Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

The boiler I have is pretty much a 30lt stock pot that has a fairly average (rubbish) "silicon" gasket that clips on the rim of the stock pot. When it's cold it seems like it seals fine but as things heat up it's not such a good seal (in fact when using a thumper the back pressure was enough to pop the seal and that wasn't fun).

Is there any suggestions on where to get a reasonable gasket to seal a 30cm pot, the only thing that comes up on the searches are pressure cooker seals and only 28cm diameter (and mostly Chinese/unknown origin). There are four clips on the pot that holds the lid on so I need something flexible enough and thik enough to adjust to the gap as it heats up. There's nowhere to apply a flour paste I an really looking for a gasket of some type. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks

one thought would be to go to a bearing shop and buy a length of O-ring rubber and bottle of blue prism to glue the rubber on the lid, I did that with my first boiler and it worked a treat

I would avoid rubber, unless its edpm or genuine viton, normal generic rubber is on the naughty list for good reason.

Possibly you could wrap some ptfe tape around the seal to thicken it and hopefully seal better.

I got some 15mm EPDM round sponge cord, cut to length, glued with the right loctite and it has worked perfectly ever since.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12348433301 ... ctupt=true

RC Al wrote:I would avoid rubber, unless its edpm or genuine viton, normal generic rubber is on the naughty list for good reason.

Possibly you could wrap some ptfe tape around the seal to thicken it and hopefully seal better.

Yep I did use a viton O-ring as I was using viton seals all the time at work when I was repairing gearbox's and normal rubber o-rings are good for about a year before the rubber dries out and becomes brittle.

My recommendation would be to buy a decant boiler , hell even a turbo boiler will be better

The Stig wrote:My recommendation would be to buy a decant boiler , hell even a turbo boiler will be better

Sadly I have two birko boilers and a Brewzilla but didn't take that path, now slightly regretting earlier decisions. I'm sure you veterans see this all the time and get a giggle (or pull out your hair). :angry-banghead:

You could buy a sheet of silicon or ptfe (Teflon) online and cut out a ring?
Another option might be silicon or ptfe tube, cutting it down one side lengthways and fitting it over the lip of your lid or boiler.
I don't know if silicon is OK in the boiler???
If you go in the ptfe direction, don't plan on glueing it to anything. The only glue I've heard of that will work probably costs more than your boiler.

JeremyF wrote:

The Stig wrote:My recommendation would be to buy a decant boiler , hell even a turbo boiler will be better

Sadly I have two birko boilers and a Brewzilla but didn't take that path, now slightly regretting earlier decisions. I'm sure you veterans see this all the time and get a giggle (or pull out your hair). :angry-banghead:

Don’t beat yourself up mate, we certainly aren’t. We all took different paths to get here and we are all at different points. Many may well be suggesting an option other than the one you are looking at because they tried without luck to do what you are trying to do, or were successful but the paging about simply was not worth it. Others are giving you options for what you are doing. At the end of the day no one will judge you on what you decide. We all do this for fun and relaxation so no need to apologise for the gear you have or the budget you are constrained by.

Could you show us a pic of the still so we have a better idea what is being dealt with

I think what I'm gong to do is make some flour/water dough make it into a sausage, run it between the lid and rim of pot to form a seal until I get to the shops to get a lid for the brewzilla.

However here are some images of the boiler/lid

We will just sit back and wait for the reports of a house fire :angry-banghead:

I dont think your taking what your doing seriously enough. Either get to the store to buy a new seal before next run or better still ditch it and get a keg made.
You aint baking scones and I dont wanna hear about you in the news ....

100% agree
This is a perfect thread on what NOT to do with high proof alcohol

Well there won't be a house fire 'cause I'm not silly enough to do this anywhere near the house and since the first attempt have come to the conclusion that without remedial action I won't be putting heat anywhere near the current setup.

Secondly I came here to ask how to fix the problem and I've seen advice on using flour paste to seal a boiler hence the suggestion to use dough to seal up the boiler, perhaps just say it's inadvisable.

I've ordered a still lid for my brewzilla so have already decided that the shit I bought is dangerous and I'll be working from there.

Thanks

The only place you would have seen flour dough being used is on Moonshiners .
Our biggest thing here is safety , we don’t want to see anybody get hurt .
Any, I’m glad you e seen the light and are heading in the right direction

Gidday Jeremy
The biggest issue with escaping vapours mate is we can’t see them, and they are highly volatile.
I am not sure if you have ever used your fores as fire starter but these also are invisible more often than not.
When you combine invisible vapour with invisible flames things can very quickly escalate.
My understanding of the early days of F1 was invisible pit fires from using high proof alcohol as fuel.
Be safe mate and maybe if your budget can not afford things take a break until you have the funds to continue. Not everything on u tube is safe and from the look of your set up to get a seal you will be fighting both gravity and pressure and will only end up with burnt fingers if you are lucky.
Please take care

Thanks Fellas

I realise that you're (we're) trying to stay safe and worry not, the last thing I want is to be a statistic on the "what not to do list".

That setup has been relegated to the "I might see if it's any good for a citrus oil steam distillation pile".

I will use the fores and any sacrificial runs for trangia fuel so I know how (in)visible spirit burners are.

I have the brezilla lid and seal and a 2" triclover fitting (feeling so much better about this already), now I'm taking my time to get some copper bits and pieces to build a decent 2" column still.