StillSmart

A nice meet up with Icefever and his beloved yesterday.

Very pleased having brought the milk can boiler off him (shiny, shiny ).

So all I have to do now is to work out how I decipher the still dragon website so I know what I need to get so I can use it.

Shame they seem to have it set up like a showroom but with no link to, say, something like exploded diagrams etc.

After all, it'd be better to show how it all goes together, than the same similar pics just in different sizes. Plus the descriptions aren't as clear as they could be....

I'd imagine the learning curve will be a steep one, but new gear is always exciting.

Nice one.

Have to agree with you. I fancied since stuff years ago from SD but was put off.

I wonder if Anavrin has written a phrase book

The problem, is decyphering their website. "Modular"? fine I get that, but it's set out more like a showroom of parts and not a lot detail about the small bits I might need.

It's likely to take me a good few hours just to work out what I need.

The best thing about the site is the blog and forums. They seem to have done some short video clips which should various bits working. Equally there's bits that don't make immediate sense.

Like they use the term dephlegmator (think that's how it's spelled), which seems to be a shot gun condenser, but rather that sitting across the top of a column, it's in the line of the vapour path. I'm presuming that it's something to do with refluxing some of the vapour back down to bubble plates. But also, it seems that they use the same thing but then call it the product condenser........

I'm thinking I'll stay cheap initially and just get the adaptor so I can put a pot still head on the boiler.

Then I can't decide whether I prefer a standard baby dragon (the 2 x 2.5 inch one) looks favourite, cost and ability-wise, or the same as a crystal dragon format. I haven't worked out whether you buy a specific model that comes with X amount of plates then have to buy extra plate sections......

As I say, it's gonna take me a bit longer to work out what I need, but then the master plan would be to switch over to their kit (much more expensive than still spirits but it does seem much better quality and better made)............

Hi Phantom

Glad you met up with Mr & Mrs Ice, nice guy, and he did his best to get me drunk when I met him lol, shame I missed Robert by a day or two.

I happen to have a few SD spare parts kicking around, including a 6 section 2.5” baby CD, it has the plates but it’s missing the pro caps as I used them in my 4” column, also have the big baby deflagmator, it’s a perfect size to use with the 2.5” baby CD, also have a 4”-2” adapter and a few spare 2” trickamps, seals etc.

The Deflag’s are reflux condensers and have large 16mm pipes through them, the big baby one has 3x16mm pipes in a 2” section to allow some Vapour to pass as required, or full reflux if you increase the cooling, the longer product condensers have smaller 10mm pipes and more of them, think my long 2” product condenser has 5 or 6 10mm pipes through it.

I’ll Sort our what I’ve got, I’d don’t use them anymore so I could sort out a good price if your interested.

I’ve just had a look at the milk can on the SD website, you will need

An Element Guard Kit, this enables an element with a 1” BSP thread to be fitted in the 2” port for the heater.

A 3/4” cap or tap with a 3/4” tri-clamp and seal for the lower drain port.

Then for the two 2” tri-clamp ports on top, I would blank one off with a cap and put a sight glass on the other so you can see into your boiler.

Then use a 4”- 2” adapter for a 2” column or spend big bucks on a 4” column!!

Mr and Mrs Ice are the best.
You got Mates rate, without paying over the odds!
Beautiful.
Anavrin seems to have filled in the missing pieces.
A smart cookie, such as yourself should be able to take it from there.
A personal Merry chrimbo to you.

Robert.

Merry Christmas chaps.

A wee dram, a figgy pudding and a still project. Perfect holiday. Enjoy.

Milk cans though .....Mmmmmmmmm. Shiney!

H12rpo wrote:Milk cans though .....Mmmmmmmmm. Shiney!

Indeed.

Looking forward to having a bit of a play in the fullness of time......

You know the rules Phantom, pics or it didn’t happen !

Anavrin wrote:I’ve just had a look at the milk can on the SD website, you will need

An Element Guard Kit, this enables an element with a 1” BSP thread to be fitted in the 2” port for the heater.

A 3/4” cap or tap with a 3/4” tri-clamp and seal for the lower drain port.

Then for the two 2” tri-clamp ports on top, I would blank one off with a cap and put a sight glass on the other so you can see into your boiler.

Then use a 4”- 2” adapter for a 2” column or spend big bucks on a 4” column!!

Only thing it doesn't already have is the 4" to 2" converter, well that's as far as I can tell. But my repeated visit to the SD site is bringing out the indecisive fool in me. I could go to a pot still fit straight away, or to a 2+2.5 baby dragon type thing, but then I see the copper ferrules that will take a 54mm pipe, which I could just as easily make wider with a 54 to whatever expanding piece (can't remember the next size up) but then have a packed reflux section (someone was offering either stainless or copper SPP last week), then straight into a leibig or some such.......

Damn! I know how all this is "supposed" to work, but why is it filling my head with "what if" questions ? Aaaarrrrggggggghhhhhh!

Hell, even getting the picture below swung across from my damn phone has been an effort.........

H12rpo wrote:You know the rules Phantom, pics or it didn’t happen !

There you go.........

Phwoaaar! Is that a 10 gallon ?

Hi Phantom

Looks like you’ve already got all the bits to fill the extra holes :-)

I’ve got a spare 4”-2” adapter, also I’ve actually got a 3” column, with a specially adapted 4” ferrule to connect to the boiler on the bottom, it was my last copper project, it has space for about 1 meter of packing, then a 2” copper tri lamp ferrule on the side for connecting a VM takeoff and a monster triple wound reflux coil at the top, only used a couple of times, I’ll dig out some pics and add them to this post.

That 3” column It’s actually a bit of a beast lol, I couldn’t find a tape measure but it up to my chin from the floor, you can see it next to my big still in one of the pics.

For the boiler connection I bought a brass 4” tri-clamp ferrule, a copper 4”-3” reducer and had each part machined so they fitted inside each other and could be soldered.

Just out of interest, how long is that 4” pipe on top of your boiler? If it’s 200mm I’d swap it for a 4”-2” reducer if you wanted.