Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi guys, just thought I'd post a photo of my first attempt at building a still. It's a 10lt stainless steel boiler connected by 12mm copper pipe to a coil in coil heat exchanger with a reticulating cooling water supply utilising a pond pump and a bucket filled with iced water. I get around 1lt of spirit per run, it's not much but it's fun. Cheers

Hi Taffy,

Interesting pot still. How are you going to seal that stock pot when you run it?

I ran a bead ov rtv silicone around the lid, smeared food grade grease around the pot top until it set and I just clamp bulldog clips around to hold the lid in place. As long as I line up the lid in the same spot it's air tight.

Sorry but that’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Bulldog clips :angry-banghead:

Is that a wort chiller condenser :think: im with stig your.asking for trouble..
At very least drill holes round lid and use bolts to clamp.

Ok this is where my lack of knowledge shows itself, what is wrong with bulldog clips as I only use three. If there was a pressure build up they would open up slightly which I thought would be better than bolting the lid down. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

You just described the problem, leaks x_x

Leaks and flames...

Yeah mate that idea is not a great one at all.

There should never be a build up in pressure in a still. You should check every time you want to run it by blowing through it, sometimes bugs get stuck in there of wasps build nests in them so always check.

So in saying that if that lid leaks and you have flame under that pot the heavier than air alcohol vapor is going to head straight down to that flame and wooshka you have a fire ball that will more than likely burn down your shed and heaven forbid you or a family member with it.

Please, please, please don't believe everything you see or read on the internet 90% of it is rubbish and down right dangerous. I will guarantee the info on this site is 100% ligit and you won't go wrong following our advice. You may need to spend some time in the newbies section and read up on some of the fundamentals of stilling especially the safety threads just to get your head around some of the science.

Please don't take any of the comments here to heart mate we all started somewhere and we are only looking out for you.

My suggestion is go find a keg and use that, it will be the best decision you will ever make. They are cheap and easy to get off gumtree and the like.

Best of luck mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks for the feedback wooduck, I was more concerned with pressure build up than vapour leakage and that appears to be my mistake. I have a ring clamp for the lid that I will use for my next run as unless there is a blockage in the condenser there will be no excess pressure. I appreciate the time given to a rank amateur by all of the experienced people on this site and hopefully if I don't blow myself up I can progress with this hobby, although my liver may complain. Once again thanks for the help. Cheers

looking at the pic of your rig, have a look at the easy flange http://aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=76&hilit=easy+flange that you could add to the bottom of your column as an alternative and attachment for a Keg
think you liver could handle that :dance:

Hi bluc,
It's actually a water cooled condenser from a soft serve ice cream machine.