Well shit! and all I was bringing to the table was a picture… Just call me Ralph. 
Cheers
G
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That looks good 
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I was going t do a second and possibly a third run, but I seemed to be loosing too much of the available alcohol each time.
My pot still only has 3/8" copper tube running up from the pot all the way to the condenser, so going to 3/4 would be a nice jump up. Plus its what I have available.
From what you are saying, it sound slike doing three hard runs with a simple pot still would be faster than a slow run through a reflux pipe? Does the reflux pipe slow things down that much?
Now that you bring this up, I remember some references to one or two drips per second - which is pretty slow.
The closest thing I can find is some denatured alcohol:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klean-Strip-1-gal-SLX-Denatured-Alcohol-Cleaner-GSL26/100139444
The MSDS says it contains somewhere between 30% to 60% ethanol, and 30%-60% Methanol. It also has up to 1% Methyl isobutyl ketone ( MIBK ) - which sounds like nasty stuff.
As near as I can tell it has the following concentrations:
Klean - Strip ® Denatured Alcohol has between 40 – 50% ethanol and 50 – 55% methanol.
So it sounds like this would work fine. As far as the nasty 1% Methyl isobutyl ketone ( MIBK ), I guess I could do one run through the still to strip that stuff out. It has a higher boiling point than water, so most of it should get left behind with a single run.
At about $16 per gallon, I would not have to worry about recovering any after washing the bud and making the RSO.
I like this idea!
Im not worried about having a significant amount left in the final RSO. If Im running a THC product, it I do the decarbing when I process the rso at temps in the 220-240F range. That will be more than hi enough to boil off all the methanol.
Even doing CBD, I end up going above 212F to “dry it out” after the ethanol evaporates.
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That looks very cool! Way outside what I want to get into though 
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well darn no you will want pure methanol, that MIBK stuff you probably don’t want. Here we can find methanol pretty easy as a solvent but i know stateside it harder and there is always usally a mixture of things.
As for a reflux still slowing down things, yeah it does cause your vapour and liquid go up and down your column a few times in order to separate out and purify, like past runs if running a stripping run i could probably get a 15 liter batch up and going and done in 45min-1hr, where as a reflux depending on how much your pulling off as there is a balance to it, would take 1.5-3hrs depend on my starting amount
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Like most folks, I run the stripping runs fast and the spirit runs ‘low & slow’. ‘Low and slow’ gives me great heads and tails compression and the cleanest product but takes about 18 Hrs. to process (23~25L).
The flip side is “there is no such thing as ‘waste heat’ in a Canadian winter” 
Cheers
G
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I found some pure methanol, but its almost as expensive as Ever Clear when you factor in shipping. Plus you cant buy it unless you are a school or business. They wont ship to residential addresses.
So that leaves the denatured alcohol. I would think the mix of methanol and ethanol would be fine.
As far as the MIBK, its only 1% max concentration, and it has a boiling point in the 240F range. I would assume that doing a stripping run of the denatured stuff, before I used it on any bud, would leave the MIBK behind as well as increase the concentration of the other two alcohols.
What do you guys think?
Thanks for answering my next question before I asked it Yeah, thats way slower than Im interested in at the moment. I will stick to the simple pot still and just plan to do more than one run.
Edit: @ReikoX - you have any thoughts on the whole using denatured alcohol thing?
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My you guys have been busy on this thread! I have some catching up to do! I have been quite busy, getting the garden prepped and whatnot, and trying to learn a new style of growing to boot. I’m glad to see this thread is still kicking. I’m sure there’s lots of great information I’ll learn.
A stupid man wouldn’t have figured out that it was the copper! Good catch. It’s easy to overlook such things.
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I’m interested in what you find for a replacement for the methyl hydrate. I went to Home Depot and Lowe’s in California and I couldn’t find anything that looked suitable for a substitute. I can’t even get ISO right now to clean bubble bags. Maybe I can find a moonshiner.
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Yeah, I cant find anything at any kind of reasonable price around here. I even checked the local liquor store where I have bought Ever Clear before and they dont have any in stock and no clue when they will have any again - plus the price has almost doubled.
I would even be willing to try Isopropyl alcohol, but you cant get it either.
So it looks like its try to distill the denatured alcohol to remove the MIBK, or brew your own and distill that.
