Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Nice one Sam but that will not work. The hose is smaller than the fitting.

I think you need hose adapters because of such different sizes such as these. The metal ones you could get one with a socket and the other with a nipple of the same size to join them.

Sent you a PM :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Not sure what your tubing is, if it's clear vinyl tubing, soak the end in hot water and once it's soft and stretchy push it onto the fitting.

PeterC wrote:I think you need hose adapters because of such different sizes such as these. The metal ones you could get one with a socket and the other with a nipple of the same size to join them.

Thank you Peter. Unfortunately the male fitting is already welded to the Boka and has a GHT (Garden Hose Thread). There is insufficient room for two GHT hose connectors. 5SD is all over it though and I feel sure Andrew will come up with an answer.

db1979 wrote:Not sure what your tubing is, if it's clear vinyl tubing, soak the end in hot water and once it's soft and stretchy push it onto the fitting.

Not enough meat in the sandwich I am afraid. It simply will not stretch that far.

I used fittings like the ones as suggested by peterc then a short bit hose then garden fitting for easy teardown..

Perhaps you have a different model to me, but it seems the above fittings all offer a male thread. Found them in Bunnings but my Boka has male garden hose fittings. I am currently looking for a 13mm male to female adapter that is "slender" enough for me to get the two alongside each other.

Another option will be to get a female to female adapter and then one of the male to push on "push-on" adapters that Peter has shown. The thread size then gets in the act which must be GHT to fit to the Boka in the first place.

Ahh i see..brass ones would prob be smallest..

Arismac wrote:I am seriously considering using/trialing the T500 Water flow controller in conjunction with the Boka Tower.

I have the toys and I am looking forward to playing. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I would have thought the water flow controller would not allow enough output.... how did you go?

I have got some plumbing issues at the moment, but I have been able to run some preliminary litre/minute tests and the Boka actually does not seem to be configured to pass as much coolant water as the Boka. If ... this is correct we will not have a problem. The T500 Water Control can be adjusted to pass as much water as the Boka can accept.

Unless the design has changed (and it may well have), your boka condenser should have 1/2" connections like this:



These obviously won't fit normal garden hose connections but you can use these https://www.bunnings.com.au/kinetic-450mm-bent-elbow-water-connector_p4750085 to break the connections out a bit then you can use an appropriate reducer from the plumbing section of Bunnings to screw the hose connector on. The bonus of this is you have an elbow at the top so there's no angular strain on the hose and it's less likely to kink up when it's hot.





I did it this way until I switched everything over to camlocks.

Many thanks Professor. That at least gets over the problem of the inlet and out flow being too close together.

One of the team had an oxy in the garage so we splayed the two fittings that were causing grief. All fits together just fine now.

Boka up and running. Better quality already coming off.

Arismac wrote:9. Watch your temp and let column equalize at 78C you are now refluxing ethanol
10. Make voltage and coolant water flow adjustments as needed
11. Allow the the column to reflux for about 15 minutes at a constant 78C
12. Slowly open the ethanol discharge valve and adjust the drip rate to delivery 15 – 20ml per minute.
13. HEADS will come off first and continue through to HEARTS and there will be subtle temperature differences

I have had a better result by starting off with the discharge valve a little open and drawing off the HEADS first. I then close the discharge valve for 15-20 minutes before collecting the spirit.

Voltage set to 100% until heads are off then down to 60% for remainder of run.

Interesting thread indeed, but I'm not that far, still some WIP and waiting for some copper parts for my parrot before starting soft soldering the slant plates and so on.
A question, I made a double coil Graham, what would be the water inlet/outlet? I would think cold water should go straight to the lowest part, but I may be wrong.

I would have it opposite to how you have your arrow. I think going in opposite direction to vapour into the coil would be better its only going to be marginal difference either way I would think.. :-B

Thanks to an hour or two... or was it three Stig(?) spent at the 5 Star shop a few weeks back I’m now the lucky owner of a Boca & basic components of a pot still... although I’m using my Turdbo 500 boiler for now until I can get back to 5Star for a 50Ltr set-up.

Damn Boris would’ve been a perfect name... oh well, he’s an Aussie so ‘Bruce The Booza Boka” it is :obscene-drinkingdrunk:

I washed & completed sac run the day after purchase... Completed my first ever brown spirit strip run yesterday of 2x25Ltr CFW’s... ended up with 10ltrs at 42% overall... and put them back on for 2nd gen run with eager anticipation.

At this very moment I’m running leftovers (20Ltrs @20%) from previous 500 runs of Kale wash.

As usual the only time I have to try n catch up on all the posts :techie-typing: is whilst babysitting a run...
I’m sure it’s mentioned elsewhere but I can’t find it atm... Does staying in reflux for longer than say 10mins make that big a difference?

On the Turdbo I’d always run in low-mid 40’s, throw the first 100mls into my shower cleaner or windex and then collect 3-400mls (subject to smell/taste) before doing 200ml collections until I know I’m into my tails, then I’d up the temp & strip the rest.

As I’d only refluxed for a full 10min before reading this thread I’ve taken 1st 400ml off at a constant 2 drips a second... and then upped it to drip drip drip dribble...

And I must say even at this 400ml stage it is FAR SUPERIOR in taste than any hearts I’ve made in the last 4 years on the full Turdbo setup.

Ah Neutral it is for another month or so until I get the next instalment from 5Star and can run 2nd gen off.

Catch ya later from the dry n dusty Scenic Rim :greetings-waveyellow: :greetings-waveyellow: :greetings-waveyellow:

I have a Boka being paid-off piecemeal from Andrew. Hopefully I will have it in a few weeks. It will be the gin counterpart to the "Drunk Pelican," I am constructing here.

I have settled on the name. "The Gin Genie."

Shano

Looking forward to hearing about the adventures of "the Gin Genie".
Cheers
Carol