StillSmart

YHB wrote:Lots of relays in the type that you describe from the same place that I ordered my other bits from and many more from other similar suppliers in HK/PRC - all about a tenner. But they all appear to be limited to 5Amps.

Ah right, your getting the type that is potentiometer controller, I use the power controlled type, so the relay would kill the control signal on the low amp circuit. You may just want to get a beefy mechanical relay that would be able to handle the switching, and use a small pcb timer relay that can switch a small load to work the control on that. I'll send you some links to some things.

YHB wrote:Does the probe on your mid column thermo-well have a drip shield or is it just pushed into the packing?

I missed that - at the mo its just in the packing - I've tried it both ways though - with the drip shield it reads a little higher than 78oC on the hearts - without it stabilises at 77.7oC most runs (I call it lucky number 7)

I guess its lower without the shield due to being in contact with the flowing condensed distillate - but its further down the column so there only appears to be 0.5oC of a temp difference when it's only in contact with vapour.
I was having trouble with the shield, so I stopped using it - the thing is the temp is stable during hearts - so I use the thermometer as an indication of change rather than looking to hit a certain temp - so it works either way.
this might not be the case if in the T section, as the distillate will be cooler.

deleted - will try again tomorrow

I thought my last post made sense when I wrote it - posted it and it suddenly changed to incomprehensible gobeldegook so I deleted it. Now I cannot remember what it was I wanted to say.

My bits have arrived for my power controller - Ordered them on the evening of 8/2/12 arrived morning 13/2/12 very impressive and this was the "free" slow delivery option, cetrainly not worth paying for express service.

Highly recommended http://www.sourcingmap.com I hope the products are as good as the delivery.

Almost there. My 50Lt Keg Boiler for my Pot Still is just finished pre-commissioning trials and everything went smoothly - strangely enough!

Here's a few pics of the progress so far;


This is my Power Controller. It consists of a solid state relay with a heat sink attached, a potentiometer (the knob) and a 220v cooling fan. The box is made of wood and when I went to buy a tiny tin of gloss paint blue or yellow were all they had in really small tins - relax Brian!


The fittings added to the keg include a 1.5" SS socket for the element and a SS Elbow fitted in the bottom of the keg for full drainage and a SS Lever Valve. The three legs were added before I decided to mount the still on a wheeled platform for ease of moving it around if/when necessary.


This is the keg connected up on its maiden voyage boiling just water to test the controller and element. Everything went without a hitch. Happy Camper!

When the water reached boiling I turned the power off and went to draw off some of the water to wash out a bucket and was quite surprised that the water was cold, not cool but actually cold. This water would have been in the small space just below the element and I drew off 4Lts before hot water started to run from the tap.

I won't get back to the still until next Thursday due to other commitments but I have a thin wash waiting for the first run to get under way. I finally feel that I'm getting somewhere with this build as there's now light at the end of the tunnel and it's not an oncoming train this time.

AM

Two projects succesfully completed in one weekend - bloody good going mate, I am really pleased for you.

I love your clip board - you are truely one for practical details.

Nearly finished...



The insulation material is 25mm Armaflex.

AM

Wow most impressive

Are you planning to use the lawn mower to make the cuts

I'm retired, I don't know anything about that machine - that's what we had 2 sons for.

AM

That looks awesome.

The whole set up just seems so workable, it cannot fail to be anything but great.

Love the insulation.

The insul on the riser of my Pot Still was originally standard foam pipe insulation. That material turn out to be completely unsuitable for the purpose so I've upgraded to a serious product.

This pipe insulation is designed to be used with hot pipes and the material proved itself on its maiden run on my Pot Still when the exterior remained little more than warmish Highly recommend this type of insulation. I got 2 X 5Ft lengths for 15 Euros from a local plumbing supplies shop. Looks good too


As you can see I've also added a safety valve to the keg - just in case. Even though a Pot Still is relatively safe in that there are no valves to be accidentally left closed while the power is on, it is possible the lyne arm could get blocked or damaged leading to a buildup of pressure in the keg. This valve cost just 7 Euros.

I also fitted my liebig with transparent heat resistant PVC hose as the garden hose I had been using just collapsed if the water even got warm.



My final update is a piece of kit I spotted while perusing the catalogue of a Stainless Steel fittings supplier I buy bit and pieces from for my kit.



This is a 316 SS 40mm Spray Ball. I had my welding buddy silversolder a hose connector into it and onlt the top on the ball is drilled so it sprays 360o above the level of the ball when lowered into the keg. I am currently using it just as a cold water rinse to get at the inaccessible parts of the inside of the keg but it can be used with cleaning agents/sterilisers etc.

AM

This is now officially one serious set-up. I love it.

What pressure is the safety valve set for?

I'm told it's a bog standard 3 bar blow off valve - I think they're used mostly on domestic heating systems.

The opening where that valve is fitted can be opened and a graduated depth gauge fitted in its place which makes filling easier. This was instead of fitting a sight glass on the side of the keg which my welder talked me out of.

That should be the end of the gadgetry upgrades for the pot but I'll be test driving the VM column this week - prob Thursday evening. Looking forward to that.

BTW that spray ball has turned out even better than intended as I had a brainwave this morning and I'm using it with a small submersible pond pump to pump steriliser/cleaner into the keg and even into the pot riser and with the drain valve open and emptying into the same bucket the pump is in it can circulate the cleaner all by itself until I'm satisfied it's really clean inside. - One of my better ideas

AM

Final part of my modified build, the VM column, is ready to rock 'n' roll.

I replaced the copper column with a Stainless Steel one but kept the Copper Head - I put too much work and money into the head to just scrap it.



The SS column is 125cm and the Copper up to the take off is another 18cm - a total height of 143cm.

Running this weekend - looking forward to some fun!

AM

That's looking real good Aidan