Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

This is probably a stupid question.... 8-}
Got a couple weldless elements the other day and just wondering how others take them in/ out of the keg once you have them wired up properly. I wouldnt think a 3 pin plug would fit through a 32mm hole?

Side note... these elements look bloody fantastic though!! :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Well made and a lot bigger than i thought they would be.

Yeah the plug does not fit through.
You need to wire it up after it is secured to the keg.
Preferrably after a leak test.

Yeah was thinking that might be the case. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Couldn't find anyone on here that had said contrary to my understanding or way of thinking.

scythe wrote:Preferrably after a leak test.

:text-thankyoublue: for the good tip!

Got a chance to get back into the shed tonight. :happy-partydance:
Having a new addition to the family has slowed things down a bit, but bub is doing well so i aint complaining. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Got onto making my 2" to 4" reducer, so she finally sits on the keg without the risk of toppling over! Could of went and bought a reducer to suit i suppose... but hey, where's the fun in that. Got a couple reducers given to me instead so i just had to mate them up. One was 2" to 2 -1/2" and the other was 3" to 4".

Just cut some slots in the 3" pipe and squeezed it shut to the size of the 2- 1/2" reducer and soldered together.
Put a couple flanges on and shes ready to go.


Pics arent great :angry-banghead: I really need to do more on it in daylight hours so i can take better pics!

Looks great love the reducer :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks bluc... yeah i spent a bit of time on it, but at least you get a sense of achievement from doing it the hard way!

Well done mate :handgestures-thumbupleft: those bits of our stills that require us to custom make something are often the most rewarding and challenging. Gives you confidence to have a crack at harder things next time.

Good going mate, looking forward to what you’re going to do with the site glasses :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Got onto making up my plates and seeing if i could get them to seal water tight!
Was a bit unsure of how i would go trying to use one seal, to seal between the tees and the bubble plate. With my easy flanges, they dont have a large surface area due to the gradual curve of the flanged pipe.

I ended up tapering down the edge of the plates so they sit right on the edge of the flat surface area for the seal.

I made sure the plate sits just a smidge higher than the flange so the seal seats on it.

I ended up getting the seal to do the job on all the plates, time will tell with the seal on the top of the tees.

Here is my first plate finished...

Not sure if i have botched it up though. :oops:
I was going to space the downcommer and bubblecap apart more, but for some reason i just had it in my head to centre the bubblecap :angry-banghead: ... this has resulted in not much room between the two. Is this going to be a problem?

Ive made my bubblecaps removeable.. never know when they might need to come off! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Nice work mate, keep it up and you'll be done in no time :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Congrats on the new addition to the family.

Looking good mate. I love seeing new builds. Keep it coming.

Cheers fellas... :greetings-waveyellow:
Bub is going really well, so managed to sneak into shed a couple times this week so far!
So do you think my little gap between downcommer and bubblecap will be a problem. I'll work on spacing out the next 3 like i was originally going to... perhaps a moment of baby brain!! :laughing-rolling:

I don't think it will make a noticeable difference.

db1979 wrote:I don't think it will make a noticeable difference.

Thanks db1979
Heres hoping, i would rather make the other 3 than redo the first one. I suppose it won't take much to de solder if need be though.

I guess in an ideal world further away would be better just so the bubbles don't throw liquid straight down the downcomer and the liquid mixes better on the plate but as some very wise people have said, these hobby size stills are very forgiving and most of the little things make little difference. I have the same issue with my 6". I tryed jamming too many caps on a plate and they are pretty close to the downcomer. It's too early to say if its a problem but I don't imagine it will be too detrimental.

No worries woodduck... i guess time will tell! :think:

woodduck wrote:I guess in an ideal world further away would be better just so the bubbles don't throw liquid straight down the downcomer and the liquid mixes better on the plate but as some very wise people have said, these hobby size stills are very forgiving and most of the little things make little difference. I have the same issue with my 6". I tryed jamming too many caps on a plate and they are pretty close to the downcomer. It's too early to say if its a problem but I don't imagine it will be too detrimental.

This was pretty much what I was thinking. The smaller the still the less we can avoid undesirable outcomes like liquid going down the downcomer too soon. Bigger stills have more space and this happens less so.

Could you change the position of the screw hole in the cap and shift the cap further away from the downcomer without moving the riser? You'd need to plug the old screw hole. It looks like you've got a bit of wriggle room there.

I have seen on other builds people putting an extension into the downcomer with holes drilled in one side so the bath liquid drains through the holes but the extension limits the amount of liquid splashed down the down comet opening. An easy mod if it does become an issue later on down the track.