I collected 2 litres of tails in about 10 mins through the VM at between 80-60%, switched over to LM and took 4 more litres at 40-60% in about 6 mins. Hearts is like fire but has has no taste or no aftertaste.
I did make some minor adjustments but being my third still I will say it was a lot easier to run than expected. Wash was 14% abv.

To RC Al-
I did extensive research on the take off set up and found that if the output diameter is the same as the column and there is a downturn BEFORE the valve that leads to the liebig then any diameter smaller is of very little relevance. If the valve and liebig is straight out or less than 90° then it is of a relevance. Would really like to say thanks for your help. Your advice has been brilliant!

Still need to do a couple of little mods but overall I'm happy with it!
Here's a couple of pics!
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Re: Twin boiler vm lm isolation build

Postby RC Al » Tue May 12, 2020 2:58 pm

Awesome mate, sounds like a win, can you give us some pointers to the elbow concept, I had a bit of a look around but couldn't find anything, seems it was a contentious issue some time in the past. It has been a long while since I looked at vm and I did make a mistake with the reflux ratio numbers, its based off of the difference in square area of course :doh:

What amount of wash and how fast was the strip speed? Were you able to hold full reflux with your condenser?
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Re: Twin boiler vm lm isolation build

Postby Capstar34 » Tue May 12, 2020 3:03 pm

Is it ok if I send links to other forums? Don't want to upset anyone. I'll answer everything a bit later tonight when I finish up.
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Re: Twin boiler vm lm isolation build

Postby The Stig » Tue May 12, 2020 8:11 pm

Capstar34 wrote:Is it ok if I send links to other forums? Don't want to upset anyone. I'll answer everything a bit later tonight when I finish up.

Depends on the forum , generally it’s ok
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