Reflux still in the making

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Reflux still in the making

Postby RuddyCrazy » Saturday Aug 24, 2013 7:19 pm

G'day Guy's,
This week I'll be finally getting the roll of 1/2" annealed copper pipe to make the condensor for the relux still I made a few years ago when I made the pot still. I have noticed the pot pic in the applejack thread has gone so is it ok for me to post pic's?

Anyway it is made from 2" SS pipe and tig welded to food standard by myself, the base of the still is a milk fitting so it is easy to connect and disconnect so the scrubbers can be taken for boiling to be cleaned. I also put in a SS threaded fitting where the T junction goes from the stem to the evaporator.

Now as it can take hours to do a batch I'm going to automate it and log the data, a DS1820B temp sensor will be at the top the pipe to measure temp and another one will be on the pot to prevent flash over. The water line to the condenser will be connected with a valve with a hobby servo to control the water flow. I'm using a 12 volt flojet pressure pump and a 200 litre drum of rainwater as the cooling system.

For the heating I'll also be putting a valve with a servo so the gas flow can be adjusted to keep the temp right.

This will all be controlled by a pic32 running MMBasic with a VGA display and date logging to a SDCard.

Now I can supply pic's but I do need to check first if I can and it will be shown on a 5 litre SS can for the boil pot, I won't talk about the other pot either.....

When I put thru 4 litres of Canadian Blonde thru my pot still and watered it down to 28% the liquor tasted like velvet going down the throat, no hard bite.....

One of my daughters threw all of her apricot pits into a plant pot and put potting mix in without telling mum and now we have 49 in the first batch and 21 more to come ready to be potted. So if any Adelaide guy's want apricot trees give me a yell....

Anyway enough to start and I do want to log my work but if it is deemed on the wrong side kill this thread and I'll go about my own way.

Cheers Bryan

P.S. All my attempts at HB have what you say worse than fosters so I found the way to make it right just do a bog standard HB kit for $10 then put thru the still then water it down to safe levels. It will be the BEST spirit one has ever tasted......
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Re: Reflux still in the making

Postby Tipsy » Wednesday Aug 28, 2013 12:26 pm

RuddyCrazy wrote:ok for me to post pic's?


Fine with me, I love pics :)

RuddyCrazy wrote: Now as it can take hours to do a batch I'm going to automate it


Your not going to run it unattended are you?
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Re: Reflux still in the making

Postby RuddyCrazy » Monday Sep 23, 2013 6:49 am

Got a Q for you guy's, Finally got some 1/2" annealed copper and trying to wind it into a coil to fit inside the 3" SS tube is proving impossible. So how would it go with the tube being on the outside of the SS tube as I do think it will still provide enough cooling but I can't say I've seen it on a reflux still before.

Cheers Bryan
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Re: Reflux still in the making

Postby Tipsy » Monday Sep 23, 2013 9:57 am

The coil really has to be in the vapor path.
You'll struggle with 1/2". I did mine out of 1/4"
It does restrict the flow a lot. It set up a relief line back to my tank so I didn't burn out my pump.
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Re: Reflux still in the making

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sunday Sep 29, 2013 8:09 pm

G'day Guy's,
I found a spring type bender in my dad's gear so had a go at winding the coil, first attempt wasn't too bad but got a major kink and O'well second attempt on the way. Decided to try the sand method so spent close to an hour pouring and packing sand in a length of pipe only to have it kink again. So onto the third attempt with just using the spring bender and YAY got it, seven coils high and after cutting the slot it pushed in nicely.

Image

I trimmed the cutout to suit the lower pipe then welded it back on

Here is a pic from the top

Image

Also worked on the new pot and still need to weld on some legs and secure the lid with some tightening bolts.

Cheers Bryan

Edit: there was no way I could see on how to upload photos so I had to put them on my FB page but it would be nice to have an upload on the this forum directly so links can't get lost in time.
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