I just used my still for the first time, and it worked ok until the heating element died. Why did the element die so fast? It was a 110 1500w element,on my 20 gallon tank with a 30" reflux. The tank temp got up to about 165, and the top of my reflux colum got up to 140. I had about 13 gallons in the tank, and the element burned out after collecting about 1 quart of methanol. What is the best way to go with heating elements both size and use. I also had vapor coming out of the condenser pretty much the whole time it got up to temp, and it continued throughout the process, even when the reflux temp was low with no methanol dribbling yet. what were these vapors? IT seemed to have a boiler water smell, but the still didnt get hot enough to boil water. The element was fully submerged, and only lasted 3 hours. am I missing something here?

Was the element a nice long one, perhaps it even curved back on itself? Or was it a short stubby element. One reason I can think of is not enough surface area so the glyc burnt on to the element. You might try a long one rated for 240 but run on 120.

Try looking for a "sandhog" element They are used where the mineral content is very high.
I have a 5500w that is somewhat "S" shaped and doubled back. It is about 18" long and very low watt density.

Tony

It was the short stubby element. Today i'm gonna take it out to examine it. If i run a 5500w 220 element on 110 what would the actual output be? I assume it is 1/4 power,is this correct? Any ideas If the vapers I was getting are safe?

are you circulating your glyserin?? the best element i found to work is a 4500 watt 240 volt use it at 240 volt until up to temp then hook it up to 120 volt,and let it run, but you must circulate the glyserin . if your condenser is built right. there will be only liquid coming out . and oh yes a sand hawg is the way to go

Just my 2 cents
Ronnie

If you are circulating, why step the element back down to 120?

I have tryed using a 120 element and a 240 volt element . 240 volt 4500 watt running at 240 volts drives the heat to hard. backing down a 240 volt element to 120 volts drives the heat just right. I get high grade methanol from my still . I use the methanol from my still to make 160 liter batches and have never had a bad batch from using recovered methanol.there are lots of threads on this site on this subject.
that is where I got the info to make my still work as good as it does as for circulation if you don't circulate , you will burn elements . how do I know ,because I have burned a couple . when I first started . the element in my bio diesel still and the element in my glyserin still are at least 2 years old .......



Ronnie

While the pot was heating, it sounded like the glycerine was boiling, sort of like a perculator coffee pot, would that be enough movement? I only had about 12 gallons in there,probablly all I would ever put in there at one time. Looking through all the threads,I see people who circulate, and people who don't. Is circulation the best way to go? My condenser is 3' of 3" pvc with about 18' of 1/4 copper coil with my garden hose feeding it.

I don't have a still but I think I remember some friends had to go to a bigger diameter copper line than you are using to get good results. They also had to put in a motor driven stirrer.

I use a 5500W/220V element at 110V. You are correct that is 1/4 wattage at 110V.
I have done 15-20 30 gal. Glyc. batches with no problems. It does run a little hot at the end of the run. I am installing a PID temp controller now. It will control head temp at 154F for better purity.

Bob

Same set up as mine Bob, The PID and a thermocouple at the condensor head works very well. I have been getting 97% or better with this set up. I use my processor (GL) as my still so I get to use the venturi for distillation and it does seem to get out the methanol at a lower pot temp.

Tony

The 110 1500w element had glycerine burnt on it. I just got a 5500w that i'm going to run on 110, it's 13"long, and doubles back. It says lifetime warrenty, so i'm assuming homedepot will exchange it if it burns out. I'm Thinking about bubbling air through the bottom to get some circulation with my compressor with low psi. Would this work, or could i simply shake the still every so often to get movement inside? I like the pid, but I want everything to work before I start adding on. I'm also thinking the vapors I was getting was smoke from the element burning the glycerine. I assume this smoke is probablly not to good to breath in. I did have a flow of methanol until the element burnt.

It's been a while since you posted, but after significant methanol exposure due to my ignorance, I wanted to post a personal alert. Please do not breath anything coming from a methanol recovery tank, or for that matter, expose yourself to open containers of methanol, including window washer fluid (some are up to 90% methanol), biodiesel before methanol recovery, initial wash water from your biodiesel, whether or not you do methanol recovery, certainly not methoxide, or glycerol. Nor get any of these on your skin.

Methanol is a potentially deadly nuerotoxine that is cumalative in your system and very difficult to cleanse from your body. It can cause permanent liver and kidney damage, loss of vision and other nasties. And those body parts just aren't cheap! Besides dizziness, an ability to think clearly, massive headaches, and extreme lower back pain, you also get a general lack of interest in life. My experience came primarily from treating my gravel roads with glycerol and wash water before doing methanol recovery. I now have a fresh air full face mask with filtered air and a 75 foot hose that I use whenever I am handling any of these.