That’s a FOR SURE! The boiling point of ethanol is 173.1; the boiling point of IPA (or ISO) is 180.5 and the boiling point of water is 212. If BPA is present, it can be released at any of these temps, but it can also be released at alarming rates at temps hovering around 150, or even less!
@Stiggy, if your distiller is made in China and has plastic parts that are in contact with warm to very hot water, chances are rather high that you’re leaching BPA into the final product. 
Thanks Guys That us what I thought and never used it for anything that would be consumed
Waste of 90 dollars
I guess I could make hand sanitizer
Put it on ebay, @Stiggy! I was searching for weeks for a good deal on a used stainless steel Megahome, then ended up with 3!! I put 2 on ebay and sold them within 48 hours, and at enough of a profit that it paid for the one I kept and the ebay fees. After COVID hit, the demand for distillers went through the roof!
PNH
Can you make high grade alcohol with yours?
The one I have has the vent in the coil so mine is not able to do so.
I don’t know. I’ve never looked into it, but if it requires temperature control like the one @Shadey has, then no - at least, not efficiently.
Yeah it does require temp control, otherwise you get a lot of water vapour in with the alcohol vapour and end up with a low alcohol %.
Thanks Guys @shadey and @Purple-N-Hairy
I knew this answer just figured I check it with you guys in case there is a work around to using the cheaper ones just for hand cleaner to battle this Virus
I recently purchased one and will be trying it out Christmas day when the cure is finished. I have the exact same one. What temp and time do you usually set it for, does it ever burn to the bottom and if so would I be better off adding a little water and doing a double broiler method so it doesn’t? Prob going to start with 2 cups infusion. Tired of messing with this magnetic hot plate stirrer.
Hi LittleGrow, welcome to OG.
If I am making alcohol, I run the still at 85c on the first run and then just a couple of degrees above the alcohol boiling point on the second run through.
If I am making weed oil I run it around 90c and check it when the reclaimed alcohol is close to the amount put in for distilling.
I use a small double boiler to finish off removing the last alcohol remnants from the oil.
Thank you I really appreciate it. So do I need to mess with a broiler set up in the still? Ever had your still burn the oil if you didn’t catch it in time?
Only once, and the oil is still stuck on the bottom of the still about 5 runs later. Its gradually comming off. I have some cleaner that came with the still, I should give it a try.
You will be better off doing the double boiler, I find it much easier filling my syringes from that, than the distiller. There is always some left over in the double boiler pot, so don’t use anything you want to use for something else. Also why you don’t want to finish it in the distiller.
For those who are going to use a still for the alcohol you are going to soak the weed in, make sure to do the appropriate cuts. First, about 30 - 50 ml at the beginning to get rid of the methanol. Then, start collecting in 100-150ml amounts to separate the heads, then the hearts (the good stuff) and the tails (the fusel oils). You will be able to tell when the good stuff starts and ends and depending on what you fermented, you may want to keep some of the transitions. While it is not going to be drank, the heads and tails will impart weird flavors (wet dog, wet cardboard, turpentine, nail polish remover, etc) to it and may remain to the end. Just my $0.02 from someone that distills to drink.
Exactly right!
I use a fermented sugar wash which I think minimizes the congeners produced.
The fores (marked by the acetone smell) is a wonderful cleaning solvent. Keep that for cleaning bongs, grinders etc.
The heads For me this is around 200ml, I cut by taste. I’ve been saving and adding with the early tails.
The hearts I now make a fairly narrow hearts cut, this is for drinking.
The Tails The early tails are mixed with the heads for tincture extraction.
This combination is also known as feints. It is also the parts that give whiskeys their unique flavours.
My ‘smell marker’ to stop the tails collection is the onset of the ‘mothball smell’ of the higher alcohols.
I’ll add a little hearts to the faints if the flavor is strong. My THC tincture is used to make chocolate edibles so the added flavours in the faints are really beneficial.
Cheers
G
So how much are you distilling when you get your 200 ml. Just trying to figure out mine as I want to have a go at making Maple whisky, every time the wife finds a nice one to buy they switch it to a cream whisky luquior 
Figure if I can make a decent one myself I can save a few bucks. I still have about 30lbs of sugar, for the wash, as well as 20lbs of organic malted barley, I use for top dressing my plants lol.
I have been trying to find out whether the Maple syrup is added in the wash or after distilling.
I’m doing 23L batches of sugar washes.
I do three separate stripping runs then combine those and do a ‘low and slow’ spirit run.
I’m running a column still (not a pot still) so that simplifies the cuts. That also means my final product comes off close to the azeotrope (95%).
I’ll bet money the maple syrup is added in after distilling. You’re in the right part of the country to get “the good stuff” too. I’d be looking for dark or medium grades. A Gallon jug would be the right size for make a batch…
This is starting to sound like an interesting project… 
Cheers
G
True, when I am doing a whiskey (usually from grain) I do go into the heads, a small bit, and a bit deeper into tails.
With a neutral spirit, though, I would stick to the hearts. I tend to yield about 25% less on vodka than whiskeys because of it. You are correct, though, that sometimes you want a bit of the “grit” to enhance flavor. I don’t know if you want too much of it in a tincture you are just dropping, though.
For me, the only time I recycle feints is when I do whiskey or something like that. I will add my feints from my vodka runs to that, but not vice-versa.
You’re only getting 200ml of hearts out of 23L of wash?
If you are running a reflux column, are you using plates? You can get almost 97% running 4-5 plates and get to “everclear” level for the soak. Myself, I haven’t made the investment, I use a column, but just pack it. It slows it down but I don’t get more than 80-82%. Though it works fine for me for GD.
That’s where I’m at right now, trying to ‘dial in’ the cuts for tincture. If I go a little wide on the cuts I can compensate by adding some hearts but if I’m too wide… put it aside and throw in on the next spirit run for a ‘do over’ 
Sometimes I’m a ‘slow learner’… 
Cheers
G
Sorry, 200ml of the fores gets me to the heads cut.
I’m getting about 3.75L of hearts.
What are the dimensions of your column? Mine is 2" copper pipe (packed with copper material, similar to pot scrubbers) about 42" long.
I built mine but nowadays I’d just order it, there are some great products available in the states.
Cheers
G
That’s a bit more like it 
I got mine from a place here in the US, premade and use something similar to a Digiboil for a vessel (in fact I bought the Digiboil still lid for it. It’s 2" stainless about 24" tall. It has been good, but I just got an 80L pot that I am converting to boiler/mash tun/fermenter/still and am going to probably get a few sight glass/plates as I am mostly doing neutral spirits and vodka and can always take them off for pot still stuff. Still would consider myself as an amateur, though rising in the ranks.
Would love to be able to get good enough to be able to share high proof stuff to others as here, we can’t get anything above 120 proof (so much for being in a “progressive” state)
BTW… be careful of scrubbies. Most of them are only copper coated and will flake off in your collection. I actually got full copper mesh from one of the brewing sellers on line. Can’t remember which one, though. Have gotten a few things from Lion brewing on ebay (in fact, come to think about it, I think that is where I got the column) and they have some good stuff at reasonable prices. Give them a look.