Hi everyone,
I've been lurking around the forum for a few weeks now, finally decided to sign up and get serious about building my first reflux still.
I started looking at building a still a few years back when my mate showed me his internal reflux still, but I just got busy with other shit and never got around to actually building my own. Wasn't until recently that I watched the "Moonshiners" TV series and got all fired up again to build a still. I've been reading a heap of information about reflux stills including The Compleat Distiller and lots of threads on this site, and now that I'm getting close to starting my build I just have a few specific questions I was hoping some of you might be able to answer...
1. I'm thinking that either the valved reflux design from moonshine-still.com or the vapor management still in appendix 6 of the compleat distiller are the designs I'd like to go with. How do the two compare?
2. For a boiler, should I go with the Turbo 500 boiler or the Essencia 25L/3kW model? Can I use the Essencia boiler running on both elements for a fast boil up and then turn one element off for the rest of the run? Or am I just better using the T500 on its single element for the entire time?
3. Column diameter - I had 2" in mind but I see a lot of you say they take a bit too long to run, so maybe I should go up to a 3"?
4. Thermometer. I've been looking everywhere on the Internet for a nice dial thermometer for the top of my column, I prefer the look of them over a glass thermometer or a digital thermometer. The closest I've seen so far was a beer brewers one which had all the beer making temperatures marked on the dial. I was just after a nice simple dial say 0-120 degrees, maybe in a brass housing? Any ideas?
Most of the parts I need I have already found/priced so once I decide on these couple of things I should be set.
Look forward to everyone's thoughts.