Holstein replacement parts

[KaiWalk]

I'm dealing with an odd situation & need help sourcing info & parts. Here's the Cliff's Notes version.

This distillery was founded in 2005 & the guy bought a 600L Holstein. Two columns, 15 plates plus dephleg.  He was well-funded but oblivious to the hows & whys of distilling. He put it together himself with fellow investors & I've heard stories that they slung a ratchet strap over a gas line & hoisted parts that way. After running it a couple times & realizing he had no idea what he was doing, he started buying GNS, blending in back and lying to everyone about the product. (I'm not saying GNS is bad, just the way he went about it. TTB shut him down & fined him several times.) Long-story, short, he went out of business and some new partners came in & bought the building & equipment last October.

The original distillery was named "Spirit of Montana Distilling" and the new team renamed it "Spirits of Montana" with a goal of showcasing Montana-grown grains. Unfortunately, the original founder did business by short-paying, late-paying, or not paying everyone possible to the point where I am struggling with vendors because they think we're still the same outfit. Slowly, I'm able to get them to come around & do business with us , but to date, I have had zero-luck getting any help from the manufacturer. No response from the Germany people & their guy in California has promised me things several times and failed to deliver. I'm just guessing that the equipment was never fully paid for. Even if we completely changed names, they always ask for the serial # on the equipment.

I need to replace a broken sight-glass on one of the holding tanks, and the pump under the holding tanks also needs repair or replacement.

Those of you who operate Holstein equipment, where do you get parts?

[Southernhighlander]

I have nothing to do with Holstein but I am always willing to help someone with their still issues.  I may be able to help you with the pump and possibly even the sight glass.  Is the pump a Danfoss?  Please post pics and specs concerning the pump and sight glass.

[HedgeBird]

1 hour ago, KaiWalk said:

I need to replace a broken sight-glass on one of the holding tanks, and the pump under the holding tanks also needs repair or replacement.

 Those of you who operate Holstein equipment, where do you get parts?

If your talking about liquid level sight-glass replacements they are readily available all over the internet. Chances are Holstein did not manufacture the pump, and if there are parts that need replaced they are probably available online as well.  That or just replace it or find someone locally to fix it.

Perhaps Holstein is not getting back to you not because the still was never paid for, but rather because the don't want to bother dealing with $30 replacement sight glasses you can buy online and 5 year old pumps that are not under warranty?  If there are Holstein specific parts then that might be another story, but the stuff you listed seems like you should be able to address on your own.

[KaiWalk]

Thx Southhighlander, I may get back with you.

HedgeBird, I understand what you're saying with these parts. Previously, one of the guys broke a glass window on the column and everyone I went to, said I needed to go the manufacturer. I was forced to replace it with a stainless steel blank due to lack of response (or in the case of the their California person, hollow promises of delivery). Of course, the day after I did that, we found a box of spare parts in an adjoining warehouse and had 1 replacement window & 1 gasket.

[HedgeBird]

1 hour ago, KaiWalk said:

HedgeBird, I understand what you're saying with these parts. Previously, one of the guys broke a glass window on the column and everyone I went to, said I needed to go the manufacturer. I was forced to replace it with a stainless steel blank due to lack of response (or in the case of the their California person, hollow promises of delivery). Of course, the day after I did that, we found a box of spare parts in an adjoining warehouse and had 1 replacement window & 1 gasket.

https://elitecustomglass.com

Give these guys a call next time, or if you just want to have another pair of spares on hand.  I don't think they will tell you to go to the manufacturer

Like Paul said, tell us about your pump and sight glass.  While there probably are not a lot of folks on this forum who can help you with getting a response from Holstein, I doubt there are many parts on your still that this community cant help you find replacements for.