The name “ten” itself stands for tubular electric heater. This phrase hides the design of a fairly simple device used to convert electrical energy to thermal. The heating element consists of a tube bent in a certain way, in which a spiral is hidden. To increase thermal conductivity properties, the space inside the tube is filled with magnesium oxide or some other substance. The spiral is made of nickel-chromium wire, ensuring a long trouble-free service life moonshine still and with heating element.
What are the features of this type of heater? The closed design provides a high level of fire safety. Ten is not afraid of mechanical shocks, contact with liquids and vibrations. It is practical, reliable and completely safe. That is why heating element very often acts as a heater for a moonshine still. Why does a distiller need this device? In order to be able to use the equipment without the use of additional gas or electrical equipment
How to choose a heater for a moonshine still?
It’s worth clarifying right away that not every heating element should be built into a distillation cube. A conventional heater in contact with mash will quickly fail. Moreover, the processes of oxidation and corrosion that occur during the operation of a moonshine still with heating element can spoil both alcohol-containing raw materials and the final product. It is best to choose a stainless steel element as a heater for a moonshine still. How to choose power? This parameter can be easily calculated using the formula, where P is power, V is volume in liters, T is the time required to heat the mash (hours), t n and t k are the initial and final temperatures. (insert formula)
Choosing a heater for a moonshine still is quite simple, but the same cannot be said about the procedure for introducing it into a distillation cube. Not everyone can do this. Therefore, before you decide to modernize your distiller, really evaluate your strengths and capabilities. In return for your efforts, you will receive universal equipment with a moonshine still heater. Such a distiller can easily be taken to the country house, to the garage, or to any place where there is a standard outlet. By the way, it’s also worth thinking about voltage in advance. On sale you can find both 220V and 380V devices.
For those who doubt their abilities, it is best to purchase a ready-made moonshine still with a heating element and a thermostat. Such a device will not only allow you to do without fire, but also organize the temperature regime more competently. A moonshine still with heating element and thermostat is excellent option for beginners.
In addition to heating the distillation cube with mash on a gas, electric or wood-burning stove, you can use a heating element for a moonshine still and operate it wherever there is electricity, without being tied to a specific place.
If earlier built-in electric heaters were rarely used in man-made ones, today both home craftsmen and manufacturers of equipment for distillers install them in their products.
By searching the Internet, you will find many models of devices equipped with heating elements from various manufacturers. This is not a tribute to fashion, but a desire to create competitive equipment suitable for a demanding client. Let's look at why they are attractive and learn about their shortcomings.
The self-heating still for making moonshine has both its loyal supporters and fierce opponents. To understand why this is so, let's look at its strengths and weaknesses.
Pros
Among the advantages it is worth noting:
- mobility of the device. He can stand somewhere in a corner and quietly do his job. At the same time, without occupying the stove, on which it is impossible even to cook lunch for several hours (and sometimes the whole day);
- possibility of installation in distillation large volume cubes– from 40 liters and above. If you install heating elements in them, you won’t have to ask for help to lift them onto the stove with mash or remove them after moving;
- another problem disappears: often a moonshine still with and/or does not fit on the stove under the hood, and one equipped with its own heater does not need this;
- Acceleration time accelerates mash until operating temperature, at which alcohol vapor begins to actively evaporate;
- full possible automation distillation process.
Flaws
There is no perfection in the world, so heating elements also have dark sides:
- high energy consumption, which will not have the best effect on utility bills;
- the possibility of particles of mash sticking to the heating element, especially if it is thick, and burning. As a result, an unpleasant aftertaste appears in the final product;
- the cost of devices with heating elements and electronics that control heating is higher than conventional ones heated on a stove.
Please note. To reduce the cost, you can equip the moonshine yourself heating element apparatus ohm (or, which is sometimes more convenient, two).
What does it consist of and how does it work?
