New 2" pot build - first run & observations

Pot still design and discussion

Re: New 2" pot build - first run & observations

Postby hillzabilly » Tue Jul 18, 2017 6:49 pm

One other thing,I am not a fan of bulldog clips to retain lids x_x ,you could get 4-6 latchs would be more safe and solid ,is that a silicone seal ?.Something like this available from HBS that sell the boil a beer boiler,or possibly at the big green shed.cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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hillzabilly
 
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equipment: 10 gallon OZARK pot still ,2inch and 3inch Nixon Stone coloum stills ,10 and 18 gal beer keg boilers,5gal thumper keg.And the one and only 4" Five Star Southern Cross .

Re: New 2" pot build - first run & observations

Postby drinkandibuildthings » Wed Jun 10, 2020 9:38 pm

oglennyboy wrote:Gday, I have a spanking new 2" copper column fitted to my 48 litre home brew urn, voltage regulator and 1m x 3/4" over 1/2" condenser, and today I did my first sacrificial run in preparation for stripping 75 litres of Teddy's FFV.
I've got some numbers below, and would be interested in comments on the results, it didn't really fit with what I was expecting from some of the calculators, so wonder what to expect from the run tomorrow. Am I gonna need a bigger boat ;)

A pic of the vinegar run below, turns out a 2,500W urn from ebay is actually rated at 220V, so the 240V supply boots that sucker up to nearly 3,000W when considering the 19 ohms impedance measured. :roll: No wonder my beer runs were always out on the evaporation!

IMG_4192.JPG

20-odd brews with this urn, no problems at all, nothing ever got hot that shouldn't've, so there's some small tip o' the hat to the poor buggers in the Chinese factory I guess. Feel comfortable that with the voltage reg it won't run for as long at full bore so the longer spirit runs should be less stress on everything.

Today I ran a couple of cheapo cask wines through for the sacrificial clean, ended up with 12.5 litres at about 7% in the urn (starting water to cover the elements) which produced 2.7 litres at 30%. 50 minutes run time in total.
The 5 minute splits were about 200ml at 40-48% at 1,700W (for the first 20 mins, mucking around with the controller), then on cranking it up to 2,650W for the remainder, which produced 300ml every 5 minutes, dropping from 38% down to 26%. The last 15 minutes had a spike to 380ml, then dropping volume and strength as expected (380ml @ 20%, 295ml @ 16%, 260ml @ 10%).

its unlikely that you will actually have 240 volt under load unless your house is straight of a large transformer 230 is what is aimed for these days and it is acceptable for up to 5 % less


A pic of the condenser, running 2 litres/min for the first 20mins, then 4 litres/min for the remainder. All the distillate came out at 20 degrees, gotta love Tassie water in the winter!
I had a strange noise like the roaring of a gas burner from the condenser towards the end, but no vapour escaping. Is this the huffing or train symptom I've seen in posts?

IMG_4196.JPG

That's not vapour in the jar, just the joy of a basement at 10 degrees!

Keen as for tomorrows strip, 3 lots of 25 litres of 11.5% to run through. I guess based on today it's going to take at least 5 hours to end up with maybe 20 litres of 30%?
Is there anything in the numbers above that seems off?
Oh and one other thing, jeez foreshots smell nice!
cheers!
drinkandibuildthings
 
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equipment: 60 litre digi boil with an alcoengine reflux iv got a potstill build in mind with a thumper

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