Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

OK, as I've stated elsewhere, this project started close to five years ago but was put on hold after our work factory was destroyed in a fire and time was needed to recover from that, so.........over the last few weeks I've been catching up on research and started my 2" reflux build. What was originally going to be a slant plate boka has evolved into a bit more........my double helix condenser is straight forward but rather than the slant plates I've opted for this as the reflux head..............

Now that's just showing off. :sad:

Well, you've spiked my curiosity ... Looking forward to the rest of the build

Progress hasn't been as fast as I'd like but I thought I'd post a couple of pics taken this week of the first trial assembly of the column. I was given two 50ltr kegs which was a blessing. There's more work to be done but it's progressing.

:handgestures-thumbupleft:
looking good.
what are you thinking for a PC ?

I have enough copper of various sizes to have choices. The simplest would be a liebig but as is probably obvious from my reflux head, I like to step outside the box.

One thing I'm trying to get my head around is the positioning of a needle valve. Assuming I'm using a PC to a parrot, wouldn't be better to have the needle valve at the final product outlet rather than mounted off the reflux head.......this will probably influence my choice of PC.

Cheers.

I recommend you put the needle valve as close to the head as possible to avoid smearing.
the longer distance will encourage smearing.
if worried about adjustment lag time, place a break and a cup collection at the top to set the output without lag

Meatheadinc wrote:I recommend you put the needle valve as close to the head as possible to avoid smearing.
the longer distance will encourage smearing.
if worried about adjustment lag time, place a break and a cup collection at the top to set the output without lag

Not sure of what you mean by "a break and a cup" :think: Do you mean placing a parrot immediately below the head and needle valve? If so, it was something I'm considering. The parrot outlet could then feed the PC.

Nope.. parrot in that location would read incorrectly due to heat.

was saying
valve at head.- cut pipe to funnel ( so you can see/set output without lag. then pc ( although product is already liquid, just a cooler to get to parrot abv) then parrot.

Hmm. This is a newie on me. I'm buggered if I can tell how it works. Can someone wise draw me a diagram? :think:

The idea came from here ...... viewtopic.php?f=29&t=8194&p=142129#p142129 and you'll find a link to a youtube clip in the third last post.

Needle valve about an inch from your column, so you can set reflux and take off.
As for measuring your take off speed just wait for it to come out the bottom of the condenser.
A leiberg condenser will be simple and not add too much lag time compared to a spiral wound or shotgun design.

Or you could attach a funnel to the top of your condenser of choice like suggested.
But then you will need to have the pc supported on its own, or soldered to the column with braces.

If you want something outside the box for the PC try a graham condenser. I sort of use one (in reverse) on my two inch plated column. Like a massively longer liebig in a smaller package. In all honesty though the time taken from adjusting the needle valve to seeing a flow change is pretty quick. Talking in seconds only and I have about 5 feet of copper tubing and condenser hanging off mine to the measuring point.

Warra,

That's so close to what I was thinking :text-thankyoublue: ........I have about 1 mtr of 1/4" tube left over and was planning on a long spiral liebig type thing.

Cheers

Slowly making headway as time allows.

With no disrespect to others' builds, one thing that's bugged me is the cooling water hoses dangling around, consequently, I decided to organise my cooling lines............the end result is that the artist in me kinda took over and things have taken on a "steam punkish" influence.........RC and PC condenser lines are primarily copper running parallel to the column. The liebig PC hangs of brackets soldered to the column, the PC outlet is supported in other brackets which also support the RC lines. Everything is modular........ the overall column to RC is five sections, the liebig and cooling lines are another unit.

Once the vertical aspects are completed I'll post pics which should clarify things, in the mean time I'm scavenging spare $$ for the elements and stuff for my keg.

I took one look at your first pic and thought "steampunk".

I will shut up and follow closely if you don't mind.

I've got similarish things planned for the cooling lines on the Heart of Gold. Will be watching this one with interest :handgestures-thumbupleft: