StillSmart

But the good news is that the second time you do it, it will be even better.

What type of hose are you using at the top of the column?

the oneon thwe top and the outlet for the water is standerd clear pvc unless u think i need to change it ?

yeah lets hope so as i couldnt do with the hart brack again.lol

Obviously the water feed and return are OK but I would have a look at the top hose that transfers the vapour to the condenser, it will be carrying high abv vapour and PVC is not recomended for that application.

Possibilities include;

1) Get a hose from still spirits, I have seen them for sale in Australian, New Zealand Web sites. I do not know if the spares are readily available in the UK.

2) Get some silicon tubing.

3) Make it out of copper - probably my number one choice and it will look a lot better.

You may have some issue with the PVC hose on the cooling lines too. If the PVC is the thin walled stuff, it can collapse on itself on the output when it gets really hot. I switched to using reinforced air line for this reason.

I use a section of ptfe tube to join the SS output of my LM, I can recommend it, but I'd used the thicker walled stuff if I was to do it again. Silicone would be more forgiving.

ok the line attached to the vapor is copper

the pvc never comes into contact with any of the wash or vapor so i should be ok

and the out take pipe im going to attach a cooper line and have it coil a few time then out into the parrot it goes .once the parts turn up im gunna get straight on with it so hopfuly i will be able to show you it set up tomorrow ..m

ok iv'e learn a very big leson today
i finaly got round to fixing my column

http://imageshack.us/a/img849/8308/newcolumn.jpg


i mounted it on a stockpot with a bowl on top i put two gallon's of wash into it's so it wasnt very big (this was after running a vingar and plain water through it )
now for the leson i had it running up to temp and watching for the quick rise to i could ajust the water well feck me if it didnt jump and before a knew it i had vapor as well as liquid coiming out of the take off .

that wouldnt of been as bad but i ajusted thr water the wrong way so instead of it condensing it got worse and as it was on the stove top you guessed it it set alight not very bad just enough to shock me .as when i turned the water up and i bllew out the flames it was over just as quick as it started.thank f**k

now on to the good bit after making sure that didn't happen again i crancked up the water witch i found u didnt need it to be very hi for it to cool the column to quick i had a nice steady temp of between &78.9 and 80c i belive the temp gauge i was using for the big fluctuations .cheap ebay thing

at the end i gave up after gaining 1 ltr after the four shot for the cupbaord it came out at 83% and i stoped it at 80%

it was seem a waste to u all but i only did this as a test run to see how thing worked next time it will be with a 27 or 30 ltr wash depends on what i can get my hands on.


i tested the boka column in the same way and that from the same wash put out 80% the wash i used was the off the boka pic with tomato paste and it was without molasses i was to impressed with it but i got some decent liquid from it in the end .m