Musashin wrote:Came out at 75% which is apparently quite good for a pot still, but with terrible flavour which I couldn't get out even by ageing in wood chips and spicing for a few months. Definitely couldn't drink it straight.
Musashin wrote:I recently got the urge to give it another crack. So I'm drafting up some plans for a bigger and better "boka" reflux still. I have some blueprints half drawn but still need to do a little homework before I get a final version.
I'm a little confused on how the plate that pools up alcohol before it heads out the tap is supposed to function. As I understand, water is heavier than alcohol, so I would think that the bottom of that little pool would mostly be water with alcohol dripping down on top of it then running back into the "tank". Thus lowering the purity of the final product - not increasing it. Obviously I am wrong about this, but I'm not sure why?
tipsy wrote:Welcome
tipsy wrote:How many times did you run it through the pot?
tipsy wrote:The "water" will be in your boiler, lots of good reading in the newbies area
warramungas wrote:Alcohol is miscible in water and form a solution. It should be a concentrated solution of alcohol as the lighter fraction pushes the water to the bottom of the column. Its not like oil sitting on top of water.
Musashin wrote:tipsy wrote:How many times did you run it through the pot?
Just once, slow run though - one drop/sec. Maybe I should have run it twice, was kind of worried about overcomplicating things though as it was my first few runs. :razz:
tipsy wrote:With a pot you really need to do a strip run then a spirit run, taking cuts along the way. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
scythe wrote:Scrap prices are based on weight, 4" is 8kg/m so take your wallet, but its still far cheaper than buying brand new copper pipe, last time i looked it was $300ish/m new.
scythe wrote:Scrap prices are based on weight, 4" is 8kg/m so take your wallet, but its still far cheaper than buying brand new copper pipe, last time i looked it was $300ish/m new.
Musashin wrote:Anyway, I've been drafting up ideas of what I want to accomplish, I looked into the "double cup" style, but came up with something a little different. Basically just a copper T sitting on a plate. Should function the same way. Is there any reason this wouldn't work? Draft below.
sp0rk wrote:Musashin wrote:Anyway, I've been drafting up ideas of what I want to accomplish, I looked into the "double cup" style, but came up with something a little different. Basically just a copper T sitting on a plate. Should function the same way. Is there any reason this wouldn't work? Draft below.
This is exactly how I've just made my boka, I've only done a sacrificial run with it so far, but I think it works quite well
I brazed the tee into the plate, brazed the plate into a coupler
then slid the top section of the column in, soft soldered that, drilled a hole for the takeoff and soft soldered that on
then soft soldered a 10cm piece of pipe with an ezflange on the bottom into the couple to complete the head
If I were to do it over again, I'd just leave the coupler out and get the plate perfectly round, then braze the tee and plate into the head at the same time
Though I'm sure this would be harder to get everything lined up perfectly, it'd be much quicker, as with the coupler I had to solder a little, clean, solder a little more, clean, etc
See here for a few pics
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8944&start=20
Musashin wrote:I found that thread and had a peek before you edited the link in. Looks great, glad to know that T piece has been tried and tested.
Love the creative use of your manhole. :laughing-rolling:
I see how you've connected those together with tri-clamps (I am assuming easy flanges in between). That's a great idea, I didn't even think of that. I guess I can buy two meter-long lengths if I need to, and do the same thing to get the required amount of packing. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Musashin wrote:Ah I see. I was just going to solder a small pipe or two in as a stop for the packing. May not be strong enough though, over a meter filled with scrubbers is probably quite heavy, especially once they've got liquid on them.
Smaller pipe probably would work fine, but from what I understand going from 2" to 3" doubles the collection rate, and 4" doubles it again. If I get a good deal on smaller pipe I may do that.
But after watching my pot still churn away at one drip per second all day, the thought of 4" is pretty appealing. :think:
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