My First Pot Still

[Magnus]

Hey all, well I finally got around to giving my still a run today... I did a soak in citric acid for a few hours yesterday and after I knocked off work this morning I did a vinegar run then gave it a hose out and followed up with a run of a sugar wash I’ve had brewing for a week and a bit… The wash consisted of about 2.5kg of sticky raw sugar from the local sugar mill which I boiled in water with some raisons then stuck in the fermenter and topped up water to 25l.
My pot still is a 30l turbo boiler I grabbed off ebay and the rest I made from copper, I connected to the boiler with a SS nipple. I’ll post some photos below. The still is nothing flash, just a very simple pot still. I looked at a lot of different designs on here and else where on the web and I come up with a design I wanted to try just to see if it worked, the main difference to most I’ve seen is the product condenser, I ended up going for a dimroth condenser for my PC. I wasn’t sure it would work because you just don’t see it being done but to my surprise it works a treat.
The product came out in a good steady stream at a rate of about 200ml/3 minutes which I think works out to roughly 4l/hour, at a max temp of 29.5C and the water coming out of the PC was cool to the touch so in my mind the PC was a success.
I got about 2.5l of product out of it which smelled and tasted like the grappa my family used to make when I was a kid, it’ll be going back through again tomorrow for a second cleanout run then I’ll toss it out.
Anyways here’s a few pics of the setup, like I said it’s not flash and my brazing is not as good as I’d like but it’s been years since I’ve picked up an oxy lolz.

Coil.




Bits and pieces.




Running.

[Doubleuj]

That's a literal take on "toothpick size stream" :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :handgestures-thumbupleft:

looks good though mate, must be good to be have it going. :handgestures-thumbupleft: cant wait to have my bubbler finished.

[Magnus]

It certainly is good to finally give it a run alright, all ive been able to do is look at it for the last week and a bit then off to work again lol

[Andy]

looks good mate.
don't see too many Dimroth condensers. i think it would be able to strip like a beast!

[bluc]

Nice work love the condenser :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Woodsy71]

Looks good mate!

Even Spiderman looked impressed 8-}

Nice work :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Magnus]

Thanks guys, I wasn't sure the condenser would be good enough but wanted to try it anyways. I must admit I was worried about it.

[Magnus]

Hey everyone, I got a quick question. My pot still.is working real well and I'm happy with the results I get but the wife has asked me to try and make her some vodka. My thoughts were to cut the colum at the top and add a RC then pack the colum with scrubbers, would this work? Would I get enough reflux?

[WTDist]

Yess, add flanges and it should work. see here

Im basically making a 2" pot/reflux and hopeful bubbler
it is possible but 2' is close and hot so take time and ask for help if needed :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Sam.]

You will get better results from making a boka head (LM) instead of a CM design.

Unless you see a bubbler in your future then a RC won't go astray :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[WTDist]

:text-+1: with sam, if you want a bubbler then maybe consider a bigger RC than 2" :think:

[Sam.]

:text-+1: with sam, if you want a bubbler then maybe consider a bigger RC than 2" :think:

:text-+1: at least 4 inch

[Magnus]

So if I keep my options open and make a 4" RC Boka head, can that then be mounted on the 2" colum and work effectively? Or would I have to go 4" all the way? Been looking at Boka's and theres not a lot of work in making one...

[WTDist]

4 " RC for a bubbler is a shotgun reflux condenser. ruffly 4" wide and at least 100mm long usually, maybe 5 or so 3/8 or 1" inner tubes. this is just from my observations but you wouldnt want a boka head on a bubbler in case you want a block head which is what i would do :handgestures-thumbupleft:

see here

[Magnus]

Thanks fellas, I'm going to do a bit more reading and thinking before I proceed any further. It might be that I'm better off in the long run if I start building some modules that can be interchanged.

[InglisHill]

Mate, that thing would knock down an elephant at 400 yds.

[Magnus]

Thanks. It works very well alright and yeah the condenser knocks down the vapour real well too. I'm happy with it.