by Lexanium » Wed Mar 20, 2019 7:34 am
Im new here and this is my first post, but its good to laugh at myself and my silly mistakes.
I had made the decision to distill at night time while the kids were asleep to spend more time with the family during the day, doing a stripping run. i was well underway when i noticed i needed more water pressure for the condenser. my house is blessed and cursed with crazy water pressure, so when i turned it up, a leak started around the condenser outlet and i couldn't tighten the hose-clamp any more.
me being tired and not thinking, i decided to take it off while running the still. well as soon as i started unscrewing the hose clamp, i copped a high pressure blast of water to the face and the greenhouse i was distilling in was suddenly a shower. the water was insane, i was frantically trying to save everything from getting drenched, all the while the still is bubbling. i finally turn the water off, but then realize now the still is pumping out 80-90 degree steam with no condenser. i unplug the still and quickly try to set it all back up.
drenched in the middle of the night, outside in Melbourne weather, with an overheating still and in the mayhem i dropped my glass funnel so now im dodging glass as-well.
i eventually got back underway with some new lessons learnt. dont f with water pressure, wear shoes, and always test the condenser seals BEFORE starting.
the worst thing was i also knocked over a liter of 60% alcohol which spilt all over the ground. that was possibly the worst part.