still spirits turbo express temp issue

[Cooperville]

hey new to distilling just did my first wash with the turbo express as i have no time before we move overseas i read the instructions and then disregarded the section that says set water to 40 degrees as i thought that was too high but once i set the wash to ferment i rechecked the instructions and realized that it was what they required
just need to find out if the yeast will still work i am guessing it will but need the brains trust to help me out

I am about to use my new build for the first time its a a cranky ol man still on a nicely modified sanke i will post photos once i know it all works just ran it today with fresh water and was distilling water a 98.6c which i hope is perfect i am using a 2000w element and a needle valve for the turbo 500 seems to be equalizing nicely
wish me luck novice who normally makes beer but wants to make it with the big guys

[Kimbo]

Hi Drifting,

its a a cranky ol man still

Mate, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but these Ebay stills are full of Lead!
viewtopic.php?t=218&p=2947#p1526
Please read the above link, sorry that the photos didnt come across when we changed servers ;)
You will need to pull the still apart, and re-solder ;)
Other than that , welcome to the forum and please feel free to ask as many questions as you like ;)

[maheel]

is that 40"c for the ferment temp ?

thats very high IMO and i like to be more at 25'c for any distilling wash.... i woudl think most of that 40'c recommended is to really get the yeast working hard. Maybe to hard i reckon.

as for the cranky old bugger stills, the lead might be any issue and worth the price if a lead test for safety sake.

[Cooperville]

well thats such a dissapointment :angry-banghead: just spent all week refing this still to find that the still is no good well why hasnt someone run this guy over yet.
anyways I dont have time to build one at the moment so am looking at getting the PDA1 so at least i can get the neautral spirit happening .

;any one have bad experiences with the PDA1 still?
:how do i test the crankey ol man for lead in case he has changed his technique? dare i ask!
thanks for the reply Kimbo!

[Cooperville]

Yes Maheel

I thought this was a very high temp 40c also so i disregarded that temp and went with 25c but as i said the instructions say 40c
so i checked the sg thismorning and it has dropped to 1098 over night so it is a fast mover the temp rose alot also sitting on about 32c going to try and drop that now with a few wet towels :geek:

[SBB]

Thats a great looking thermometer you have sticking out of the keg there Drifting .....Mind if I ask where you found it ???????.
I thought I read somewhere that the Cranky oldd bloke changed his solder...I could be wrong.

[maheel]

I thought I read somewhere that the Cranky oldd bloke changed his solder...I could be wrong.

yeah i think someone was emailing him and he told them no more lead... but better safe and test

people have used a paint lead test kit from the hard where stores

this is a tradesman one but a small kit is around the place (2 tests)
http://www.masterpainters.com.au/leadpainttestkits.html

[bundy]

He also said that the lead in the stills was not dangerous, :liar: i would do a lead test, he now states that is stills are lead free,but he as been known to stretch the truth a bit.
Test and be safe. :lol: ( i also bought a still of him )
Bundy

[Cooperville]

OK guys ,
(and i apologize upfront Mcstill)no hard feelings!! :angelic-pink:



As you know i very new to distilling and havent even done my first run (fermenting a express wash to clean and trial out the cranky ol man still which i bought on ebay

now i dont want to upset anyone or the like as i really want to become a continual member with input and a lot of learning with this forum but this is the corespondence that i have had with bob the cranky ol man.

Pleae note i didnt ask if i could post this and I am not an aquaintance of his eitherjust trying to help a fellow distiller
Please dont shoot the messenger :text-thankyoublue:

so here :AND I QUOTE:
----------------------------------------------
Hi mate,



Im glad you emailed me. The fellow over there (McStill I think) is full of shit and delights in rubbishing everything about my stills. Please note that he is also in the business of selling stills and so he has a financial interest in what he is saying, also note that he and his little group of friends are very quick to offer to make a still for you.



As for the solder, I use a product called Aquasafe100 for the soft soldering on the units which is totally lead free, I also use lead free silver solder on the brazed joints and acid free fluxes.



In the early days, I (like everyone else) used lead/tin solders on copper, just the same as every plumber in the world has done and in many cases still do on copper water plumbing in our houses however, I was very diligent only to use that solder on the water side of things only and not on the alcohol side, even on my early stills everything on the vapor side was totally lead free. I even had a mate who is an industrial chemist check for lead in the distillate and of course, there was no lead in it because it is physically impossible for it to get there.



