Southernhighlander

Thanks Mike.  We will keep you in mind for sure.

Handlebend,  Go ahead and email me paul@distillery-equipment.com and let me know what sizes that you want quoted and we will quote them for you.

Thanks.

The largest stills currently listed on our web site are 800 gallon.  I thought that I should let everyone know that we have been building much larger stills.  We have sold lots of stills, mash tuns and fermenters that are over 800 gallons over the past few years.  Our bigger stills mash tuns and fermenters come in:

1,000 gallons

1,200 gallons

1,500 gallons

2,000 gallons 

2,500 gallons

If you are interested in equipment in these sizes please let us know.  417-778-6100 or 417-778-6908 paul@distillery-equipment.com

Pour decisions.  The size of your pressure relief and vacuum relief valves 1/2". 3/4" etc is based on the size of your still in gallons.  We are glad to size them for you. Also, you need a pressure relief valve at the top of your column or helmet on the pot or in the line arm.  If you want to turn your still into a steam still using your still's immersion heaters to create the steam, I have a device that I invented called an Open System Pressurization Module which allows you to create steam in a jacket that is open to atmosphere.  Email me paul@distillery-equipment.com and I will help you with all of this.

Robowop.

Did you get your agitator to seal?  If not call 417-778-6100 and ask for Tim. He's my employee that handles agitators, among other things, and he will help you get it lined out.

3 hours ago, robowop said:

Thank you to everyone who provided their insight into my problem.

I ended up making changes to my trap (added 1 large U Trap and removed the S Traps) and added a dip tube as suggested by @meerkatand @Southernhighlander and it drains beautifully now.

You are welcome.  I'm glad that we could help you.

A couple of the stills that we have built in the last few weeks.

On 12/8/2022 at 1:01 AM, Lisa Hemamo said:

"The flooding problem can be solved by adjusting the return flow, but this will reduce the alcohol concentration. From the picture scale, the diameter of the tower column is obviously smaller, so the best solution is to control the flow of heating steam to generate less alcohol steam, but this will prolong the distillation time."

 

Lisa,

In this situation, adjusting the return flow will not solve the problem nor will adjusting the heat input.  This still was built by someone who does not know how to design stills.  Due to the incorrect plumbing design, this column will always flood when someone attempts to use it correctly.

Many american companies give Chinese factories designs that will not work so that when the Chinese factories steal their intellectual property and sell it to others, the stills won't work and then the Chinese company does not know how to fix it.  

Robowop,

I'm sorry.   I didn't see the part about the air seal on your agitator until violent blue mentioned it.  If you haven't adjusted it yet you can call 417-778-6100 and ask for Tim.  He is our agitator expert and he will walk you through adjusting your agitator seal.  Concerning your flooding problem.  The advice that meerkat and I gave will solve the problem, however if you would like to pump the condensate I have a kit for that.  We figured out years ago that a tank with a float switch is not needed.  Our kit consists of a pneumatic pump, sight glass hoses and an air regulator.  

Below are a couple of the stills that we have built recently:  The first is a Pro Series Whiskey Still with heads, hearts, tails receiving tanks and CIP.  The still below that is an electric Baine Marie Standard Series gin still with CIP.

Hi WMD Tom.  Email me privately at paul@distillery-equipment.com

Meerkat has pretty much identified all of the problems. Back when I had my designs built completely by the Chinese, I put several flaws on the drawings that I gave the Chinese such as an S trap instead of a P trap, column condensate return lines that were level instead of down sloping and dip tubes that did not dip.  Once I received the equipment at my shop I had my employees correct the issues.  I put these flaws in to protect my intellectual property.  I knew that the Chinese factories passed design drawings around and I wanted to make it so that when they sold my stolen designs those stills would not work.   These particular flaws were the simplest for me to fix, which is why I chose them.  It appears that the Chinese company that sold Robowap this still, used one of my design drawings.  I apologize for the problems this has caused you Robowop but it was the only way that I could think of to protect myself.  Robowop my email is paul@distillery-equipment.com direct line 417-778-6908  I am glad to help you resolve your issues. 

Windy City.  I have just what you need.  email: paul@distillery-equipment.com

We can help you with that.  Email paul@distillery-equipment.com

That's great to hear Mike.  You are the man when it comes to chilling systems.

Work Press.  You don't gain anything with your design change idea and it could also cause safety issues.

I've been thinking about how to modify your still to solve your issues..  I have came up with one option for mash with solids and another for a liquid mash

The least expensive solution works with grain out mashes but not grain in.  Simply put some Camco ultra low Watt density water heater elements directly into your wash for faster heat up and run times.  You need 44kW total, including what you already have in the jacket.  To do this all that you need to do is add some element ports in the side of the pot above the  bottom jacket and add a 2nd controller

I have a simple fix for grain in mashes but the still's manway must be large enough for a welder to get inside it. How big is your manway?  Are you distilling on the grain or off? Can you sanitary tig weld and fabricate?

Workpress.

  Also a still should never be operating with no one at the distillery.  SSRs can fail in the on position or fail in such a way that the controller can catch fire and if no one is there the whole distillery burns plus connected or surrounding buildings could burn as well.  Did you build your own heating system and controller?     

My electric baine marie stills of this size have 44,000 Watts of power and the oil jacket covers the bottom and sides up to the top of the liquid level in the pot.  This gives a 1.5 hr heat up time.  Your still was really badly designed.  You are greatly limited due to the fact that you have very little thermal exchange surface area.  You can increase the Wattage but due to your limited thermal exchange surface area you will never get a decent heat up time due to the way the jacket and pot are designed.    

You would be a lot better off buying a new still.  I can put you into a new 150 gallon Baine Marie for less than $20,000  We can help you with financing etc.  paul@distillery-equipment.com 

Will you be fermenting and distilling on the grain or off the grain?

Pete's suggestion about getting your flanges welded in at the correct angle is your best bet.

On 5/29/2022 at 5:33 AM, Alex_Sor said:

Photos from attachments disappear somewhere

Thanks Alex.  I'm not sure why they disappeared.  I will ask the moderator.

Have you tried landscape nurseries in your area?  They will sometimes use it to make compost.  Another option is row crop farmers. They can put it in their manure spreaders and spread it as fertilizer.

You will need 3 column condensate pump kits to get correct functionality.  Also I would strongly suggest a thermostatic valve for dephlegmator coolant control.  We sell the pump kits and thermostatic valves.  Just email paul@distillery-equipment.com

4 hours ago, jocko said:

That is the exact area that I was concerned about. Especially if you are really cutting back on flow.

There is no reason for concern. As long as the bypass at the valve body is open a little, there are no issues. If there had been any issues, we would have changed the design years ago.  Redesigning won't gain you anything. 

13 hours ago, Old385 said:

10 years distilling using a two pot still double distillation setup. Beer and finish still both equipped with a thumper (technically - vapor not spirit feed). No operational or flavor issues but my finish still is failing and I am planning to replace it. Question is specific to the need to have a thumper in the new setup or is it overkill since the second still is acting as a doubler? Case of always done it but not sure if it is required. Appreciate input. Spirits are bourbon and rye whiskey.

I would love to talk to you about this over the phone.  Give me a call at 417-778-6908 and we can go over options.  You can also email me if you like paul@distillery-equipment.com