Im still leaning towards trying the denatured alcohol, but I need to fix my still pot so it doesnt leak. I think the main problem was the stock pressure cooker gasket I used. It is unevenly swollen, so Im guessing the alcohol vapors damaged it.
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Personally, I would stick with grain alcohol for anything I’m going to put in my body, but that’s just a personal preference.
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(sigh) Unfortunately, I agree with that.
It occurs to me that maybe it would still be cheaper to distill the denatured alcohol to remove the methanol and the MIBK.
That would end up costing less than the stuff I would need to make another 5 gallons of wash. It would also be many times faster.
Each gallon of the denatured alcohol is roughly 50% ethanol to start with, which is a lot more concentrated than my wash. Thats actually almost exactly where I was after the first round of distillation.
The critical question is can I really get rid of enough of the MIBK to be safe. Im pretty sure distilling would do that, but…
Ive got some time before I need more alcohol, so I guess I will ponder and Google some more…
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My intuition says that wont work or they wouldnt add it to “denature” it. What about distilling lower proof grain alcohol? I can usually find it pretty cheap at around 80 proof.
By the way, that’s totally legal because you have already paid the taxes on the alcohol.
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This would be my choice as the 80 proof stuff is already ‘food grade’ and only contains alcohol and water.
You would lose 70% or more of the output as water left in the still.
They don’t really like you increasing the proof as that is also what tax is based.
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That worries me too, but the MIBK has a boiling point of 243F, so it should work. In theory, more of it should stay in the still than anything else. The methanol should pass over first, then the ethanol, then all the water, then the MIBK last.
It should be like making cuts - the methanol would be the first cut because it boils at the lowest temperature, then the ethanol would be the hearts cut, then just leave the water and MIBK in the pot.
Of course, you always get some carry over. Its that carry over I worry about. Just exactly how poisonous is MIBK. I mean, the methanol is alread enough to make it deadly to drink, so why add the MIBK? Smell? Or does it make you throw up before you can drink enough to drop dead or?
I’ll have to check on that. The booze taxes are crazy around here.
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Ok, Im giving up on distilling the denatured stuff. For one thing, that hi a concentration of methanol will be dangerous to handle. I also cant find any reliable info on how to safely remove the MIBK that isnt way to complicated and/or expensive, and/or iffy sounding at best.
Apparently, just simple distillation is not enough.
I will try to find some cheap vodka, but so far it isnt looking like its going to be all that cost effective around hear. My state has the highest liquor taxes in the country.
I have found some750ml bottles of 80 proof vodka for $7, but its plus another $6 in taxes, so thats $13 for 300 ml of pure alcohol after distillation, or about $43 to make a full liter. Thats plus the small cost of running the still.
Thats cheaper than buying a liter of Ever Clear, but still more than I wanted to pay. Of course, Ever Clear, and isopropyl are is unavailable at the moment so options are limited.
Its distill some cheap vodka or do more sugar wash runs.
Well cr@p.
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Ive decided to give this up for the time being and try dry ice hash again - maybe.
The first and only time I tried making dry ice hash, I totally screwed it up. I got maybe 1/10th of what I should have and wasted most of my harvest. I was so disappointed I threw the bags away.
So I would need to spend at least $25 on new bags from Amazon, plus another $18 for dry ice = $43
So thats the same out of pocket cost to do dry ice as to distill a liter of high ABV alcohol from cheap vodka.
The difference is a relatively long duration, but low physical effort distillation process, plus rebuilding my pot still, vrs a relatively short duration, but hi physical effort dry ice hash run.
I think I can get by with less physical effort next time I do dry ice, so thats the direction Im leaning, but that may change.
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Got a sawzall?
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Tim ‘the tool man’ Taylor solution!
I love it - that is genius!
Cheers
G
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I do! Actually, I have a corded and cordless models.
I like this idea a lot. I have been tossing around ideas for how to shake or roll or vibrate a 5 gallon bucket, but this is much better!
I wonder if you could use silk screen instead of bubble bags, and it if would be strong enough? Are the mesh sizes on silk screen the same as those listed on bubble bags?
Also, I dont need to grade my hash. Its all going into tincture or GD anyway, so Im thinking a 120 screen is all I need?
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