Anyhow, your still has no lead in it at all and you will have no troubles stabilizing the temperature if you follow my instructions. If you need any help with working your gear out, please let me know & Ill sort you through it and dont refer it to those fellows as all they will do is put shit on you & the still I have made. Sorry that you have been discouraged by them to some degree but dont let it worry you.



Keep in touch



Cheers, Bob

and this is my next email from Bob in return of my contact to him


No worries mate,



When its all boiled down, I think its about money and jealousy. Its not hard to tell from the ebay site that an awful lot of people have bought a still from me and if they are buying them from me, they are not buying them from over there.



I have no doubt that the fellows over there build some incredible stills but its fairly petty to carry on the way they do.



I know that you will do well with my still, they work just fine. Ive used nothing but that type for years now & I couldnt be happier with the results I get. By the way, I dont own a still, if I want to run a batch Ill just grab the closest one and use it, I figure it is a form of quality control, so if Im all about poisoning people, Im drinking the same poison.



I did try to talk some sense to those fellows some time back but they just put crap on me so I gave up. I pretty soon learned that it wasnt about anything but rubbishing the competition for the sake of market share.



One thing about being a bit older is that I have been able to see a few things & how they work. Use of lead is a great example of that. They carry on about it, but in reality, it isnt really a fraction of the problem people make it out to be except when it is in dust or vapour form. I know a fair bit about it as I did a lot of lead casting years back and wound up with some very high lead levels in my blood. All of that was vapour related and when I stopped exposing myself to the vapour that came from the molten metal, my levels dropped to zero and have remained that way ever since.



I think back to how as kids how we used to run around all day with a mouthful of slug gun pellets shooting at things and each other, and that fishing sinkers were all lead as was the solder we used when making crystal sets. Lead pencils had lead in them as did die cast metal cars and pewter plates and tankards and hip flasks as well as paint. Lead was (and still is) used in domestic water plumbing. Lead’s symbol on the periodic chart is Pb from its name in Latin “plumbum” from where we get our word “plumber” & “plumbing”. I could go on for a dogs age about lead flashing on roofs, lead washers on roofs and lead sealed water tanks that collect water from the same roofs that we have drunk from all our lives.



Major problems with the stuff came in vapour form as it was used in petrol as an upper cylinder lubricant in engines, that was and still is bad news, particularly in concentrated levels like city traffic. If lead was really such a problem why is it still available at bunnings and every other plumbing supply as flashing? Why do they still make and allow lead solder to be used in domestic plumbing under the Building Code of Australia?



Anyhow now a days, I dont use lead solder simply because people dont like it and I was tired of trying to explain to people that the little lead solder that I did use was totally separate from the alcohol side and there was no fear of any contamination, but, the folk over at the other site just made out that I was a crazy old fool.



Even the fact that all the major commercial distilleries were still using lead jointed copper stills up until 10 years ago couldnt stimulate them to sensible thinking. That on its own should be enough to let people know that a 12 year old bottle of any spirit (still on sale today) was made with lead jointed equipment.



Like I said before, Im really glad that you checked with me. I read of one fellow over there who trashed his unit because of what they had said even though he was getting good results, I wish that he had given me a yell.



To be really honest, I think the biggest health risk when making spirits is the damage you can do to your liver. That will kill you long before any other form of poisoning could. The home made stuff is super cheap to the point of almost costing nothing, its very easy to drink and doesnt punish you with hangovers therefore it is very easy to put abusive strain on your liver without even noticing that you are doing it. There’s the real worry! Please, be careful of that!



Well, there’s my big whinge for the day!



Cheers,



Bob

(lead free)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK so i hope this helps other distillers about the cranky ol man and if you are like me actually believe the guy as who would put so much effort into something and put his name against it with an inferior product as you can see i am serious about my build and ran it last night with h2o which worked really well

the attachment i got for the needle v/v assembly are as follows:

olive joiner about $10 bucks( reece plumbers)
a plastic barb $1.10 (pond shop)
plastic hose to fit $2.50(pond shop)
Needle v/v brew craft about $15
plastic garden hose joiner about $ 2 bucks
paid 199 for the still and me and a mate put the boiler together which i will use after the still upgrade if i need one later on
got the tri clamp fittings from smileys.com and hillbillystills.com good sites for the begginner


and all this works a treat to steady the flo of cooling water to the LM
i will post further as i start my first run and share my experience as you all have as i learn more

[MacStill]

OK so i hope this helps other distillers about the cranky ol man and if you are like me actually believe the guy as who would put so much effort into something and put his name against it with an inferior product as you can see i am serious about my build and ran it last night with h2o which worked really well

And as you can see most of us here have heard about his dodgy stills in the past, if he's moved on from lead solder because of me I'm happy because he's finally got a conscience about poisoning his customers.

