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InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time
Derbybud
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure about your graph but knowing alcohol turns into a vapor at 172f I would set that thing as close to 175f as I could. Anything higher and your not stripping as much water away from the alcohol.
When using my pot still I back my heat down to where it barely sounds like a snare drum once it starts coming out my worm. The lower the temps the higher the concentrate coming out to a point.
Like someone else said scrubbing the water away is what you're trying to achieve to get higher % or proof. A column still does this the best. It can take 10% low wines to 91% in a single run. That's 192 proof in one shot. It does this by its design of being a column that's packed with stainless steel scubbies and marbles. As the vapor travels up the column it attaches to all the surface area and pulls the water away from the alcohol. It just keeps doing that going up and down in the column until it's as close to 100% alcohol and travels out the top to the worm which turns it back into a liquid by cooling it.
My pot still has nothing like that in the upper chamber so temp is the only way I can get the proof higher is too run it slow and numerous times to strip the water away. I believe what you purchased is a open chamber and would act pretty much the same.
So slow and low temps will get you there the quickest.
When using my pot still I back my heat down to where it barely sounds like a snare drum once it starts coming out my worm. The lower the temps the higher the concentrate coming out to a point.
Like someone else said scrubbing the water away is what you're trying to achieve to get higher % or proof. A column still does this the best. It can take 10% low wines to 91% in a single run. That's 192 proof in one shot. It does this by its design of being a column that's packed with stainless steel scubbies and marbles. As the vapor travels up the column it attaches to all the surface area and pulls the water away from the alcohol. It just keeps doing that going up and down in the column until it's as close to 100% alcohol and travels out the top to the worm which turns it back into a liquid by cooling it.
My pot still has nothing like that in the upper chamber so temp is the only way I can get the proof higher is too run it slow and numerous times to strip the water away. I believe what you purchased is a open chamber and would act pretty much the same.
So slow and low temps will get you there the quickest.
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- #23,983
Thanks Derby! Nice to have a moonshiner on the site. 
The graph shows that 100% ethanol has a lower boiling point than more dilute (lower proof) ethanol does, which is why I boiled the first batch closer to 185º and the second batch (which was now at a higher proof) at 180º. I was going to do the last run at 175º but couldn't get the concrete courtyard to that temperature
.
I appreciate your help in moving me down this road.
The graph shows that 100% ethanol has a lower boiling point than more dilute (lower proof) ethanol does, which is why I boiled the first batch closer to 185º and the second batch (which was now at a higher proof) at 180º. I was going to do the last run at 175º but couldn't get the concrete courtyard to that temperature
.I appreciate your help in moving me down this road.
Quite the adventure you are having here the last few days. The whole mad scientist idea of re distilling Everclear was fun.
But man I would have loved to see the doorbell cam on you dumping it all. Mrs Shed must have called you a few choice names....or she was out, cuz you wouldnt want her to see this booze infused, fire hazard of a project and maybe, just maybe, you dodged a bullet.
For Science!!
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- #23,985
I was really looking forward to seeing how close to 190 I could get through the re-distilling process, so that ending bummed me out probably more than the $100. In the end it was just a side show though, and not truly part of the QWET-to-cart project.
And my wife felt bad for me because she knows how much this stuff means to me!
And my wife felt bad for me because she knows how much this stuff means to me!
Highya ITS,
Everyone makes mistakes. And yes, everyone makes big mistakes!! Yours didn't cost an arm or leg, or house, or anyone's life. You just found a way that didn't work for you. Now you can change your process if you decide to try again. I hope you can put this behind you and move on. You have a great contribution to 420 magazine. So, a smile, a stiff upper lip, and a positive attitude will have you enjoying all this again!! Happy Distillin'
Everyone makes mistakes. And yes, everyone makes big mistakes!! Yours didn't cost an arm or leg, or house, or anyone's life. You just found a way that didn't work for you. Now you can change your process if you decide to try again. I hope you can put this behind you and move on. You have a great contribution to 420 magazine. So, a smile, a stiff upper lip, and a positive attitude will have you enjoying all this again!! Happy Distillin'
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- #23,987
Thanks for the support Bode! I've got the smile and stiff upper lip, but no one can see it under my mask.Highya ITS,
Everyone makes mistakes. And yes, everyone makes big mistakes!! Yours didn't cost an arm or leg, or house, or anyone's life. You just found a way that didn't work for you. Now you can change your process if you decide to try again. I hope you can put this behind you and move on. You have a great contribution to 420 magazine. So, a smile, a stiff upper lip, and a positive attitude will have you enjoying all this again!! Happy Distillin'
The 200 proof Extractohol has been delivered, so I should be starting this process tonight. Dehydrate and freeze the bud, and stick a jar of ethanol in the freezer if there's room (damn counter-depth fridge!).
