Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi guys and girls, I'm looking for some feedback on a reasonably early concept design, basic details are:
- Inspiration drawn from (read ideas nicked off) McStill, Goldie, bt1, anyone else who posted in the Plated section.
- 4" Perforated plated column
- Modular design, plates soldered into sections. Sections joined using easy flanges and triclamps
- 50L keg boiler on gas
- Simple capped downcomers raised off the plate below
- Will be mainly used for scotch and rum (using 3-4 plates). Might play with WineGlass' volcanic rock (2 packed sections, 3 regular). If that doesn't work out, I'll do double runs when I want neutral (don't plan on doing it much).

Overall design (Apologies for the MS paint drawings), click to enlarge:


Plate sections:


The things I could use some feedback on are:
- Any obvious fuckups or general improvements
- How much of the column I can use soft solder (lead free) on? And where do I need something stronger
- Where can I use easy flanges and where do I need ferrules (other than the keg)

Mate, nothing wrong with that design, its been proven many times before :handgestures-thumbupleft:
1,you could use solder on all of it
2,you could use easy flanges everywhere ( as you said, except the keg)
3, no obvious fuck ups that i can see
4, the only thing i would change is dont solder the plates, it will allow you to swap and change plate designs later(but thats just me) ;-)

Sweet, full steam ahead then.

If you don't solder the plates in, how do you keep them in place?

Clamp the plates between each modular section as shown on the rum still :handgestures-thumbupleft:

blond.chap wrote:Sweet, full steam ahead then.

remember, we like lotsa pics :D

McStill wrote:Clamp the plates between each modular section as shown on the rum still :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Done and done

All too glad to share pics as they come, watch this space late January/early february (got to save my pennies).

Cheers

Perforated plates or caps?
If you make it 5 plate capable, you won't want for much. double or tripple distilled for neutral, or once through for flavor.
Just remove a plate if you don't feel you need it.

Oh yeah, don't forget to pencil in some downcomers. The choice of perf or caps and your downcomers will seal the deal.

Good to see another column under production. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Duno the way I read this plan (correct me if I'm wrong) is that it is a 4 plater which i think is probably a more sensible way to go anyways ;-)

Yeah, it's a bit confused in the drawing, the dotted lines represent the plates. I was thinking of 5 plates for flexibility if I want to mess around with neutral.

You werent joking you were serious about a bubbler hey? :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Looks like your off to a good start, if I can help you with anything just let me know mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks Sam, I'll definitely take you up on that early in the new year. Yeah, thinking about it has been driving me mad, had to get it written drawn for my own sanity.

Feel free to laugh at this one, but the value management part of my brain is kicking in and suggesting the following:

Could I re-purpose the bottom part of my pot still as a shotgun condenser and still be able to use it as a pot still?

The pot is 2", roughly the right length (~400mm), and has the barrel union to a liebig, which I was going to use as an adjustable takeoff point for the bubbler anyway.

My thinking is that (using 4*1/2" tubes), it would work fine as a shotgun condenser. However I'd rather not ruin it as a pot still. So my question basically comes down to: is the output rate of the pot still currently limited by the 2" riser from the boiler, or by the 1/2" section just before the condenser?

If it's limited by the section before the condenser, then there would be no problem as the 4* 1/2" tubes would still be larger than that. But if the output rate is limited by the riser, I would be dramatically reducing it's effectiveness as a pot still, which I'm not keen to do.

Thoughts?

Once you make a bubbler, you wont have any use for a pot still because as soon as you turn off the Reflux condenser your bubbler is in potstill mode. So, dont cut up your pot still just yet you are better off maybe sell it to offset the cost of your bubbler :handgestures-thumbupleft:

If you are making a bubbler, you wont need the pot anymore,like Kimbo said, you could sell it.
You could cut it up if you want, just make sure you have enough drinking stock to get you through a month while you build.

I reckon you wont have too much trouble getting $240 for a pot still like that, it looks like a good design :))

That $240 could go a long way to fitting out your bubbler, just nicely :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers guys,
Baby steps for me I think, don't want to let go of my training wheels till I can ride a big boy still, so stocking up while I save for parts for now.

I wasn't thinking of cutting it up, might be getting too clever for my own good, but I was thinking of shoving some pipes up its backside, drilling some coolant holes, flipping it upside down and using it as a shotgun, while leaving myself the option of detaching it as a potstill. Would probably wreck it as a pot though, so defeats the purpose.

Ditch the training wheels and get on the big bike, you'll only fall off once ;-)

Alright, jumping in nose first it is

kk,

Looks nice for my two cents worth...

Consider Tickles two stage reflux condenser with extra hot out take mid reflux condenser it makes perfect sense.

A three ring on HP regulator would likely just throw gas, I've not tried it but old 3 ring is flat out keeping up with std regulator.... if your after heat a spiral or Mongolian type burner might be the go

For modular look at incorporating plates into top joins i.e. each section has a plate

For volcanic rock simply turn a section upside down...

the product off take tube could be angled at 45 to get away from heat source

as you've drawn separate controllable cooling feeds

Perhaps a thermo on boiler to indicate ramp up time and improved heat control

Thinking for mine a SS pressure relief valve just above reflux condenser to avoid the air suck back in issues wit longer product off take tubes that are semi full... only an issue at shut down


cheers
bt1

Thanks bt1, really appreciate the feedback, if you don't mind a few follow up questions/comments:

bt1 wrote:kk,

Looks nice for my two cents worth...

Consider Tickles two stage reflux condenser with extra hot out take mid reflux condenser it makes perfect sense.
I'll have a look into it, seems like a good idea

A three ring on HP regulator would likely just throw gas, I've not tried it but old 3 ring is flat out keeping up with std regulator.... if your after heat a spiral or Mongolian type burner might be the go
I don't want massive heat, as long as the thing heats up in a reasonable time, I've got this regulator:http://gryphonbrewing.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=54&products_id=292. It's actually medium pressure, not high pressure like I said. Would this be ok with a 3 ring? If not, can you recommend a place to get a spiral burner

For modular look at incorporating plates into top joins i.e. each section has a plate
When you say "incorporating into the top joins", do you mean in the triclamp between the flanges? I was going to solder them in, but Kimbo and McStill suggested to clamp them in place

For volcanic rock simply turn a section upside down...
Will do

the product off take tube could be angled at 45 to get away from heat source
It'll be adjustable, expect it to be roughly at 45deg, with a bit of flexibility to suit the height of the product container

as you've drawn separate controllable cooling feeds
My pump is a bit oversized (~500W), so I'll be using the relief line for the shotgun condenser, just planning a simple on/off on the coolant flow.

Perhaps a thermo on boiler to indicate ramp up time and improved heat control
Good idea

Thinking for mine a SS pressure relief valve just above reflux condenser to avoid the air suck back in issues with longer product off take tubes that are semi full... only an issue at shut down
Seems like a good idea, I've been a bit worried about the thing not being vented to atmosphere, especially with the bend to the product take off


cheers
bt1