TEN is an abbreviation, and the full name is tubular electric heater. The device consists of:
- metal tube of various shapes: loop, curved, twisted in the form of a spiral or double loop. The tube is often made of stainless steel, but is also found in copper and alloys;
- the internal filling is a heat-conducting electrical insulator (magnesium mixture, quartz sand), and in the depths there is a nichrome (sometimes fikhral) thread wound in a spiral. The power of the device depends on its thickness. The internal spiral must have a high electrical resistivity for heating;
- two output pins;
- sealing bushings;
- nuts for fastening;
- terminals for connecting an electrical cable.
After assembly, sealing and electrical insulation, the heating element can be put into operation.
Carefully. Heating elements designed to operate in liquid (and these are the ones installed in cubes) cannot be used “dry”.
This will invariably lead to their failure, and also threatens with explosion and fire.
In fact, an electric boiler is also a heating element. And the operating principle is the same:
- Electric current passing through the filament heats it up.
- The thread (spiral) transfers temperature to the filler.
- The filler heats the walls of the tube, which in turn heats the liquid in which it is immersed.
How to choose?
In order not to be disappointed in the purchase, you need to take the choice of a heating element seriously and take a number of points into account.
1. Power. For moonshine stills, heating elements from 1 to 3-5 kW are selected, depending on the volume of the cube and the desired distillation speed. In fact, there is even a special formula for selection; if you are interested, you can find it on the Internet. But, based on practice, they are most suitable for a cube with the following volume:
- up to 10 liters (7 – 8 liters of mash can fit in it) – 1 kW;
- up to 20 l – 1.5 – 2 kW;
- up to 30 l – 2.5 – 3 kW;
- 35-40 l – 3.5 – 4 kW. 5 kW is also possible, but in this case it is better to take 2 heating elements (for example, 3 and 2 kW), and during initial heating, turn on both, and when the temperature of 63 ° C is reached, turn off one of them.
2. Method of operation of the device. For this you need a heating element to work in liquid.
3. Design configuration. It is important that the heating element fits normally into the cube and that the mash completely covers it “with a reserve” and does not boil away until the heater is exposed.
Installing a heating element in a distillation cube
This task is not difficult and anyone who has at least a minimal understanding of the operation of electrical appliances can cope with it.
- At a distance of 5 cm from the bottom of the cube, make holes for the mounting brackets of the heating element. It is better to do this with an electric drill using a suitable crown. Clean the holes.
- Place sealing bushings on the output studs, then insert the end switches into the holes.
- Also put on sealing bushings on the outside.
- Place a little heat-resistant sealant or prepared epoxy glue into the hole between the bushings and only then tighten the nut, but without fanaticism, so as not to break the heating element before starting operation.
- Place the stripped wire between the terminals for connecting the electrical cable and clamp it.
- If you have a thermostat, connect that too.
- Securely insulate connections.
Carefully. Terminals clamped with excessive force can cause premature failure of the heating element.
Therefore, do it tightly, securely, but do not overdo it.
Temperature regulation
The first way to regulate heating is to monitor and turn on/off the heating element. This is exactly what they did 20 years ago, because special household appliances, which would monitor and itself act as a switch and switch, it was very difficult to get, not to say impossible.
But why bother yourself so much if a thermostat today is not a novelty, and it’s not so expensive that it’s “unaffordable” for the wallet.
Today, many online stores offer thermostats. Typically, those that allow you to regulate the temperature up to 140°C cost from 2 thousand rubles. For the same money, you can find one and a half kilowatt copper heating elements online along with a rod thermostat equipped with protection (single or double).
Separately, a thermostat up to 95°C can be found at a price of 680 rubles. For moonshine equipment, this is more than enough, because the mash is not brought to the boiling point of water.
It is precisely because of the possible burning of the mash, especially if the wort is thick, that home craftsmen make combined heating. On one side, a heating element is mounted into the cube, and on the other (possibly next to the electric heater) there is a steam generator tube twisted at the bottom with an open end in the middle of the cube.
