NIXON STONE 2' COLUMN

[ANTONY]

HI All
Names Antony
Is there anyone out there with a NIXON STONE 2 inch still? Offset head
Im a total newby with this thing .
there is SS mesh (SCRUBBER) inside the column?
I have a 2400 w element heating it with a controller on a 50 lt keg .
Any info would really really help me .
Cheers
Antony

[RC Al]

Yes it will need packing to work.

Its a liquid management still, have a look at how to run a boka, its a similar sort of thing.

[ANTONY]

Hi RC AL
Cool . Thanks for that info.
I ran a ''Test'' wash through yesterday . 22 liters and got roughly 3.5 liters before I stopped as I had a a Doctors appointment .
It ran fine after first dicking around with water and controller . But once it started running it went smoothly . since it was 10 c in the shed I used very little water to cool .
My Temperature gauge said 82c but iI have a feeling its out about 5 degs ? And I did read some where that these Nixon Stones like to be run warmer than others?
I will do another one next week . And i left the scrubber in it.
Cheers

[RC Al]

Ummm.... "The" scrubber?

The whole column under the reflux return needs to be paked with many scrubbers.

Note your temps, but dont use others numbers to run it.. It will change by wash. More to the point worry about when it changes temp.

[howard]

i watched the video.........https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpZdQrvLYCw
they packed the column with copper scrubbies/mesh and insulated the column, both good ideas.
i have a solid piece of neoprene pipe insulation i pull over over my 2" column.
i believe 100% copper scrubbies can be hard to find, but i use copper mesh.
a 500gm roll of mesh, 100mm wide mesh, is about 9m long.
cut the 9m into 4 x 2.25m lengths, rolled up, these 2.25m lengths fit tightly into my 2" column (but not too tight obv)
don't worry too much about temps, you do not control them.
worry more about the distillate output speed by using the power controller.

[ANTONY]

Scrubbers .
Im looking for copper mesh like Howard pointed out . At the mom I have a 1 large scrubber(?) course SS mesh packed into it.
Biggest problem I found was keep a consistent temp. When it found the ''sweet spot'' it ran great . I found running the element at about 180 v ( through the controller )after it was simmering and not much water at all . But it is cold down here 10 c .
I am going to try again next week and see what happens .I miss my old pot still as it was so easy to run. .
Thanks all of you for the help.
Antony

[The Stig]

We have copper mesh , just had 50kg landed

[ANTONY]

Andrew.
Thanks for that.
At the moment I have a sheet of thin copper from my SSB Radio on my yacht It was used as a earth on the radio. I have crumpled it up and it looks good. if it doesnt work Ill get back to you .
Keep up the good work . Cheers
Antony

[ANTONY]

Howard .
Im not good with PC's but let me know if this helps . As you can see I have SS scrubber thingy and also cooper which i will try . Green hose is the outlet And thats the controller .
Not sure if this needs to be a PM .
Cheers
Antony .

[howard]

TBH i'm sort of confused as to how to run that still.
the green hose is the water feed in?
the white tube is the water out?
i hope other more experienced guys can guide you.
i think if the main column is the RC (where the green hose goes in) you would need to add another packed column underneath if you want to reflux properly.
also the water is best controlled separately for RC & PC, how does the water flow through the still?

[warramungas]

Isnt that a 'Cranky' still? Forgive me if thats not the right wording.
Also, is that a nixon stone or a vapor management still? It looks like a VM to me.
Cold water should go in the pc and out the other end.. well thats how Id run it anyway because Id want cold product.
Ive not seen one in the flesh but i believe the water goes through a coil in the PC then another coil for the RC then out the bottom again.
You could probably help there Antony with what youcan see when its apart.
If it is as i suspect and has a tube running down its length it will make it difficult to put rolls into the column which is what you really want for ideal conditions however stainless scrubbers will do too if you can find them. The tube will also create a vapor path between itself and the pipe wall which will reduce the effeciency as well.
I meddled with trying to make a tidy fully self contained unit when iwas still messing with two inch copper but it got too hard in the end and i went 4".
If your pulling at 82 degrees then its not going to be high purity. Certainly that is a short column too. If you dont have an alcohol hydrometer you really need to get one as they are invaluable tools that tell you exactly how youre going.
Can check the thermometers accuracy next time you boil the kettle.
Looking at it that would be a difficult still to settle down.
Cheers,
Warra

[warramungas]

Oh. After i slept on it i forgot to mention your copper 'sheet' is probably not going to do you a lot of good compared to scrubbers. The surface area isnt as high as scrubbers and its more likely to create channels however its gotta be better than nothing. If youve got scrubbers though Id use them.

[ANTONY]

GENTLEMAN .
Wrote a long reply , saved it in drafts and its gone now,so again .
Questions first .
white line is in flow
green line is out flow. .
My thermometer is about half) of a degree C out so its more or less on the mark Boiling water is 100c it shows 99.50 .
BUT when I was distilling at 81-82 it ran out at a very small steady flow . When I cooled it down , it stopped running immediately .Temp dropped fast to 75 . nothing came out ??
I found I was using very little water for cooling use a alcohol meter. I have a beer wine hydrometer but its for beer wine ? Some thing Im missing ?
Now youve got me worried as to the ''purity'' of the end product .
I cannot see anything up the column where the ''scrubbies'' go .(Love that word). ,when i dismantle it. I imagine there is a thin coil of tubing within the jacket.
Mybe its not a reflux still? But a VM stille?
Ive used my Pot Still for years and this is my first foray into the present day. So bear with me . I appreciate any help and so far its been a fantastic response from
you all.
I hope this helps
Antony

[ANTONY]

Hi Rc AL
Antony here with the Nixon Stone??
Been getting ""better " results on my still . Still dont know what it is though.
I am Trying to get away from Turbo. So Tried some Lowans yeast 100 gms and 6 kls sugar after 2 days it went South, meaning it stopped! My Hydrometer reading is 40 or 117% not very much . Anyone have any ideas,as it seems some people use Lowans with good results .
Thanks for all the help.
Antony

[Wellsy]

How much water was it mixed with mate and what was the temperature of the wash.
Did you check the ph of the water. Lots of reasons a wash can stall.

[RC Al]

Have you added any more packing? Without seeing whats going on in there, its hard to know what to recommend, +1 on the crumpled sheet doing little for you though.

Did you use any nutrients for the yeast?

[ANTONY]

Thank you both for the replys .
No I did not check the ph. on my tank water .
Yes the column ids stuffed with copper " scrubbies''''
The wash was around 28-32 c 22... liters water 6 kls sugar .
No nutrients were added . I have used tomato paste befor but it just seems ''wrong'' as a hate ketchup !
Stig sed add weet bix ??
I rehydrated 4 lters water sugar yeast which worked fine.
Ill run it through tomorrow but Im not holding out any great hopes of perfection.
It would seem a shame to ditch all that sugar and effort.
Hey Guys . Thank you .
Its really appreciated.
Antony

[The Stig]

No nutrients were added . I have used tomato paste befor but it just seems ''wrong'' as a hate ketchup !
Stig sed add weet bix ??

Did you add the weet-bix ?
If not, thats why she stalled, the yeast has nothing to eat and just died off.
You can bring this back to life, add the weet-bix or tomato past and more yeast and she will come back.

[ANTONY]

Hey Stig .
Im on my way to the IGA (good first verse for a song)
to get Tomato paste and weet bix and give it a whirl.
Cheers mate

[The Stig]

You only need 1 or the other not both :handgestures-thumbupleft: