Never leave a still unattended

Discuss safety issues here.

Never leave a still unattended

Postby TheMechwarrior » Wed Apr 29, 2015 12:13 pm

There's a couple of "professional" distillers in critical condition at the moment.
http://www.wlwt.com/news/2-hurt-in-dist ... y/32568832

Before photo
Image

After photo
Image

More news:
http://news.yahoo.com/blast-injures-two ... 21505.html

They left the still running overnight and unattended…with no controls.
You can see from pictures around the net they had no idea of safety.

Stay safe,

Mech.
TheMechwarrior
 
Posts: 1007
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2011 1:43 pm
Location: Tasmania
equipment: Five Star Distilling 6" neutraliser with
100L boiler

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby WTDist » Wed Apr 29, 2015 12:29 pm

Did a google video search and watched a few news clips on this.
it goes to show even professionals may not be professionals. A little concerning :wtf:
I hope no one here leaves their still unattended, if if you do not anymore.

Im wondering what the verdict will be on what caused the failure? :wtf:
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby thedarkmesh » Wed Apr 29, 2015 2:09 pm

Apart from fire safety equipment always have one of these handy...

Image
thedarkmesh
 
Posts: 233
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2015 12:05 pm
Location: Sotuh-East Vic
equipment: Turbo Boiler + 5 Star 4" Modular Still

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby MacStill » Wed Apr 29, 2015 6:12 pm

What an insurance nightmare that'll be :))
MacStill
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 16835
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 1:40 pm
Location: Wide Bay QLD
equipment: Anything I choose :P

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby 1 2many » Wed Apr 29, 2015 6:21 pm

I find it hard to believe that they would leave it running unattended. :wtf:

I can't fathom it, must be more to it. :-B
1 2many
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 4217
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:08 am
Location: Where the sun shines
equipment: Portable A.G brewery ,#001 5 STAR blockhead 4" Modular 4 plate SSG with,6"inline thumper, 2.5" 9 tube shotgun, packed section, Boiler 50 ltr inverted keg 4"still mount, 2.4 Kw FSD elements 1"drain.

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby rumdidlydum » Wed Apr 29, 2015 6:32 pm

I wonder if they were using gas? I know of one simmilar event where a cold storage used lpg as a refrigrrant and when the alarm went off fireman broke down the door not knowing lpg was used on site and the whole place exploded. 1 fireman lost his life and several badly infured.
Just my thoughts any way.
Check your gear before each run :handgestures-thumbupleft:
rumdidlydum
 
Posts: 2619
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:20 pm
Location: CQ
equipment: The infamous Illuminated chicken leg boiler, Rum glass and other bits and bobs

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby 1 2many » Wed Apr 29, 2015 6:36 pm

rumdidlydum wrote:I wonder if they were using gas? I know of one simmilar event where a cold storage used lpg as a refrigrrant and when the alarm went off fireman broke down the door not knowing lpg was used on site and the whole place exploded. 1 fireman lost his life and several badly infured.
Just my thoughts any way.
Check your gear before each run :handgestures-thumbupleft:


I know a guy that used to gas his car AC with lpg, it works but you wouldn't want to crash it. :scared-eek:
1 2many
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 4217
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:08 am
Location: Where the sun shines
equipment: Portable A.G brewery ,#001 5 STAR blockhead 4" Modular 4 plate SSG with,6"inline thumper, 2.5" 9 tube shotgun, packed section, Boiler 50 ltr inverted keg 4"still mount, 2.4 Kw FSD elements 1"drain.

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby TheMechwarrior » Wed Apr 29, 2015 7:38 pm

The were running propane.
TheMechwarrior
 
Posts: 1007
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2011 1:43 pm
Location: Tasmania
equipment: Five Star Distilling 6" neutraliser with
100L boiler

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby 1 2many » Wed Apr 29, 2015 7:44 pm

TheMechwarrior wrote:The were running propane.


What for there chilling?
1 2many
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 4217
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:08 am
Location: Where the sun shines
equipment: Portable A.G brewery ,#001 5 STAR blockhead 4" Modular 4 plate SSG with,6"inline thumper, 2.5" 9 tube shotgun, packed section, Boiler 50 ltr inverted keg 4"still mount, 2.4 Kw FSD elements 1"drain.

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby Muppet » Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:15 pm

There's something strange about that second photo... I see no shrapnel, no broken glass. It doesn't look like an explosion at all. Mabey a fire but not a catastrophic explosion like it being made out. :think:
Muppet
 
Posts: 633
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 3:33 pm
Location: WA
equipment: T500, 4" 4 plate copper bubbler ;)

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby Whiskyaugogo » Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:53 pm

It is strange there is no 'bits" everywhere, but have a look at the operation (running this continuous?)

LBL_spencer.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Whiskyaugogo
Site Donor
 
Posts: 649
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 2:48 pm
Location: Canberra, Australia
equipment: To be updated

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby WTDist » Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:16 pm

What is that setup? Doesnt look too profesional :shock:
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby TheMechwarrior » Wed Apr 29, 2015 11:17 pm

I believe the boyz from "Moonshiners" visited his distillery.

