by Rolli » Tue Apr 26, 2022 7:43 pm
Hi all,
Thought I’d drag up my old thread, as I’ve recently decided to build a still (again), and after a series of huge changes in my life now is a much better time to dedicated effort in not only building but using a still!
Anyway, after re reading others advice here, and scouring the board plus other corners of the Internet, I think I’ve settled on making myself a CCVM still, with the ability to remove the reflux condenser and cap off the still head to run as a pot still.
My plan currently sits as a beer keg boiler. As I’ve moved houses, I no longer have the power available to me that I did years ago so it looks like I’ll probably have to run this off lpg bottles, as the house I’m in now only has a single 10A circuit for the gpo’s (and it’s a rental so I can’t change it).
I’m planning to have a 1000mm tall reflux column, then coming off a T piece back to a 500mm long shotgun condenser, and a coil reflex condenser at the head. Based on my research and someone’s suggestion previously, I’m planning to use 75mm copper tube.
Two big questions I have right now are, if the keg has a 50mm fitting, is it worth replacing it with a 75mm ferrule to match the column width, or will the restriction that low have negligible effect? Also, I’m struggling to find any copper tube locally (Rockingham \ Perth) presumably the copper prices being what they are has made it a scarce item in salvage yards. Is buying new copper through a plumbing store my only option? Or does anyone have a pearl of wisdom as to where to find suitable tube around Perth without the plumbing store prices??
If anyone has any comments or suggestions for my plan, I’m all ears!! And also thanks to all the folks that comments previously, it’s been a huge help to look back on and get clearer on a reasonable first step.
Cheers
Rolli.