StillSmart

hi,
ie had an airstill for around 4 months now& im thinking of getting something bigger, whilst i dont want to buy a t500, im after a homemade pot still maybe? has anyone got one for sale or could make me one?it would be great o start some bigger washes away, im based in co.durham, thanks lads,
kev

I'll be starting a pot/reflux build in a week or 2. Going to try and keep it dead simple so it can be copied.

I've built about 4 pot stills but the last was 15 years ago and I didn't know about heads, tails or brass. So I'm a novice when it comes to building a still properly.

I'll be asking for assurance every step of the way. Kinda curious as to how good a still can be with minimal building skills.

Handiest build is a stainless steel beer keg conversion but you need someone who can weld stainless steel for the few bits of welding on the keg.

You can build the pot head easy. This is a pic of the parts I used for mine...



A is a 2" X 90o Elbow. B is a 2" X 1" Reducer. C is piece of 1" pipe. D is a 1" Coupler and E is a 1" X 1/2" Reducer. The Liebig condenser is connected to C.
The whole thing looks like this when I finished it - with it's insulation coat on.



Believe me if I was able to do this so can you and if you need any help about parts etc, give me a shout.

AM

Got me curious now Aidan.

What's the heat source ?

How did you flange the vertical pipe to the keg ?

I'm asking, because I'm still collecting parts and looking at various designs etc. I've got a keg, but don't want to start cutting into it unless I have a proper idea of how to progress, as it would be hard to get another one.

Plus some of the larger bore piping is only available in 3 metre lengths, so a decent plan and ideas are necessary to keep the cost down.

Cheers
P!

Hi P

The heat source is an 11" 2Kw Copper Element with a 1.25" Boss like this...


..this is connected into the keg by welding a 1.25" stainless steel connector into the side wall of the keg. This is the type of connector I used...


The riser on my pot is 2" copper and the small plumbing shop I got mine from were happy to cut what I needed. The connection between the riser and keg is made using stainless steel ferrules like this...


The 2" stainless steel ferrules fit inside the copper pipe and must be silver soldered resulting in a fitting like this...


The same type of ferrule needs to be welded to the opening in the top of the keg and they are then connected with Tri-Clamps and EPDM gaskets like these...


The connection is very neat and completely stable, even with a high VM column & head


I recently made a new pot head with a ferrule fitted to the elbow and another to the top of the riser. This makes cleaning and storage much easier.


I also installed a dial thermometer in the keg so I'd know when to turn on the water to the condenser...

...the insulation material is called Armaflex and it's brilliant stuff if you can get it.

Here's a pic of my keg in the nude so you can see where I put the different parts...


If you need anything else just give me a shout.

AM

Excellent, TVM for that.

I'll just have to locate the element and mounting boss/connector to that.

The drain tap is a master stroke - I certainly hadn't thought of that one, or the legs to lift the keg up.

The stainless ferrule and tri-clamp arrangement is right up my street, as it would allow me to have a multi-use boiler, with different heads i.e. pot, reflux, etc etc >:D

I could do the work, but I don't have the kit, especially the welding kit - but I think I've found a tame professional welder who does....

Where did the mounting boss/connector for the heater come from ?

I seem to recall seeing the tri-clamp and ferrule(s) somewhere, but can't for the life of me remember where. Or the seal for that matter......

Ha ha! it might just be the extra info you've posted but damn, it makes me feel like a giddy kid who's about to try "fast roping" for the first time....... even though I'm still some distance from having a functional keg still!

I get all my stainless supplies for a company called Steel Pipeline Supplies LTD (www.spsirl.ie) They're an established company that supply stainless valves, pipe fittings and pipelines to the food industry and specifically Dairy products, beverages, canning, etc. They're a great company because they'll send you a single article if you want - no minimum orders.

Over here the Ferrules cost Euro 3.50, the Tri-Clamps cost Euro 7.00 and the EPDM gaskets cost Euro 1.50. For each joint you'll need two ferrules, two gaskets and one Tri-Clamp costing a total of Euro 17.00 - pretty cheap for what they do.

I was stumped last year until I found my new best friend who has a professional engineering workshop at his house where he runs his business. He does my work for a few bottles of my Bourbon.

AM

@ phantom, I did mine the same way, except I had the welder tig the TC ferrule onto the SS tube. As Aiden said, the connection to the keg is rock solid.

I also used a stainless full socket (like Aiden did) for the element. But I opted for the 2 1/4" so you could fit the standard hot water tank elements, that are cheap and cheerful.
I bent a long element in 2, to use for the cleaning run. The new element is still in the box unused and I've done dozens of runs with it.

Using the 2 1/4" on the keg I had did mean I was limited to where it could be fitted due the the ridges on the keg. Its a little higher than I'd like, and means it takes 11 litres to cover it. Not a problem when stripping, or pot stilling a load of low wines, but means small experimental batches could be tricky, so i still use the T500 boiler for these.

Some places to check out for bits and bobs

http://www.bes.co.uk/
http://www.valves-online.co.uk/
http://www.zx55.com/

I changed my VM column to stainless as the copper pipe got damaged, although I kept the VM head. The SS ferrules are the same size as the 2" dairy pipe and my new friend showed me a real easy way to Silver Solder the ferrules to the pipe.

Clean & flux the ferrule then, with the butt weld face facing upward, as in the pic, start applying heat with a MAPP gas torch - I got one for about £30 - and when the flux runs apply the silver solder to the joint face and make sure you get a coating all round the edge. See pic..


Do this with each ferrule you want to join to a pipe. When you've done all the ferrules you need prepare the pipe ends which must be perfectly square. Clean and flux each one. When you're ready to join them stand a ferrule with the Silver Soldered surface facing up, as above, and stand the pipe on top ensuring a perfect position and alignment.

Provided they're on a level surface the pipe should stand without any support. Then you simply apply heat to the pipe and ferrule equally and wait until you see the silver solder flow in the joint and work around the joint without disturbing the pieces until you've seen a flow of solder all round.

Each joint took me 10 minutes and I'm just sorry I didn't think to video it and put if up on facebook but if my foresight was as accurate as my hindsight I'd be a Billionaire.

AM

That's a great tip, will have to give that a go. I've tried braising with a mapp and couldn't get enough heat in to the work for it to take.
Out of interest what silver solder are you using?

Hi AM

just looking at your earlier post and the armaflex you used, which is just what I have been looking for

I found this on e bay didnt look too bad a price

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/20057924 ... adtype=pla

What thickness of insulation did you use ?

The rods I used were 1.5mm, 45% silver, 55% Tin, well within the Mapp temp range.

AM

AT, the Armaflex I got was 1mt wide and 25mm thick. I got a piece 1.5mt long to cover around the keg plus the top and bottom. It was 26 Euro a sq metre here but I got the piece I needed for 30 Euros.

The Armaflex will mold itself to the shape of the keg once heat is applied and I used three Velcro straps to hold it in place initially. I also used tape to seal the join but made a stupid mistake first time when I used standard Duct Tape. The join is the only place where any heat gets out and it melted the adhesive on the tape.

To solve the problem I covered the join with a wad of tin foil and I got some wide tape that is temperature resistant and its been perfect since. Unfortunately I've no idea of the tape name or brand.

AM

Cheers Aidan thanks for the info will get some ordered

BTW just realised this is my first birthday on stilsmart ! have learnt a hell of a lot from this site over 12 months thanks guys

Let me be the first...Happy Distiller's Birthday

AM