Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Amazing, would love to know how you polish your copper like that.

mattyb wrote:would love to know how you polish your copper like that.

:text-+1:

That is beautiful mate. What a great looking rig. You gotta be happy with that :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Chocko6969 wrote:

Professor Green wrote:Superb build Chocko, top notch work.

Thanks mate, just don't zoom in too close! :D Not a lot of sanding/polishing gone on here but it's what I'm happy with!

Not a lot of polishing?? Looks amazing mate :clap:

Sam. wrote:

Chocko6969 wrote:

Professor Green wrote:Superb build Chocko, top notch work.

Thanks mate, just don't zoom in too close! :D Not a lot of sanding/polishing gone on here but it's what I'm happy with!

Not a lot of polishing?? Looks amazing mate :clap:

Thanks everyone, but seriously I have a buff wheel on the bench grinder. All I did was Citric bath after finishing the piece, buffed with grey Josco compound followed by a second buff with green Josco. Gave it a few rubs with a clean micro-fibre and done! As an example the PC took about 10mins tops.

Like I said, don't zoom in, there's visible scratches nicks etc but I didn't want mirror finish so I'm happy with it!

Chocko

Get a good clear coat and put on it before it starts to patina :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I used this, works a treat

https://goo.gl/images/9AsxXq

woodduck wrote:Get a good clear coat and put on it before it starts to patina :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I used this, works a treat

https://goo.gl/images/9AsxXq

Thanks for this, I'll do the sacrificial run first I think to make sure I don't have any pinholes in any of the soldering and have to heat it again.

Chocko

Well I thought I'd have a crack at the vinegar run today as the family is away until this afternoon.

I'm yet to find a IBC so I decided to run this from mains water and just use a bit. It seemed to go well although only having one element is really adding to length of run time. I understand reflux is difficult to achieve with vinegar water (12ltrs V - 15lts W), but I do believe I got a small amount looking at the plates while running. I may have overdone the quantity too having 27ltrs total for just the one 2200W element?

I ran this for probably over an hour while checking for leaks and I'm very pleased to say I only had the single leak at the top tri-clamp of the 2" PC, even then it was only about 1-2 drops p/minute. Very happy! I'm convinced that the linisher was the key to this, it gets everything wonderfully flat.

I also played around a bit with the RC on/off - collecting a little from PC etc. I do have a question here, when I shut the RC off it didn't take very long at all for the outside of the RC to get up to temp, and this also sent very hot water out the exit water hose at the top of the RC. Only having a temporary cooling setup this really softened the hose to the point I was concerned something might give. It also sucked the hose in on itself. I intended to set up my actual cooling system with the braided clear hose, which should be a fair bit stronger than the blue water hose I was using, would this be the best way to go?



After I finished the vinegar, I pulled it all apart and gave it a hose out, not sure if this was the right thing to do but it seemed right at the time! It's all back together now with the sacrificial ABV @ 40% (25ltrs) ready to go. I don't think I'll get a chance to run this sac today but it should be fine just sitting in the boiler.

BTW the thermometer is there just for my own information, I'm sure you're all aware it doesn't actually serve much of a purpose other than for me (and it looks OK)! Photo's below were taken during heat up, thermometer showed 95dg while running and could not get any higher than 96dg.

Chocko

i have the stainless braided lines on bubbler connected to standard garden hose. your right the garden hose heats up and kinks soetimes. I am going to permantly plumb with black poly outside underground and thinking the same as you clear reinforced hose to connect to still.

bluc wrote:i have the stainless braided lines on bubbler connected to standard garden hose. your right the garden hose heats up and kinks soetimes. I am going to permantly plumb with black poly outside underground and thinking the same as you clear reinforced hose to connect to still.

So is that a normal thing having the RC exit water hose heat up so much? I'm just concerned that there could be pressure build up in the water space of the RC due to heat, and it will need to get released somehow?

Would it be acceptable for example to > start run etc...get to temp and reflux for whatever time you're doing, then shut off RC water and then have a shortened joiner 1 or 2 mtrs off the RC exit water and just disconnect it so it's open to atmosphere?

Good idea underground, wish I had the space to do that.

Chocko

It's good to run reflux hot, it only has to "just" change the vapor back to liquid. If you cool the reflux down 20-30°, it has to get that many degrees back to become vapor again, lots of wasted time and energy

On a "real" run you wouldn't have to close it for long. On a normal run you run down to tails then back to full reflux to compress the tails then once tails detected again close rc. I quit often go from 89 ish to 20 abv in the space of one or two stubby bottles. Takes like 10m. Water should not boil to the point of building pressure in rc.. I usually leave needle valve just cracked open..

bluc wrote:On a "real" run you wouldn't have to close it for long. On a normal run you run down to tails then back to full reflux to compress the tails then once tails detected again close rc. I quit often go from 89 ish to 20 abv in the space of one or two stubby bottles. Takes like 10m. Water should not boil to the point of building pressure in rc.. I usually leave needle valve just cracked open..

Thanks bluc! Getting a SS needle valve this week :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Hi all, I finally got my sacrificial run done tonight, short video below.

I have to say the bubbles are strangely mesmerising, a bit like watching a campfire :shock:

This will take some learning and figuring how things act at different stages of the run but I'm loving the first alc in reflux.

Just a question on the fores, are they normally a different colour or is this a result of first alc run after vinegar cleaning? See pic below!

I'll be chucking the fores and putting all the rest aside, I've only cut like this to have a practice at cutting. All of this stuff is turbo's from my old still, which was so far removed from this one it's not funny!

:happy-partydance: :happy-partydance:

Nice one mate, looking really good

Let there be booze!

:handgestures-thumbupleft:

Good one, those bubbles are mesmerising aren’t they :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Fores definitely shouldn’t be coloured like that though, maybe crap from the build cleaning it’s self out or maybe a small puke.

Doubleuj wrote:Good one, those bubbles are mesmerising aren’t they :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Fores definitely shouldn’t be coloured like that though, maybe crap from the build cleaning it’s self out or maybe a small puke.

No they shouldn't but I've found the problem. I had this sac run wash sitting in the boiler for a few days, ready to go when I had the time. It appears to be a shit element and has leached what looks like rust or some substance. Not happy, just glad it did this on the sac run but it does mean I'll have to do another sac run, will see how it goes once my first TPW has finished. I spotted this while getting up to temp and should have stopped then but ran it anyway as I wasn't sure what it was. Also when I think about it once decent bubbles came off the element it didn't appear to be heating the end 1 - 1.5" of the element.

Jug of spirit from the run, photo doesn't really show you but it's like a weak piss colour, not good.

Chocko

Yeah that colour is the reason why we do cleaning runs. It'll be a mixture of leftover flux and unburnt hydrocarbons from your torch that didn't dissolve when you cleaned and soaked all the components.
Good to go now :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Edit: rust from your element won't make it through your column and into your product.

db1979 wrote:Yeah that colour is the reason why we do cleaning runs. It'll be a mixture of leftover flux and unburnt hydrocarbons from your torch that didn't dissolve when you cleaned and soaked all the components.
Good to go now :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Edit: rust from your element won't make it through your column and into your product.

Cheers for that db, I wasn't sure if rust would make it through, and I say that not really knowing what the stuff was either!

Chocko