Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi All,
Due to the very low price I have just bought an $150 AlcoEngine pot still as per the link below.


I have done a quick rinse and am now doing a citric acid bath before a cleaning run this weekend.

Now, on to my question/issue ..... I noticed during the internal rinse of the still that water within the still comes out at the points where the cooling water enters and leaves the condenser. Is this normal for a pot still (to not be perfectly sealed) ?

My only experience so far is on my T500.

Thanks in advance.
Matt

If you pour water in the end of the still that attaches to your boiler it should only come out of the end of the condenser where the alcohol comes out. Not where the cooling water comes in and out of the condenser.
This iconic vee shape still has been created to capture the vital esters, aldehydes and phenolic compounds that are necessary to give the final spirit a complexity that simply cannot be created any other way.
This is bullshit any pot still will do this, it doesn't have to be the special v shape.

you flush water through inside and it runs out cooling water pipes? no def not normal cooling jacket should be sealed from vapour path. otherwise cooling water will mix with spirit. got a pic?

Plumby wrote:If you pour water in the end of the still that attaches to your boiler it should only come out of the end of the condenser where the alcohol comes out. Not where the cooling water comes in and out of the condenser.
This iconic vee shape still has been created to capture the vital esters, aldehydes and phenolic compounds that are necessary to give the final spirit a complexity that simply cannot be created any other way.
This is bullshit any pot still will do this, it doesn't have to be the special v shape.

:text-+1:

bluc wrote:you flush water through inside and it runs out cooling water pipes? no def not normal cooling jacket should be sealed from vapour path. otherwise cooling water will mix with spirit. got a pic?

Not from the cooling pipes themselves but at the location where the cooling pipes enter the condenser. Will try to upload a photo of the spot.

Cannot seem to host a photo from my phone with my limited computer knowledge.

bluc wrote:you flush water through inside and it runs out cooling water pipes? no def not normal cooling jacket should be sealed from vapour path. otherwise cooling water will mix with spirit. got a pic?

The cooling path is sealed and water doesn’t enter into the still. I am more worried about still vapour and alcohol escaping the gap between the condenser and the cooling pipes.

I guess that this is at the very end of the condenser and there should be no vapour (only a trickle of alcohol) at this location anyway.

It won't leak steam if the cooling water is kept up to it ( rate and temp) the add recomends a 500l water tank if not on tap water, this would be to keep it cool enough, they say it will handle any commercial boiler, so 2000-2400w , not bad for a 6 inch coil of tubing ???

RC Al wrote:It won't leak steam if the cooling water is kept up to it ( rate and temp) the add recomends a 500l water tank if not on tap water, this would be to keep it cool enough, they say it will handle any commercial boiler, so 2000-2400w , not bad for a 6 inch coil of tubing ???

Whoah there nelly, if it leaking water from the join of the cooling pipes then it is going to leak alcohol vapour when running and that is SERIOUSLY FUCKING DANGEROUS.

I would take it back where you got it from and get a new one, if they try and give you the above bullshit advice that keeping it cool will stop the vapour I would ask for a refund and buy or build something that isn't going to be dangerous.

Sam, did you look at the link?
It's a Graham coil used as a RC, the end has to be open, the manufacturer has put a unsealed cap at the end, possibly to slow down the steam and let the small coil work
In the second last sentence of his last post, he says it's not leaking coolant

I can see how it works and yes it does need to open to atmosphere as all pot stills do.

The OP is saying if you fill it with water it is leaking at the connections where the cooling water pipes for the condenser enter the main body of the still, which is bad.

Sam. wrote:I can see how it works and yes it does need to open to atmosphere as all pot stills do.

The OP is saying if you fill it with water it is leaking at the connections where the cooling water pipes for the condenser enter the main body of the still, which is bad.

Only leaks when I rinse the still internals by injecting water at the base (to the boiler). The cooling water system itself does not leak.

I’m with Sam , take it back it shouldn’t be leaking like that

Ah just had a look at a picture of it and it isn't even soldered where the cooling lines enter the still, no wonder it leaks :laughing-rolling:

That's just incredibly lazy manufacturing and a shit design. You get what you pay for :handgestures-thumbdown:

I'd also draw your attention to the upward pointing cooling lines you'll need to be very careful that the lines don't kink (especially the hot one) and block the cooling resulting in shiploads of hot alcohol vapour pouring out.
The joins that you're worried about will leak vapours though probably not massive amounts. It's still a concern and shouldn't be run till its sealed imo.
This could be done by you or any welding or engineering workshop.

After further thought as well if you cooling water fails then you will definitely have a shit load of vapour escaping

If those joins were welded up then if it failed the passive reflux occurring should condense most of the vapour and pool in the bottom as it looks like it has a very small product outlet letting minimum vapour escape before you shut it down.

With such a small coil and being a pot still I would be recommending no more than 900-1000wt power plus no more than a 25-30lt boiler to stay safe,the desighn ta me is about keeping manufacturing costs down not flavour :angry-banghead: I think the small output pipe is there ta slow down vapour speed and makeing it bigger and sealing the gaps may not fix anything or may even make it less efficent letting uncondenced vapour out ,wich would get worse the more power and boiler volume ya use,with such small coolant tubes ya need very good pressure ta get enough water thru to work well as you push it harder.With such a small outlet I would not like ta see what happens when she pukes on a rum wash ,she,d faily spray it out or worse pop the boiler lid mid run.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

I've seen similar and they all rely on the water flow through the condenser to condense the alcohol. Same with our big ones. If the water fails and we dont turn it off the vapor is going to escape. Its going to be heavily reliant on keeping the power within the limits of the condenser. Hole on top or bottom the vapor will get out either way if there's too much of it.
I would have probably sealed the condenser into the unit if I built it but it should work fine I you keep the power down and water flow up.

coffe addict wrote:I'd also draw your attention to the upward pointing cooling lines you'll need to be very careful that the lines don't kink (especially the hot one) and block the cooling .....

Did a cleaning run tonight and the above was definitely a problem. Will need to change or reinforce my hoses in some way. Gaffa tape solved the problem in the short term however.

warramungas wrote:I've seen similar and they all rely on the water flow through the condenser to condense the alcohol. Same with our big ones. If the water fails and we dont turn it off the vapor is going to escape. Its going to be heavily reliant on keeping the power within the limits of the condenser. Hole on top or bottom the vapor will get out either way if there's too much of it.
I would have probably sealed the condenser into the unit if I built it but it should work fine I you keep the power down and water flow up.

Used my voltage regulator to keep the unit stable and at no time did vapour appear to try to escape the holes (even when my hot water return hose became kinked).

I’ll write a short review in this thread later tonight once the family leave me alone.