Also if you look around the various forums you'll soon see who builds quality stills, he's not one of them ;)

[Cooperville]

SBB,
I bought the thermometre on ebay for about $8 something like that i had an old cordlessphone lying around and wired it up to the 240v and installed it into a tupperware container much to my wifes disgust :shifty: i will post some photos this is the link works a treat and i like the ilumination for obvious reasons cheap and easy.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digital-LED- ... 19cb182275

[Cooperville]

this is the other side

Sorry SBB thought you meant the digital guage for the condenser

the analog temp guage i got from TWOC look for it online went there the other day it cost maybe $30 i loved this store if you live in WA its the go BOB will help you out there for sure you can get it all online also

[Cooperville]

Mcstill I would love to build my own stilll and will in the future i am looking at all types and am pretty handy with a hammer so eventually i will work on something personal at this stage i am considering a boka type still of sorts but to be honest my interest is in whiskey single mash all grain so while i learn to still i am also learning about the mashing of grain
i want to create a liquor that i can let sit for 2 years so i can savour the flavour

you guys are all awsome
keep up the good work
mcstill and the rest of the crew thanks for all your knowledge so far :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[bundy]

i think I'm the guy he talks about that trashed his still.i did three runs and produced 90abv, the problem was i could not control the temperature, i had to stand there with hand on cooling tap for three hours. i rang bob and he told me what to do to reg temp it didn't work, distilling is about enjoyment not stress.
hope you have better luck than i did.
cheers Bundy

[SBB]

the analog temp guage i got from TWOC

Looks just like what I want for the bubbler :D :D

[R-sole]

So is what he said right?

Were you flooded with offers to build stills? Was the advice you got centered around commercial interests?

[The Stig]

I would like to put out there the challenge for "cranky ol man" to come here and defend him/her self.
If he is indeed lead free, all well and good.

[Cooperville]

ok guys so i managed to do my first ever run over the weekend on the cranky ol man still
I used a ss express yeast that took 4 days to run its path and i let it settle for a day before racking it into the still
now as you can see from the photos i tried to split the run up as much as possible to see the change in abv% and just to monitor the process and get a feel for the still i had a lot of trouble holding the temp at 78 and just seemed to want to creep up on me regurlarly
i didnt let the still equalize as much as what i thought i should and i am thinking the still is too short for the 2000w element
any advice on the maintenece of the temp would be much appreciated due to my inexperience i didnt want to push it to far

also i was quite concerned about the presurizing of the boiler if i just let it reflux 100% should i be worried about pressure build up?????
in all i thought it was quite succesful for a first run and i am sure there is plenty i can do to fine tune the process
do you think i should regulate the element temp and would this help at all
at one stage i did get a bit of surge but i calmed that down easily by just starting full reflux and then restarting again and i also had some ceramic rings in the bottom of boiler
the boiler sat on 90c for most of the run and then slowly climbed as did the column temp which i was watching for as i expected this to be the end of the run

the ss needle valve worked a real treat compared to just running directly from the mains tap

I ended up getting 72% as the highest abv which was near the centre of the run but this was not at full reflux so i am sure i will get higher readings as i gain more confidence
i will contact the cranky ol bugger and see what advice he has for me getting a more steady temp range

[R-sole]

i will contact the cranky ol bugger and see what advice he has for me getting a more steady temp range

That's your best bet ;)

You may want to ask him how you are to get 96% out of it too. :whistle:

[bradsgonetrekkin]

My tip from one who has played with that type of still - Its just too fiddly to try and use it as a reflux column. It'll work fine as a pot still, just do 2 runs (first strip then final spirit) and make good cuts.
If you are after a vodka style, you can add copper mesh / ss scrubbers to the column on the final run to increase a bit of reflux and alc content.
As a pot still the temps are just a guide. As a reflux column, the temp will drive you mad as you won't be able to keep it where you want it. Just my 2 cents worth..