StillSmart

So I have decided to leave my first still alone for now rather than chop it up and have started to collect some parts for the next build, got this beer keg off ebay for £20 and the tube off a mate also for £20.
The keg is 50L and seems in good order, I will cut the top to accept a 4" ferrule, the tube could be a concirn as it's 3.5mm thick so weighs quite a lot, is it better or worse to have thick walled tube?

I am planning to weld a 2" ferrule in the side to accept a heater element, I need to get a controller, ideally 4000w, from a Chinese ebay seller for under £11, anyone?

Is a 4" column to big for a 50L boiler, I wanted a 3" but could not get one as cheap?

Lucky to find a keg on the bay. And at a great price.....I’ve been looking for months

I don't see 4" as too big, nor the thickness as an issue.
But I am only speaking from 2nd hand knowledge.
I have shed loads of that.
I hope someone with first hand knowledge may come along and offer you advice.

Robert.

My opinion. Way too big. If you use packing, it will require a heap, whethet it be saddles, SS scrubbers, copper mesh, etc. Increased cost.

More likely to develop cold spots and generate turbulance which you dont want if going for a neutral.

It will hold a large portion of your overall run while attempting to achieve equilibrium. More energy utilized and more time.

You could probably get it to work but I bet you would be more happy with the results achieved with a 2", maybe a 3".

As I said, its my opinion. That is a small boiler for such a large column.

I agree with RumJohn. For a 50 liter keg as a packed column you might find that it does not work as well as a 3" column.

Where did you get the tube? If you bought it as model engineering tube - perhaps for working steam engine use - then I can see why it would be thicker wall. It will work for a still - just be heavier.

You can use it for a packed or plated column but if you wanted both a packed and a plated column at some point I would keep the bigger tube for that and just get a 76 mm tube from JTM.

Also you don`t need to put a bigger ferrule on the keg for a packed column. A 3 or 4 inch column works fine on the standard 2 inch ferrule on a keg. It is convenient for cleaning but if you are only charging with low wines then there should not be a cleaning requirement that needs you to get your hand inside the keg.

The Chinese controllers work well. I won't post the link again.

My 2p. There is balance to be achieved, with power in/product out. The limiting factor in the UK on a standard ring main is max 3kw.

If you are doing something to source more electric safely 4" will be fine, if not I think 2" or 3" would be better.

Hi Maker

I use a 4” column on a 50lt keg, it’s not all a packed section though, for neutral I have 4x 4” bubble plates sections and a 300mm section packed with SPP.

You’ll easy be able to throw 4kw power at it, mine is 3.5kw, which gets me 3 litres an hour for neutral at 93-94%

If I charge the boiler with 40 litres of 30% strip, it’s takes about 5-6 hours including heat up and stabilisation time to collect just over 10 litres of neutral.

This would be a 12 hour plus job on a 2” column

You’ll easy be able to throw 4kw power at it, mine is 3.5kw

Are you feeding two elements from different ring mains? It really is unlike me to put my Health & Safety hat on but ......

Hi Mash

Mines a little naughty, the back end of my kitchen is an extension, I have a separate ring main supplying it, which extends into my garage.

As with most ring mains, it’s 2.5mm twin and earth cable and each end of the ring is into the same point, protected by a 32amp breaker.

Here’s the naughty bit, I’ve taken a 6mm cable off the back of one of the sockets in the garage and put this into my power controller, it’s technically not allowed, and no electrician worth his salt would ever say it’s ok, but so long as the ring stays intact, it won’t overload any of the sockets and the 32amp breaker is suitable to protect the cables.

I got that

Great advice as always, I think until I have nailed the basics I should keep things simple and avoid bubble plates, it did occur to me that a large amount of product would be trapped in the column so I will continue to look for a more suitable column, I realise JTM have them on the shelf but I can't bring myself to spend £62 on a length of copper tube, I guess I will look for a while and end up buying from there, if possible I would rather go stainless so I can weld it and make a really neat job.

It was commented about leaving the 2" ferrule as standard in the top, to be honest I will enjoy machining the barrel to take a 4" ferrule and trying to make a decent job of welding it back, also I dont know the history of the barrel and the ferrule insert is missing and it looks like it has been stored outside so a damn good clean is on the cards. I spent quite a lot of money on my tig so any oppertunity to use it is welcomed...

Maker wrote:I spent quite a lot of money on my tig so any oppertunity to use it is welcomed...

That elevates the build into a different category. By all means go stainless and weld. I look forwards to seeing your results.

I only braze and solder, so I mostly work in copper.

Hi Maker

In my humble opinion a 4” connection is a must have for a stainless column, I bet my column weighs over 20kg when all setup for a neutral run, a 2” ferrule would be a little unstable with all the wieght, plus if you’ve got a hefty product condenser the column will lean to one side!!

I have a 4kw controller I bought in the bay from China, works a dream. 0-240v comes with a foreign plug so you need a UK visitor plug adaptor, can but for a quid. Poundland. I use it to control my 4kw heating element in my Keggle.if u can find a link I will post it.