Air still boiling over

[bumblebee]

I tried running a birdwatchers wash that I made with molasses and white sugar. During the distillation today it boiled over my air still.I researched some online and found to use distillers conditioner and ceramic boil enhancers. I have ran 6 or so 25 liter turbo washes and never had this happen before. Will these products help?

[Benoit]

Conditioner will help but you could use butter which will be cheaper & probably already in your fridge. Boil enhancers will also help and again, save your money & get rooting through your wallet / copper jar / kids piggy banks for old non magnetic 1p or 2p coins. Give them a clean, about a handful should do & chuck them in.
You have the bonus of adding copper to the process to remove some sulphur compounds from your product and you can probably fix your issue without leaving the house. If you have no pennies then I flattened some pipe off cuts with a hammer & tin snipped them into thumbnail sized pieces which went in with the pennies I had available

[Mash]

Coinage. That's it.

[bumblebee]

Roughly how much butter? Would plain copper plumbing pipe work? Should I sand the pipe clean? How much copper would I need?

[Benoit]

What ever just covers the bottom, I think with an airstill it's roughly a handful / closed fists worth. Anything solid copper will do you the job, pipe will do if that's what you have. Just hit it flat so there is good surface area contact with the bottom of the still. Sanding might be overkill, a soak in citric acid or even coke for a few hours would do it.
As for the butter, with the copper in you may find you don't need it and that would be my first experiment. If it still foams out with the copper in the I'd suggest starting with a teaspoon worth & work up until you're happy

[hampk]

Ok, my understanding of this..

The copper/ceramic/why in the bottom of the still prevent a surge boil - a superheated bubble that can lead to explosive results.

Butter/oil/conditioner is about preventing foaming at the top of the still, which can lead to a puke/ boil over.

Two different things that lead to similar results.

IMHO, always have copper/ceramic whatever's in the still - you can hear the difference - little bubbly noises verses the volcanic eruptions. Conditioners - up to you, depends how well your degassing process works. Some here will swear by a conditioner, some never use them - each to their own, and I chuck a capful or two in just to be safe.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Hampk

[Easydrinker]

Ok, my understanding of this..

The copper/ceramic/why in the bottom of the still prevent a surge boil - a superheated bubble that can lead to explosive results.

Butter/oil/conditioner is about preventing foaming at the top of the still, which can lead to a puke/ boil over.

Two different things that lead to similar results.

IMHO, always have copper/ceramic whatever's in the still - you can hear the difference - little bubbly noises verses the volcanic eruptions. Conditioners - up to you, depends how well your degassing process works. Some here will swear by a conditioner, some never use them - each to their own, and I chuck a capful or two in just to be safe.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Hampk

So nicely stated,The man says it all really.

Robert.

[Mash]

Bang on hampk. Sorry if I was brief - we have soooooo many threads on this subject.

[Dynamic]

Boil enhancers will also help and again, save your money & get rooting through your wallet / copper jar / kids piggy banks for old non magnetic 1p or 2p coins. Give them a clean, about a handful should do & chuck them in.

I suppose copper Euros are also good. enormously useful tip Benoit, thank you, this "saves" me some money, lol...

[Benoit]

I think the Euro coins are copper plated mate, try them with a magnet & if they stick then go for bits of hammered pipe or copper washers

[Dynamic]

Oke they are megnetic.
I'm going to use short pieces of copper wires.

[Benoit]

Surface area contact is the key, flat things are better. If it's of a decent thickness then give it a whack with a hammer on a flat surface

[Easydrinker]

Oke they are megnetic.
I'm going to use short pieces of copper wires.

If you can get hold of old electrical wiring and strip the plastic insulation, then coil up 30cm lengths, then a few of those may be all that you need.

Robert.

[RumJohn]

I throw a SS pot scrubber into the boiler on a spirit run, to prevent flash boiling. Probably all you need.

[Dynamic]

@ED: exactly my thought!

16 pieces, is that be enough for an air/smartstill?