Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

So my upgrade to my Fsd rig has turned into a full ground up build. Stage 1 the boiler = 160L copper boiler 2 x 4" ferrules on top 1 as condenser mount and 1 as fill port. 3 x 2" element ports, 1 x 4" ferrule near bottom for cleaning, 1 x drain, maybe 3/4" center of bottom, 1 x 1/2" about 1/3 of the way up for collecting backset/dunder. Power will be 3 x 2400w or 1 x 3600w and 2 x 2400w.

Once the boiler is done a 4" pot head with a 3" shotgun for stripping.

any feedback or suggestions much appreciated.

Cheers

:handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cant wait to see the build develop :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Have you thought of a thermo port or thermo well to monitor heat up time :-B

Thought about it, I am one of those people who like to touch, once I got away from monitering temp I have found a quick caress every now and then is quite enough :laughing-rolling: this is the current object of my affection.

Cant wait to see this build!!

That boiler is going to really going to make this build a one of a kind :handgestures-thumbupleft: well as far as I know?

So I have made some progress today, visited the scrappy and scored some nice shiny 2" and some 1/4" annealed tube, no 4" yet unfortunately. Knocked up a few easy flanges and made 3 element ports, and a 2" modular pot column and gin caddy for an experiment. So my soldering is still a bit rough, it is getting better though, once the are cleaned up they will look OK I hope.

Looking good Tas :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Rough calcs the boiler was actually about 187L, decided that is a little large for what Im aiming for. The Brother in Law has taken it to be shortened by a work mate who used to make these for a living. Got to love Tassie :laughing-rolling: once this is done I will be able to at least make a start, if I have no joy with the scappy I will buy a couple of Copper ferrules. Hopefully I will have a update early in the new year.

This is going to be good...it'll look fantastic when you're done, given its size however, would a larger size drain port be a good idea or is 3/4 plenty for the job?

Darwin award wrote:This is going to be good...it'll look fantastic when you're done, given its size however, would a larger size drain port be a good idea or is 3/4 plenty for the job?

Should be plenty, I have a hose that runs through the back wall of my shed, end of a run I just open the valve and let it drain out. Once its shortened I will be looking at about 140L, so will be doing 100L runs, 2 strip runs then a spirit run through the bubbler :handgestures-thumbupleft:

TasSpirits wrote:

Darwin award wrote:This is going to be good...it'll look fantastic when you're done, given its size however, would a larger size drain port be a good idea or is 3/4 plenty for the job?

Should be plenty, I have a hose that runs through the back wall of my shed, end of a run I just open the valve and let it drain out. Once its shortened I will be looking at about 140L, so will be doing 100L runs, 2 strip runs then a spirit run through the bubbler :handgestures-thumbupleft:

K cheers, good to know. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Got the boiler back today, now 140L, all the brass bits cut out, had a bit of spare time so got the first element port in, leak test is successful so far. Finally scored some 4" so I will be able to get the still mount and fill port done over the next few days.

I have decided on a ring to sit the boiler on and I am going to insulate it, winter down here will make the heat up times fairly long, May to September 0' at night in the shed, usually colder. Boiler height with still mount should be 950mm, column without packed section or gin basket around 1300mm, just need another meter of 4" :pray:

Roughly stitch drilled out the mount and fill port, has been boiling for 40mins still no leaks.

Tas, that looks fantastic, can't wait to see it finished and polished. It'll be a one of a kind. Good luck with the rest of the build.
Cheers

Shiftynev wrote:Tas, that looks fantastic, can't wait to see it finished and polished. It'll be a one of a kind. Good luck with the rest of the build.
Cheers

:text-+1: here here

Got a bit more done today, the fill port and still mount are being leak tested as I type, so far so good.

This boiler is the tits! Are you going to give her a real nice polish up Tas?

damn need to find myself a copper boiler now. looks like it was reasonably easy for you to convert it to a boiler with soft solder

Lookin good Tas nice job. :D

Not too many copper boilers out there great to see. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

maddogpearse wrote:This boiler is the tits! Are you going to give her a real nice polish up Tas?

Im going to insulate it, but might go for a brushed finish with a clear coat or 2 to keep it looking neat.

WTDist wrote:damn need to find myself a copper boiler now. looks like it was reasonably easy for you to convert it to a boiler with soft solder

The hard part was shortening it, that was done by a family member who has a guy working for him who used to make these, had to put on a machine before being braised back together. Apart from that it has been quite easy thanks to all the good tips on the forum, hardest part is finding 4" tube. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

The run last night went well 3hrs no leaks :D

That boiler looks like the mutts nuts TasSpirits, nice work.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.