He's from a family of bush distillers I believe, he decided to go pro.
It just looks like his distillery is missing a great deal of the fire marshal standards with respect to Ex rated equipment and safe design.

Some things just don't translate well from the bush when scaled up and locked in doors.
TheMechwarrior
 
Posts: 1007
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2011 1:43 pm
Location: Tasmania
equipment: Five Star Distilling 6" neutraliser with
100L boiler

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby choppy » Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:36 am

I asked my brother to watch my pot still for 30 minutes one day as I had to go to school to collect a sick child, when I got back he was gone - he decided to walk up and check the surf!!

Safe to say he no longer gets asked to watch the still, and no longer gets any samples either.

Leaving an unattended still may have worked for you once, maybe twice, but eventually something will happen and the results could resemble something like that photo.
choppy
 
Posts: 298
Joined: Fri Jul 11, 2014 8:25 am
Location: Newcastle, NSW
equipment: PD reflux still
home made pot still
50L boiler x 2
100L fermenter x 2
50L fermenter x 2

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby WTDist » Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:48 am

My still is never unattended. if i leave the room to do something for the kids then my wife is in the room, ha even though she hates it. loves the booze, hates the obsession :laughing-rolling:
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby Pete8686 » Thu Apr 30, 2015 9:02 am

Just thought I'd add in my experience for other novice distillers who may not understan the importance of leaving a still unattended. I had many runs on my my boka and following the advice on this forum never left it un attended. After some time and no issues I thought I could get away with doing some housework after changing my cut jars, leaving my still running in the garage heated by a gas burner. One day I went out to discover that one of my water inlet had come off and ethanol vapors were spewing out the top of my column, it had the potential for disaster :angry-banghead: needless to say I have not left it un attended since. Another example was a late night boka run, stupid me fell asleep while my cut jar was filling up. I awoke to find that it had overflowed and run down the table and about 15cm from my burner. What a fucking idiot :violence-smack: I learned my lesson before anything disasterous happened, luckily. So anyone that thinks they know how their still operates and trusts that nothing will go wrong, think again. Anything could happen
Pete8686
 
Posts: 215
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 9:36 am
Location: Melbourne
equipment: 2' stainless boka, copper coil. Homemade pot

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby WalterWhite » Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:48 pm

Had an interesting couple of experiences today.
My second run at stilling and it had the potential to go all kinds of wrong!
First off I am using an old very basic still ....

image.jpg


Notice that it doesn't have any kind of seal around the boiler lid!

I decided to pack the bottom section (below marble) with SS scrubbers to see what difference it made compared to my first run! Well it did make a difference ... As soon as my wash came to boil the lid started bouncing around and the wash was boiling over .... I stopped it immediately.

Once cooled I removed 2/3 of the scrubbers and started the run again.

This time it started really well with the fores coming out super quick. Then the heads all coming out at about 4min per 50ml at 85% ... Much better than without the packing.

As my run continued it still seemed to be doing great until I noticed it start to slow. I fiddled with the water cooling and messed around for about 20 mins trying to work out what was going wrong. Then I noticed the very faint bubbling of liquid around the rim of my boiler lid again. That's when I also noticed it was warm and a bit whiffy in the laundry! I opened the door and wafted like mad at the same time as unplugging my boiler.

I'm pretty sure this was dangerous. Even if it wasn't I gave myself a good scare and I was sat watching the thing the whole time!

No more scrubbers for me ... I really need to save like mad and buy a proper rig from FSD!
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
WalterWhite
 
Posts: 527
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 12:34 pm
Location: South Australia - on the Fleurieu
equipment: 35L Digiboil with power control, 2” copper pot combo with optional extended column.

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby rumdidlydum » Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:41 pm

Mate i think its time to park that rig up.
Good that you noticed a problem before the worst case senario.
You need to get a seal for it or let it gather dust :think:
rumdidlydum
 
Posts: 2619
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:20 pm
Location: CQ
equipment: The infamous Illuminated chicken leg boiler, Rum glass and other bits and bobs

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby WalterWhite » Thu Aug 27, 2015 10:18 pm

You are definitely not wrong mate.
I have already emailed Mac about an element and possible attachments for my keg. At least then I will be rid of the boiler with all its leaks!!
WalterWhite
 
Posts: 527
Joined: Sun Aug 16, 2015 12:34 pm
Location: South Australia - on the Fleurieu
equipment: 35L Digiboil with power control, 2” copper pot combo with optional extended column.

Re: Never leave a still unattended

Postby tipsy » Fri Aug 28, 2015 11:40 am

rumdidlydum wrote:Mate i think its time to park that rig up.


:text-+1: You can pay a high price for cheap alcohol.
tipsy
 
Posts: 863
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 1:34 pm
Location: South Gippsland, VIC.
equipment: 4" Mac 4 with packed section and gin basket on a 50lt boiler with 2 2400w FSD elements.

Next

Return to Safety Discussion



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests

x