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Gen II 60 gallon Electric Bain Mairie Still


ViolentBlue

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Everyone that attended the ADI conference this last spring got to see our 60 gallon prototype

while perhaps a little rough around the edges, it functioned better than expected, and is now in Dallas Texas Making Whiskey.

Figured I'd like to show off Generation 2 of this design. Factory is finishing of 4 units in the next few days

2 with gin baskets in the head, and another 2 with Scotch Whisky style heads.

DSC02285.JPGDSC02284-2.jpg

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just arranged deposit on this last unit today, Looks like its on its way to Colorado.

once these units are delivered we will begin another batch. unless your anxious to get going, we can arrange yours to be started sooner.

Steve

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Placed my deposit on a 600 gallon with Steve yesterday. I too have been following him for some time. Really excited to get it and get started! I can't say enough good things about working with him.

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It's one of the biggest downfalls of international trade is copywrite infringement. Thank goodness you have a good reputation here Steve.

Congratulations on some fine builds...

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  • 3 weeks later...

we've had aflood of requests for larger versions of this design, I guess there are a lot of places that electric works better than steam.

I've been working on a variant of our 150 gallon hybrid still that uses a bain marie and electric heat.

good news, I've come up with a design that will work quite nicely, only downside is you need 3 phase power.

it really a modified version of our standard 150, with some changes to the steam jacketing, so it can operate as a Bain marie

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good news, I've come up with a design that will work quite nicely, only downside is you need 3 phase power.

We have a bit of experience having installed a 3 phase bain marie still, in our case 40kW. There are choices about how to wire up the heating elements, etc., can significantly affect wiring, meeting code, maintenance, etc. We are happy with what we have, but there were some hiccups along the road to getting the right solution. We STRONGLY suggest coordinating with your local electrical inspector and power company on this solution.

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Bluestar- We are meeting with our inspector(s) next week. What sort of questions would you suggest we ask when talking about 3 phase. We are interested in the bain marie still and want to make sure that we don't miss anything.

Thanks!

Roy

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our element system has a quick mount setup, for ease of setup and replacement.

all elements are wired individually and run back to the control system for maximum flexablility.

every component us UL and the assembly has been given a cursory approval by CSA (Canadian products safety Association) (controls system continues to evolve and improve, so we have to keep them informed of any changes of the High voltage side, as low voltage controls are considered inherently safe)

but yes you are correct there is much more involved than just sticking some elements into the still, ithere is a right way and a wrong way to do it. My background is in the Mechanical engineering field, with much experience on 3 phase industrial design and troubleshooting.

We have a bit of experience having installed a 3 phase bain marie still, in our case 40kW. There are choices about how to wire up the heating elements, etc., can significantly affect wiring, meeting code, maintenance, etc. We are happy with what we have, but there were some hiccups along the road to getting the right solution. We STRONGLY suggest coordinating with your local electrical inspector and power company on this solution.

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Bluestar- We are meeting with our inspector(s) next week. What sort of questions would you suggest we ask when talking about 3 phase. We are interested in the bain marie still and want to make sure that we don't miss anything.

Thanks!

Roy

First question: are you true 3 phase, or high-leg delta? 208 or 240? We were high-leg delta 240, and our manufacturer's OEM (Canadian) didn't know what that was, and so didn't understand the need to wire things up in a way to ensure that: 1) there is no common return (everything floats) and 2) the system must fail safe if any of the 120v legs go out or partially out (must remain balanced, or have a way to balance, against the 208 leg).

Regarding Violent Blue's comment on the elements: usually there is no problem with the elements per se, since they are usually all set up to float. But if you are going to have the feedthrough manufactured to meet the fire code requirements for explosion proof, then usually the wiring is captured in the epoxy. The safest course is to bring out all of the wires for all of the elements, and then wire them up in an explosion proof box attached to the feedthrough OR bring all of the wires back to the controller box for wiring up. We did the latter, although because of the number and current carrying capability of these wires, we had a pretty big explosion proof box attached to the feedthrough to connect our power wiring to the element wiring. Remember, the feedthrough box, wiring from the box to the controller box, controller box, etc., all have to meet code requirements for current carrying, voltage, fire protection, etc. We didn't get this right the first time, the controller box was too small for the current requirements and bend radii for the required wiring size. The OEM had to upsize the box to meet code. By ganging the elements in the controller box, if a single element goes out, we can manually remove an equivalent element on the other legs, and rebalance the 3 phases, allowing us to continue to operate with the remaining elements (we have 9, 3 on each phase). It even allows us later to upgrade the box to allow individual control of elements should we wish to do so. In our case, all 9 elements are on a single heater and feedthrough. Others may wire up multiple heaters with fewer elements, but the same principle applies, I would expect.

Let me add, we had to bring in a complete new circuit to the building to supply 40kW, and we had to work with the power company to do a load assessment to be sure the transformer was adequate for both the average and surge power draw. We were OK, but close enough to require some thought about duty cycle.

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ViolentBlue your stills are incredibly beautiful as always. If anyone needs a jacketed mash tun to go with one of ViolentBlue's 60 gallon stills, or any other still email me at paul@distillery-equpment.com or call 417-778-6908 The mash tun shown has a 60 gallon capacity and an agitator. The price with a digitally controlled electric heating system is $5,950.00 If you have a low pressure boiler and do not need the electric heating system the price is $3,650.00 We have several 60 gallon jacketed mash tuns at this time. We can supply jacketed mash tuns up to 1,000 gallons.

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SH, looks like a pretty good deal for mash tuns in that size.

you can mash right in the boiler of this still, but it is nice to have a dedicated tun so you're not tying up the still.

we have a 120 gallon mash tun that uses the same electric bain marie setup as the 60, but with a paddle style agitator for super thick mashes,

Steve

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