Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

My current thought is pretty much Mattyb's pic.
400-500mm column, 2 90's into a 400mm 2" shotty, all clamped.
Some sort of bung in the boiler and a 2400W element and controller

Rush006 If you inverted would you just weld another connection to the top? Is there a reason you wouldn't use some sort of bung? or are you talking about some of the horizontal boiler designs?

Bloke wrote:My current thought is pretty much Mattyb's pic.
400-500mm column, 2 90's into a 400mm 2" shotty, all clamped.
Some sort of bung in the boiler and a 2400W element and controller

Rush006 If you inverted would you just weld another connection to the top? Is there a reason you wouldn't use some sort of bung? or are you talking about some of the horizontal boiler designs?

I think most folks using inverted kegs use the existoing spear hole as the drain as you can simply clamp a 2" 90 deg tri-clamp bend to it along with a short length of 2" TC pipe and a TC ball valve to keep the liquid in when it's running. Then they weld a 4" ferrule on the other end of the keg as the still mount. This gives access for an arm into the boiler for cleaning and a good strong mount for a 4" still should you roll that way or a 2" still by use of 4" x 2" reducer.

Ahh Thank you Professor Green, I didn't think about the ease of cleaning, I think I'll add that to my design, I was already thinking a 4" looking glass but hadn't looked into why or how people do it yet.

Bloke wrote:Ahh Thank you Professor Green, I didn't think about the ease of cleaning, I think I'll add that to my design, I was already thinking a 4" looking glass but hadn't looked into why or how people do it yet.

People go for 4" stills for speed mostly. A 4" still is a lot faster than a 2" one for the same result.

could it be too fast for a 30l wash though? I'm not really looking at any larger than that (not for quite a while anyway).
still figuring this stuff out

Bloke wrote:could it be too fast for a 30l wash though?

No

cheers :-)

Who washes their boiler? I have been making rum for nearly 18 months now and I only rinse the boiler out after I'm done. I don't scrub anything just fill the boiler about 1/3 full, shake and dump then leave to dry.

Plumby wrote:Who washes their boiler? I have been making rum for nearly 18 months now and I only rinse the boiler out after I'm done. I don't scrub anything just fill the boiler about 1/3 full, shake and dump then leave to dry.

I do! And I bung the stainless still components in the dishwasher.

Professor Green wrote:

Plumby wrote:Who washes their boiler? I have been making rum for nearly 18 months now and I only rinse the boiler out after I'm done. I don't scrub anything just fill the boiler about 1/3 full, shake and dump then leave to dry.

I do! And I bung the stainless still components in the dishwasher.

My boiler is a stainless keg, still is all copper. I do a vinegar run to clean the inside of the still if it starts getting manky, probably 2 times a year. Apart from that I let the foreshots and heads do the cleaning for me.

Plumby wrote:

Professor Green wrote:

Plumby wrote:Who washes their boiler? I have been making rum for nearly 18 months now and I only rinse the boiler out after I'm done. I don't scrub anything just fill the boiler about 1/3 full, shake and dump then leave to dry.

I do! And I bung the stainless still components in the dishwasher.

My boiler is a stainless keg, still is all copper. I do a vinegar run to clean the inside of the still if it starts getting manky, probably 2 times a year. Apart from that I let the foreshots and heads do the cleaning for me.

:text-+1:
Use the KISS principle.

Update:
I started collecting materials, After a copuple of months of hectic life, I still hadn't started the build.
Got a bit lucky with some awesome jobs all coming in before chrissy so decided to hit up Andrew @ FSD and bought a 4 plate column, boiler and packed section, His service was incredible.
Picked it all up as I happened to be going up to Brissy already, and now its a pretty ornament until i setup the voltage controllers and cooling system.

Good stuff bloke! You don’t necessarily need a voltage controller but definitely need cooling water!
Have you got a wash down so it’ll be ready when you are?

+1 depending on setup voltage controllers are more for pot still unless you have bigger 15a outlets. 2x 2400w for heat up then turn one off for the run. 2400w will run a bubbler well..

@Doubleuj -- haven't put a wash down yet, will be making time this week. Going to do a TPW and WBAB to compare. I prefer the TPW through my air still but have been recommended the WBAB as better through the plate column, for nuetral/vodka anyway. If i get another Fermenter I'll put down a Mollasses wash (this is the main goal) but I'd like to play around a bit with neutrals first.

@bluc -- I've got 2 x 2400W, just standard 10amp, already had the voltage controllers so plan is just to use them to power on and off and potentially better manage temperature in the boiler :-)

Sounds like your sorted. I have a 3600w split into two leads one of which goes to a power controller :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Welcome to club FSD!

You'll be pumping out some top notch spirits in no time.

Exciting times ahead Bloke! :happy-partydance:
Pretty sure you will make a nice drop using 5star gear... i borrowed a mates 5star PC a while back and they sure are quality bit of gear.

Bloke wrote:@Doubleuj -- haven't put a wash down yet, will be making time this week. Going to do a TPW and WBAB to compare. I prefer the TPW through my air still but have been recommended the WBAB as better through the plate column, for nuetral/vodka anyway. If i get another Fermenter I'll put down a Mollasses wash (this is the main goal) but I'd like to play around a bit with neutrals first.

@bluc -- I've got 2 x 2400W, just standard 10amp, already had the voltage controllers so plan is just to use them to power on and off and potentially better manage temperature in the boiler :-)

Trying to run this type of still and most others by managing boiler temperature by power imput is probably not going ta work very well,there is a thread on running it the easy way ,wich is well worth a look.The boiler temp is governed by what % alcohol and water is in the load,so as you collect output the temp goes up as the boiler load % decreases until it gets to 100'c then only water wich boils at 100'c is left in the boiler,so in full reflux you could leave it running all day and collect nothing and the boiler temp would stay the same regardless of how much power ya dial in,only as you collect product will the temp increase.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

hillzabilly wrote:

Bloke wrote:@Doubleuj -- haven't put a wash down yet, will be making time this week. Going to do a TPW and WBAB to compare. I prefer the TPW through my air still but have been recommended the WBAB as better through the plate column, for nuetral/vodka anyway. If i get another Fermenter I'll put down a Mollasses wash (this is the main goal) but I'd like to play around a bit with neutrals first.

@bluc -- I've got 2 x 2400W, just standard 10amp, already had the voltage controllers so plan is just to use them to power on and off and potentially better manage temperature in the boiler :-)

Trying to run this type of still and most others by managing boiler temperature by power imput is probably not going ta work very well,there is a thread on running it the easy way ,wich is well worth a look.The boiler temp is governed by what % alcohol and water is in the load,so as you collect output the temp goes up as the boiler load % decreases until it gets to 100'c then only water wich boils at 100'c is left in the boiler,so in full reflux you could leave it running all day and collect nothing and the boiler temp would stay the same regardless of how much power ya dial in,only as you collect product will the temp increase.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

It's certainly going to be a big learning curve, So much to learn still :-)