Re: Re:Mathanol Still

The still is going back to Greg on Friday for warranty work.

Seth

On 9/25/06, Felix Kersting <[email protected]> wrote:
> Friends,
>
> At this point I have copied this to all the lists as everyone seems to
> be interested.
>
> No, Braising is a means of cooking using a butter or oil to brown meat
> and then simmering in a small amount of liquid or broth.  Not to be
> confused with stewing, which completely covers the meat with liquid.
> (sorry, couldn't help it!)
>
> Brazing is joining 2 metal with a liquid filler that melts at a temp >
> ~700°F and lower than the melting point of the base metal.
> Traditionally done with brass.
>
> Soldering is uses a soft filler material that melts below 700°F (AWS
> members feel free to correct me).  Soldering is what is normally done on
> copper plumbing in domestic water systems.
>
> A good torch (and experience) is needed for brazing - a propane turbo
> torch, or acetylene/air rig or oxy/acetylene, and brazing rod.
>
> I suggest sending the tower back to Greg for a warranty repair.  He has
> the equipment to make it happen (and hopefully the time.  I suggest a 5
> or 10 psi pressure test.  solder a 1/2" male adapter on the distillate
> outlet and cap it.  Test with soap solution.
>
> I have a thermostat that will work for this water heater if someone
> wants to pick it up from my house.  You can by them at Home Depot or
> anywhere.
>
> Regarding safety concerns, we were testing on the concrete pad, using
> the hose for cooling water.  The most critcal part of this experiment is
> having a solid base and plenty if clear working room.  This isn;t
> something that should occur out in the grass, and fall over during
> operation.
>
> If someone wants to write an SOP for testing, be my guest, but be
> prepared to be on-site to help, please.  You will be hard pressed to
> find a less flammable alcohol. especially since we mixed the glycerin
> with 50% water before we started.   Please read the entire email below
> so you are fully apprised of the results of the first test.
>
> More than anything, we need an experienced hand or two help get this
> going.  Seth would beat me up if he knew I wasn't working on the site
> code review!  My suggestion is to rope Greg (the Scrounge) & Amanda into
> this. From the conversations I have had with them, both understand the
> equipment and have done the process.
>
> The next time I have to fool with this may be the weekend of the 7th.
> Let's try to get Felix, Amanda and Greg there at the same time and try
> to crank this up.  If a time other than the weekend is better, let me
> know - I think that a work party might not be the best time, since this
> takes some a fair amount of focus.  On the flip side, I don't think
> anyone should work on site alone.
>
> Zac - can you facilitate getting the tower to Greg (the Machinist) to be
> fixed?
>
> Thanks to all.  Keep suggestions coming to keep this moving forward.
>
> Felix
>
>
> Zac Imboden wrote:
> > Is the braising like the type used on regular copper pipe? I've done
> > that before (for a high pressure line to my washing machine). As for
> > the materials, if you can get me started on where to get the stuff,
> > I'll arrange to pick it up.
> >
> > What's the minimum we can get by with for our next experiment? I'm
> > thinking fix the braising, and get a working thermostat. The water
> > heater brand is "Reliable" but from what someone at the site said (the
> > astronomer), thermostats are pretty standard.
> >
> > I think the filling tee can wait, can't it?
> >
> > Someone told me there's a parts store on Division that sells all kinds
> > of replacement parts for appliances. (I'm thinking about the thermostat).
> >
> > On Sep 24, 2006, at 9:06 AM, Felix Kersting wrote:
> >
> >> Friends,
> >>
> >> Well, the good news is that we know what it will take to get the
> >> still ready for a test run......
> >>
> >> There were a myriad of problems getting the still up and running.
> >> We didn't discover that the bottom stat on the water heater was bad
> >> and we weren't heatiing until 11:30 (thanks, Ron!)
> >>
> >> We then had to bypass the thermostat to get any heat into the water
> >> heater. We over heated the glycerin in about 10 minutes (while we
> >> were very distracted by newbies wandering around and setting up to
> >> pump WVO for a member from Vancouver...)  When we returned to the
> >> tower, it read about 200°F, and steam was relieving from the T&P, and
> >> leaking at the braze on the bottom of the tower, where the female
> >> adapter meets the reducer.  We shut down and called it a day.
> >>
> >> We need:
> >>
> >> hose washers for the cooling water
> >> another hose to redirect the waste cooling water
> >> fix the braze on the tower
> >> thermostat for the bottom element on the water heater
> >> Add a 3/4 tee to the top of the tower for filling/venting
> >> either another T&P or a 30 psi relief valve (about $7 from B100 supply)
> >> A thermometer to replace the top element would be very useful (the
> >> elements are 1" pipe thread)
> >>
> >> I am not available next weekend.
> >>
> >> More later,
> >>
> >> Felix
> >>
> >>
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------------------
> > Zac Imboden
> > [email protected]
> > 1534 SE 35th Place
> > Portland, OR
> > 97214
> > 971-563-2477
> >
> >
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
> mixmasters mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://lists.gobiodiesel.org/mailman/listinfo/mixmasters
>