Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

So I'm looking to try to cut generator run times down.

Considering a 4in pot still build for stripping neutral, running rum and later some scotch.

I'm liking a pelican build with a 4in shotty mainly because I wouldn't need to buy 2in. The shotty would be ferruled as would the keg attachment. After the product condenser I'd have it drop down to a one inch ferrule to attach a parrot.
at present I have a single 2kw element but am planning the addition of a 1.4kw.
Would love some feedback as I'm still pretty green and it would be my first build...

Really no one has any thoughts suggestions? Has anyone done it? Is there a reason I can't find a similar build?
Will it work?

Seems abit of a waste for 4 inch. Why not build a 2inch one. The power you have on your boiler will make it a quick stipping run as long as your pc can handel it.
Keep the 4 inch for a bubler build 8-}

Ok. Thanks for sharing. I'm living on a yacht so no shed, I would love to build a bubbler but I really don't have the space for such a complex build. I'm admiring the 5star bling but it isisn't affordable yet... maybe a Xmas pressie.
I guess I was hoping to keep cost down generator times down and be able to reuse the pc and parrot...

A 2 inch 500mm column 2x 90 2inch bends into 2inch shotty. Then you can re use the shotty and parrot?

Yeah ok I just assumed a bigger one would be quicker and save me time fuel and reduce the amount of oil changes I have to do.
leading to more sipping time lol.
I'll look into how quick stripping times and spirit run times people are getting with the two inch one's.
Your right the straight simple build would be easier for me to build.

bigger is faster, but you have to have the power to run faster also and like rummy said you also need to be able to condense all the vapor. Here are links to faster strip runs from another member
http://www.aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=405 4 inch stripper
http://www.aussiedistiller.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4610 6 inch stripper

They go fast but they also require a lot of power. The 6 inch uses a gass burner so no need for generators and you can go fast

Thanks for that the 6in is pretty serious lol

The 4in sounds like where I'm trying to go. Three strips and a spirit run in a day then pack it up for a while. I have a pretty great girl but when I take up all the room and power for days on end... well you can guess the rest :scared-eek:
there's no shortage of cooling round here though :happy-partydance:
Any idea how much heat radiates downwards from a gas burner? I guess I would need something to pretext the floorboards from potential fire... safety first an all

Any idea how much heat radiates downwards from a gas burner? I guess I would need something to pretext the floorboards from potential fire... safety first an all

Your not thinking of running a gas fired still inside a dwelling I hope. :scared-eek:

I believe he's on a boat...

4" is fairly overkill for a PC, but if it's all you've got then there's no reason it won't work.

I personally don't think you'll have enough power with the elements you have/will have. I have used the 4" packed section and 2" shotty off my bubbler before to strip and with my 6000watts i can strip at 12-15 ltrs an hour so if that comes off at say 50% on a 50ltr wash at 10% means you will only need to run for about an hour plus warm up. Which on mine is around 30-45 mins. If you insulate your boiler real well you might shave a few more minutes off. If your 4" can do twice as fast you are really only saving 30 minutes. To be economical you would need to use a bigger boiler = longer warm up, more room on the boat.

I'm not sure how much quicker a 4" would be on a spirit run? If you rush on a spirit run your product will be worthless. So will the size make that much difference? I don't know.

Best of luck :handgestures-thumbupleft:

It's a consideration. I would have to work out how big the extraction fans I would need with a good safety margin. I live on a boat a currently have a 10inch thermo fan set up as an extraction fan and a gas detection unit that shuts down all electricity and gas if levels get to 10% of suffocation or explosion levels. Both are currently installed and working.

I would have to have the possibility of fire and suffocation taken into account.

Thanks woodduck it gets half a dozen woolen blankets saves a noticeable amount of time on warm up.

All the different options are are hard to get a head around. So you don't think with 3400w the 4in wouldn't perform noticeably better than a 2in? If that's the case maybe I keep using my boka head and 300mm copper filled section till I can step up to a bubbler and not have to do stripping runs...

coffe addict wrote:Thanks woodduck it gets half a dozen woolen blankets saves a noticeable amount of time on warm up.

All the different options are are hard to get a head around. So you don't think with 3400w the 4in wouldn't perform noticeably better than a 2in? If that's the case maybe I keep using my boka head and 300mm copper filled section till I can step up to a bubbler and not have to do stripping runs...

No I don't think 3400w will be enough if your looking for speed, it would work but if you want it to be fast pipe size alone won't do it I don't recon. A 2" pot will produce fast take off if you've got the power and a good condenser.

Once again thanks woodduck :handgestures-thumbupleft:
so I'll hang off until I can afford a bubbler :smile: unless you think the difference between a boka head and 2in pot still is worthworth for the next six months or so?

This has helped get things straight for me. So cheers to everyone.

I don't want to talk you out of anything but a bit more research and time will help you figure it out.

A 2"pot would be quicker than a boka i recon but it's up to you.

Thanks again. Priceless info.

I might just have a go at a 2in build I'm sure I'll find it a home pretty quickly after getting my hands on a bubbler.

or start with the modular 4 inch pot still and upgrade when you can?

:text-+1: on the modular 4" pot as a starting point. Add the bubbler sections as and when you can afford them.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

Seeing as your on a boat have you thought about distilling at or close to drinking strength?
That will allow you to run it a bit faster as your not trying to squeeze out the last 2%.
just thinking along the lines of how alot of spirits are only called what they are as a result of their distillation recipe and proof they are distilled at.

But then you are going to need alot more collecting jars.