StillSmart

yes, just the same way, it looks like it would take ages to drill all the holes but the stainless is quite thin so it doesn't take long, I use a carbide rotary file in a drill to machine it close to the finished size.

I made the adapter for the heating element today, cut out a disc of stainless



Next I put the disc in my lathe and bored a 33mm hole through and welded the nut from the element to the disc, mounted it in the tri clamp flange and welded them together.



A view from the other side.

So, my mate was supposed to be coming round tonight to wire up the heating element for me but blew me out for a brunette with big knockers so I needed to keep myself busy with something else, so I had a go at a parrot.

I had another rummage and found some copper bits, some look quite new whilst others were 'aged' but all looked useable.
I was missing one vital part, the funnel above the tube where the alcohol meter sits, the wife had took my car so I could not simply nip in to town and buy a 28-22 reducer so I had a go at making that too.
I took some card and wrapped it around the 22mm pipe, took it off and pinched one end with my fingers and unwound the other end to make a cone, used some scissors to roughly trim to size and transfered the template onto some copper sheet.



I bent the cut sheet around a smaller 20mm bar (hoping to lessen spring back)in to the funnel shape, it needed a fair bit of tinkering with bending by hand and use of a hammer to get it to sit right, once transfered back to the 22mm pipe and some more tinkering I got a good fit



So using my new silver soldering skills gifted to me by Myles I stuck the funnel together quickly, once soldered I slid the funnel over the 22mm pipe and added a ring of solder, poked it down inside the funnel with a welding rod and added flux, after heating the pipe from under the funnel the solder began to flow, a quick dab around the outlet pipe and I was done.



From the top.



The rest was just assembly of parts.



I made a bath of citric acid and boiling water to try to get some muck off the job, did an alright job but I'll give it another go in the morning.



Just waiting for the 54-15 reducer to arrive so I can fit this to the bottom of the condensor, then I think it's ready for a cleaning run and some testing.

Is there a better way to clean the copper than citric acid, I used 250g in about a gallon.

So, how did things work out for your mate?

It's always worth poking a small bit of scrubby in the bottom of the parrot. It acts as a shock absorber when you insert the hydrometer.

Mash wrote:It's always worth poking a small bit of scrubby in the bottom of the parrot. It acts as a shock absorber when you insert the hydrometer.

Good tip thanks

@Maker do yourself one favour when you think it is ready - fill it with water.

You need to keep in mind where the liquid level will be when it is in use.

That tube on the inlet side of the parrot, where I think you are going to fit a temperature probe, looks like it is the same level as the tube inside the parrot.

If you are going to put a temperature probe in there you want to extend it so it is higher than the parrot - otherwise it will leak.

When I made this parrot (to be used with two stills) I was not thinking and had to subsequently reduce the height of the parrot body - thankfully I had enough spare length in there.

What Mash said is good advice. I broke more than one hydrometer by dropping it into the parrot.

As for cleaning copper it takes time. There are a few cheats though. For small bits you can brush on normal plumbing flux and warm it up. The flux will do its job and clean it.

Often I will mechanically clean it if it is dirty with a satin finish wheel in a bench grinder.

Citric acid works, as does vinegar, as does pool ph minus chemical.

It is worth putting in this reminder just for posterity, as you are probably familiar with this anyway.

You can produce product on your packed column at 95.6% ABV but it may not be "neutral". It will just be 95.6% alcohol and that alcohol can easily be ethanol and other alcohols.

For it to be "neutral" it needs to be ethanol and water only. Or as close as possible. In commercial Coffey type distilleries there are several columns. The first one takes it to 95.6% ABV, the others separate out the other contaminants.

It isn`t unusual to do multiple runs on a packed column if you really need to get close to neutral.

I'm definately going to use mash's idea with the scrubber, it's clever.

I had not spotted the issue with the parrot, I was planning to add it to the bottom of the condensor via a 54-15 adapter so it would be a sealed fit, to allow excess pressure and surges to escape without bobbing the meter I left the top of the 'T' fitting open so I'll just use a longer pipe in the lower section, I think as it is now it would be full of alcohol and the first surge would have shot straight up out the top of the 'T'!

As for you 'reminder just for posterity' that was a light bulb moment, something I have been pondering for a few weeks, I wondered why would people spend thousands of pounds on a still that produced the same output as a T500 but I get it now, trouble is now there are thoughts of a newer, better build...! Need to finish this one first!

Have I understood your plan correctly?


This will work - you just need to make sure that the open end of the thermo port tube is higher than the overflow point in the hydrometer.

If you connect onto the condenser just make sure that at that point there is an air path into the bottom of the condenser.

I have altered the dimensions and soldered the adapter on.



The top of the T fitting is open to vent pressure, does this all look like it will work?

Should be fine. You might get a bit of splashing out the thermo port at high product flow rates but if that happens just add a bit of tube into the top of the T.

So long as the highest liquid point on your parrot is lower than the the branch of that T you should be fine. It needs to be lower so there is an air path into the bottom of the condenser. It does not matter if the Thermo port is higher, as that should have air in the top part.

You just want to make sure that the liquid level is lower than the T or you block the air path.

I ran the cleaning run last night and ran it fairly hard, no leaks and all went well, I wanted to know how good the product condensor is and forcing steam through the parrot seemed a good idea for cleaning so I turned the product condensor off and let it belch steam for a bit, turned the condensor back on and it took about 2 seconds to fully stop the steam so it must be working very well.

Today I loaded up 25l vodkastar and a few litres of old cider, wound it up to full power and waited, I should have timed it but forgot, I guess around 45mins to start producing so turned back the power to just over half and it settled down at 84.6 degrees (measured from the very top), dumped the first 100ml and started collecting, unlike my first still this one just gave a steady stream at 70%, I collected just under 2 litres in 40 minutes which is much, much faster than my first still, I had to switch off due to an emergencie so will finish tomorrow.

Does just under 2L @ 70% in 40 minutes sound reasonable for a stripping run or am I pushing it too hard?

Maker wrote:Does just under 2L @ 70% in 40 minutes sound reasonable for a stripping run or am I pushing it too hard?

By stripping run do you mean with packing still in the column but with no water flow to the reflux condenser?

Provided you do not burn the wash you can throw as much power at it as your product condenser can cope with. You are just removing the bulk of the water out of the wash. The only thing to watch is if it foams up.

Myles wrote:

Maker wrote:Does just under 2L @ 70% in 40 minutes sound reasonable for a stripping run or am I pushing it too hard?

By stripping run do you mean with packing still in the column but with no water flow to the reflux condenser?

Provided you do not burn the wash you can throw as much power at it as your product condenser can cope with. You are just removing the bulk of the water out of the wash. The only thing to watch is if it foams up.

I removed the reflux condensor and had no packing in the column, so pot still mode I guess.

I ran the spirit run tonight, so would like some input on figures please.

The wash was 2x25L vodka star 6kg sugar washes striped to 8L@60%
The spirit run returned 800ml of heads still to be decided on and 4L of hearts @94% and 400ml of tails going down to 85% when I noticed a large bulge in the return tube from the deflag so aborted without finishing the tails.

Do the figures sound reasonable?
I'm still getting a yeasty smell that I can't live with, I have 50L of kale wash ready to start tomorrow,I hope thats the fix I need to find.