finally succumed...t500 to Pot

[mark-gabb]

hey guys....
been silent for a few months now...had to move house, and all that jazz....only just now got enough room in shed to get everything working....
but its all in a new place, so my original planned still isn't going to work

plan 2.....Pot still

i already have a load of TPW and CFW down and bubbling away nicely getting ready for this one

so i have a t500 boiler and I'm thinking since i basically only drink bourbon, i might as well go for it and go for a pot still as i think this might be within my skill level

so my thoughts so far are to go with a 600-800 high column

but im unsure about the condenser...i would like to keep it as short as possible....
but obviously it needs to be long enough to do its job....
ive got an inline voltage controller on the way off ebay as recommended recently, which ill mod into the base of boiler and then maybe test and put a few marks around it to denote what wattage it is to make my life easier

i guess my main questions are, is there a required height for the main column?
is there a specific type of condenser i should use to get it short enough...looking for under 300-400
any other quirks of a pot still i should take into account?


thanks everyone, you are what has kept me going at this hobby over the last year

[Zak Griffin]

A 500mm long 2" shotgun condenser will knock down everything that your t500 boiler can throw at it :)

[mark-gabb]

Hey Zak

Still struggling with my terms and measures here


So 2inch external pipe?
So would that be 4 or 5 1/4 inch internal pipes?
I'm thinking 3 inch main column....

[WTDist]

Hey Zak

Still struggling with my terms and measures here


So 2inch external pipe?
So would that be 4 or 5 1/4 inch internal pipes?
I'm thinking 3 inch main column....

That will be 5 1/2" tubes inside 2"

[mark-gabb]

And this is exactly why I ask...
I'm a sys admin.... I suck at imperial measure

Just confuses me

[WTDist]

lol ok. 5 * 12.7mm tubes inside 50.8mm pipe :laughing-rolling:

With such a long column in your plan you could add a RC if doing 3". faster nuetrals and a T500 will handle a 3" bubbler. if you want to upgrade a pot to bubbler later. Having an RC will make it easier, especially having the shotgun already to

[mark-gabb]

Ok so just been to plumbing supply to get prices in case therefore parts I can't get elsewhere

Is there a difference when it comes to building stills between annealed pipe and hard drawn copper tube?

[WTDist]

you want hard drawn for everything you dont want to bend. anneal is soft, i annealed 2" the other day and it opened up with just my hands flat. i was amazed how well i annealed it :))

[Wobblyboot]

Just build a simple pot with liebig on a 50l keg. Heat it with gas or elements, either is good, as its better than what u have now, because if u love this hobby, u WILL want a bubbler later, don't spend too much now as its all gunna be obsolete later unless u know u have the skills to build a bubbler like the 1's in the fsd store.

[mark-gabb]

WB

Fair point. But I find this is how I learn the subtle part

Had a chat to plumber mate when I got home. He has a ton of copper bits and pieces I can have for free
So it's not really about cost.... It's something that gets me out from sitting on the couch

WD.
So basically annealed for any parts I want to build flanges for?

[WTDist]

yea, annealed 1/4" for flanges but it takes about 1 min to anneal 1m of 1/4" or so it did for me yesterday with a map torch on maybe half flow. Even if its not annealed you can do this yourself. once it starts looking like a rainbow is following the flame and copper turns grey its good. maybe not grey but a burnt look :think:

[mark-gabb]

Ok so 3 inch column up to elbow, going to make flange after the elbow so I can swing arm the condenser, then the short shotty 2 inch....

Will draw it up latter on so I'm sure I know what I'm doing?