Oof. That happens when your feet are on the wrong legs. Sorry for your loss.Okay, so now I'm back to square one and out $110 dollars. And guess what...I could have bought 200 proof Extractohol (for the same price FFS) and never even gone through this whole triple distilling process or had to spend money on a hydrometer. I am such a fool, a clumsy clumsy fool.
Oof. That happens when you're caught thinking why your feet are on the wrong legs. Sorry for your loss.No use crying over spilled booze? I didn't have time for tears anyway this morning, and then the top flew off my CBD oil bottle when I shook it this morning...all over the kitchen.At least I got to work safely...
Please, if you're not home from work already, drive safe.
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- #23,989
Good, you made it home safe!MrS, but that was yesterday.
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- #23,991
I was worried about making it to work yesterday, particularly with the foot/leg thing and the fact that I drive a manual!
I thought you were worried about going to work because things happen in three's. I never pay attention to post times, not my strong point.
smokesbetter
Well-Known Member
thanks for the link Shed , don't know if i want to go down that road or not though. 
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- #23,994
If you do, you have a lot of folks here to help you with the process.
No plant pics today (got up too late) and I didn't get to dehydrate any bud last night because my wife was baking a pie! I did want to say
to a fellow member here who sent me something to broaden my cultural horizons! We'll watch it this weekend and I'll write a review that might be longer than "it gets me high"!
oopssteptinit
Well-Known Member
Hiya Shed, sorry to read about the "Oof". I've tended to do that often in my life, hence the handle.... Your gals are looking good. Probably a dumb question, but the gals that you are spraying with GA3, are they receiving the regular nutrients that a typical female plant would receive? And, once the other gals have been pollinated, are the nutrient needs the same as a typical flowering female? Driving one-legged with a manual tranny is tough, you be careful out there. Thanks again for allowing dumb questions, and grow brother, grow.
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- #23,996
No dumb questions here oops! I'm treating all the GA3 plants the same as I would any other plant at that stage of development. And the (hopefully) seeded one will be as well.
They're all on 4.5g/gallon of Megacrop at the moment, except the one I'm testing with Geoflora. That gets top dressed with 3 Tbs from the veg bag every two weeks.
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- #23,997
Happy Thursday all! Time for an update on what's going on at my place these days...
Leading with a plant pic, it was time do the tighten up with bamboo and pipe cleaners on the Colombian Gold 2, flip day 46:
It should fit through the doors a bit more easily now.
Moving on to the QWET-to-cart project, I got the Extractohol 200 proof ethanol:
A bottle in a bag in a box in a box. Very secure! Here it is, and you can see the pie that hogged the oven Tuesday night in the background:
I pulled out a jar of Golden Tiger, weighed out 30g, and put it in the oven at 170ºF (as low as mine will go) for about an hour to dehydrate it.
Out of the oven it was 27g and went into a ziploc bag that I sucked the air out of:
I filled a mason jar about 2/3 full with ethanol and put it in the freezer with the bag o'weed.
I'll leave it there until this weekend when I'll do the 30 second quick wash and coffee filter strain, and then it goes back into the freezer for winterizing. In the meantime, I'm on the hunt for 2 micron 90mm round filter paper to fit the Buchner filter I'm going to buy for the final straining. I'll give you an update on that when I have it all sorted out.
That's it for today, but remember that Friday is check-for-ball-sacks-on-the-Candida-GA3 day!
Leading with a plant pic, it was time do the tighten up with bamboo and pipe cleaners on the Colombian Gold 2, flip day 46:
It should fit through the doors a bit more easily now.
Moving on to the QWET-to-cart project, I got the Extractohol 200 proof ethanol:
A bottle in a bag in a box in a box. Very secure! Here it is, and you can see the pie that hogged the oven Tuesday night in the background:
I pulled out a jar of Golden Tiger, weighed out 30g, and put it in the oven at 170ºF (as low as mine will go) for about an hour to dehydrate it.
Out of the oven it was 27g and went into a ziploc bag that I sucked the air out of:
I filled a mason jar about 2/3 full with ethanol and put it in the freezer with the bag o'weed.
I'll leave it there until this weekend when I'll do the 30 second quick wash and coffee filter strain, and then it goes back into the freezer for winterizing. In the meantime, I'm on the hunt for 2 micron 90mm round filter paper to fit the Buchner filter I'm going to buy for the final straining. I'll give you an update on that when I have it all sorted out.
That's it for today, but remember that Friday is check-for-ball-sacks-on-the-Candida-GA3 day!
oopssteptinit
Well-Known Member
You're perfect that way! Note: You were successful in the process!
And that's why there's a bust of you on my mantle.