Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

I am reading and trying to understand.

I am planing to build a 4” pot still with a 500mm (nine 1/2” barrel) shotgun condenser.

I will be using a 40 litre washes in a 58litre boiler.

From what I understand the bigger the copper diameter the more power you will need to undertake full on stripping runs.

Will this 240v 5500w suit my needs

https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Home-Brewing- ... r=1&_rdt=1

If I connect it to this PID temp controllor

https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Inkbird-AC100 ... r=1&_rdt=1

Thanks in advance

4in product condenser is way overkill but make it if you want, shouldn't cause too much bother.
The pid is useless! You can't control a pot still with temp. The amount of heat is your control mechanism. Look up power controller as that's what you're going to need.

The 5500w element should do well but your going to need a 25amp socket to plug it into. Most houses only have 10amp sockets some have 15amp sockets.

Good luck and keep reading it makes sense after a while

You would be better off with 2 x 2400 watt heating elements. Will give you a lot of flexibility once you have a power controller as mentioned above.

Watch the length of the element too, the one you listed is 355mm, not sure on your 58l boiler but a std keg is only roughly 380mm across

If you can find a 6000w with 6 pins on the back, when professionally wired, you can hook up a single house circuit to each of 3 pairs of pins, no overload worries - they seem to be mostly available in the 1.5 bsp size and around 250mm or so deep

Some of the elements floating around are very long compared to "normal" ones (similar to the one you linked to, but sometimes as little as 1200w in that physical size), they are low density elements which are better for not scorching stuff in your boiler, the heat is spread out over more area - great if you want to distil on the grain, but not many of us seem to do that, so not a necessity for the average bloke

I have 4” pipe and I like the looking I also have all 4” fittings.

I have a 20 amp socket in the garage that is on it’s own circuit.

Can someone point me link / towards a power controller?

An eBay search brings up stuff that can’t be correct like solar electrical systems components

This is the one I use and works fine. Have 3 of them on various other things https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/AC-220V-4000W ... 2884241274

Thanks but it says 4000w so it would not work with a 5500 watt element?

spamisnotham wrote:Thanks but it says 4000w so it would not work with a 5500 watt element?

Have a search on eBay for voltage controller. See what you. Can turn up

So I get two elements rated at under 4000w each and then connect each to the power controller linked to above?

There's heaps in here just have a read and you'll work out what will suit you best viewforum.php?f=60

Have a quick read of these too mate, they will hopefully explain what the purpose of the controller is

viewtopic.php?f=57&t=11077

viewtopic.php?f=57&t=3541

This looks good at 3500w if I get two then I should be ripping

https://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Brewing-Beer- ... 4084.l1313

Thanks for the links

I use a 3600w and a 2400w. I've got 5star elements and they work a treat. They are a single rod type setup so they are easy to clean. I know they're not open yet but don't think they're far off, might be worth a pm to Andrew or Wazza

woodduck wrote:I use a 3600w and a 2400w. I've got 5star elements and they work a treat. They are a single rod type setup so they are easy to clean. I know they're not open yet but don't think they're far off, might be worth a pm to Andrew or Wazza

:text-+1: The 5 star ones are way better value than the ebay link - They are selling some gear, nearly got to go in and see them on monday but my timetable went to the crapper

Your power outlets will be your limiting factor - the 4000w controller can only draw 2400w from a regular power point before melting/magic smoke escaping/exploding

woodduck wrote:I use a 3600w and a 2400w. I've got 5star elements and they work a treat. They are a single rod type setup so they are easy to clean. I know they're not open yet but don't think they're far off, might be worth a pm to Andrew or Wazza

Yep msg Andrew, I have been buying stuff off him last few weeks. Just msg him what you are after and he will try help you out. Great to deal with

I will wait until 5star is up I am in no rush

Hi I am trying still to wrap my head around this controller question.

Can someone explain to me what the difference between:

Variable Voltage Controller
PID
Potentiometer

They all seem to inhibit/ restrict the amount of current flowing into an element but what and why they are different/ better escapes me.

A potentiometer is a knob that gives variable resistance, measured in ohms. In this situation you would use it to control a SSR, a solid state relay that controls voltage , a variable voltage controller is usually a prepackaged setup like this

A pid is a voltage controller guided by a thermometer, useless for boiling a still, great for mashing all grain washes

Thank you