Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Forgive me if im wrong but pound for pound ethanol is an expensive fuel to use for heating if you were buying it compared to something like lpg or kerosene.
Doc sounds like hes burning his own 'waste' etoh so it becomes economical for him.
.warra

I have never used an ethanol stove or fireplace so could someone please give me an idea of how much ethanol a say 3.5kW fireplace would burn per hour? Or if you like how much time could I get from a one litre bottle of heads.

Thank you, Bluc. Goof info ...

What is normally used as the "filler" that is what is a material that holds the ethanol while burning. I have simple idea of pouring ethanol over charcoal and putting a match to it.

Arismac wrote:What is normally used as the "filler" that is what is a material that holds the ethanol while burning. I have simple idea of pouring ethanol over charcoal and putting a match to it.

For the soda can alcohol burner, no filler. Just an initial puddle in the centre hole indentation then covered with a 5 cent piece to build pressure a little in outside ring of holes initially.
I also tried pouring over the top and lighting the charcoal and got unsatisfactory results as i think it burns too low and too quick to get a good start. Would probably work after a few tries or if a few of the coals at the bottom were possibly previously soaked or sitting in a small puddle of etoh.
Coke can burner is truly amazing to watch work on the chimney and i knocked up two roughies within 30 minutes with a pair of scissors and a sharpened pointy thing. Probably holds less than 100ml and burns for around 15 - 20 minutes. Gave up watching it after 15 minutes and the coals were going great guns.

Used cooking oil and fat also makes a good fire starter and when you cook with charcoal do get fat and oil dripping onto the charcoal.

I am thick as a brick. Can you show a photo of it from the side and bottom.

How / where do you fill it ?

warramungas wrote:Hmmmm. Molotov cocktail.
Be a great name for a drink doc! :))

Molotov Cocktail
Mixed Drink Recipe from Cocktail Builder
1 1/2 oz of Vodka
1 splash of 151 proof rum

Pour a shot of vodka (preferably russian) into a shot glass. Float the 151, ignite, blow out, and shoot.

BigRig wrote:I am thick as a brick. Can you show a photo of it from the side and bottom.

How / where do you fill it ?

You fill by pouring alcohol in the center.
Picture from the web.

Watched a video on youtube bloke just leaves centre open but has that whole concave bit cut out. He reakons it "starts" faster.. the convection currents are drawn up through side holes once up to temp..
https://youtu.be/OvvdLVUJXZc
Btw bcf sell similar thing for $5

I come from the KISS fraternity and the ones I made were easy and work a treat for lighting charcoal but theres a multitude of designs out there if you want to try for something a little more souped up.

I bought an ethanol fire place thing and to be honest it was only good for looking at. It had no real heat to it unless you sat on it. Maybe it was a dodgy one but this thing would never heat a room.

Ive found tails to be prettier than heads in the fire, burns better too

Salt does indeed make a yellow flame. I tried mixture heads and tails and was completely invisible :think:
I used sea salt..

Warra what sort temps does your kettle get to? I have a hard time hitting 200c with mine using one chimney lump charcoal..do you use lump or briquettes?

bluc wrote:Warra what sort temps does your kettle get to? I have a hard time hitting 200c with mine using one chimney lump charcoal..do you use lump or briquettes?

I hit 450-500c with charcoal and from memory about 300 to 400 c with briquettes.
I only did that to try out and used afterwards as a grill. Usually cook around 150c to 200c when im roasting.
Cheers.

That just with one chimney?

Speaking of fire, I think it is a good idea that all distillers familiarise themselves with flames fuelled by ethanol. It’s high heat (twice that of petrol or wood), low visibility etc. It’s a good idea to know what you are dealing with in the [i]very[i] unlikely event that there is an issue. Sounds ridiculous bit after some small experiments I decided to significantly beef up my fire extinguishers.

bluc wrote:That just with one chimney?

Yep. I fill mine to the top when im using the bbq as a grill then wait until the top is nicely lit (grey ash) before i pour them into the kettle. To get temp up high (testing or giving the grill a good burnnoff) i put the lid on that with both vents open but usually iv gotta wait 15-20 minutes for it to cool down enough to grill on with the lid off. Especially with lump charcoal otherwise i have instant burnt meat.
Im becoming a big fan of the snake method (google it) for low and slow roasting though.