When distilling liquid (for example) mash, use a heating element; for distilling thick wort (grain, jam, etc.) use a steam generator.
Important. It is possible to equip the steam generator itself with a heating element and even make a common connection to the thermostat for the heating elements of two devices.
DIY device - subtleties of the process for beginners
If you decide to equip the distillation cube with a heating element, then make sure that the components of the apparatus make it possible to obtain high-quality homemade alcoholic distillate or raw alcohol.
To do this, be sure to equip it according to all the rules by adding to the system:
- with a coil. This part does not raise questions, since it is mandatory for distillers;
- , in which remains most fusel and the final product becomes cleaner from impurities;
- tsargu () - with or without filler. Although not an obligatory part of the apparatus, it helps to purify the moonshine and obtain raw alcohol of 80 - 85 degrees;
- a bimetallic or electronic thermometer, under which a capsule made of a metal tube is installed in the upper part of the cube.
To understand why a thermometer is required in a distillation cube, it is enough to know. Alcohol evaporates at temperatures from 78.4 to 85°C. Everything that evaporates below this indicator (and begins to drip already at 65°C) are heads saturated with poison: methyl alcohol, acetone, and other light components. It's better to send them to the sewer.
Reference. An experienced moonshiner will determine the number of heads not only by temperature, but also by smell.
Typically these first drops make up up to 10% of the total distillation. You can calculate it another way - 50 ml from every 10 liters of mash in a cube.
When the heating passes the 85°C mark, harmful fractions begin to be actively released along with the vapor of ethyl alcohol (which is what we need). These are tails that still contain alcohol, but are already saturated with fusel, which can cause severe illness and even... Tails are selected separately. You cannot add them to the body of moonshine. But you can not pour it out, but add it to it during the next distillation - the yield of moonshine will increase.
To obtain moonshine that is superior in quality to store-bought brew (not to mention counterfeit), a thoughtful, modern approach to distillation is required. A heating element with a thermostat, a thermometer and properly selected attachments will help with this.
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Preparation of moonshine and alcohol for personal use
absolutely legal!
After the collapse of the USSR, the new government stopped the fight against moonshine. Criminal liability and fines were abolished, and the article banning the production of alcohol-containing products at home was removed from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To this day, there is not a single law that prohibits you and me from engaging in our favorite hobby - preparing alcohol at home. This is evidenced by the Federal Law of July 8, 1999 No. 143-FZ “On Administrative Responsibility legal entities(organizations) and individual entrepreneurs for offenses in the field of production and circulation of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products" (Collected Legislation Russian Federation, 1999, N 28, art. 3476).
Excerpt from Federal Law RF:
“The effect of this Federal Law does not apply to the activities of citizens (individuals) producing products containing ethyl alcohol for purposes other than sale.”
Moonshining in other countries:
In Kazakhstan in accordance with the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses dated January 30, 2001 N 155, the following liability is provided. Thus, according to Article 335 “Manufacture and sale of home-made alcoholic beverages”, illegal production of moonshine, chacha, mulberry vodka, mash and other alcoholic beverages for the purpose of sale, as well as the sale of these alcoholic beverages, entails a fine in the amount of thirty monthly calculation indices with confiscation of alcoholic beverages , apparatus, raw materials and equipment for their manufacture, as well as money and other valuables received from their sale. However, the law does not prohibit the preparation of alcohol for personal use.
In Ukraine and Belarus things are different. Articles No. 176 and No. 177 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses provide for the imposition of fines in the amount of three to ten tax-free minimum wages for the production and storage of moonshine without the purpose of sale, for the storage of devices* for its production without the purpose of sale.
Article 12.43 repeats this information almost word for word. “Production or acquisition of strong alcoholic beverages (moonshine), semi-finished products for their production (mash), storage of apparatus for their production” in the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses. Point No. 1 states: “Manufacturing individuals strong alcoholic drinks (moonshine), semi-finished products for their production (mash), as well as storage of devices* used for their production - entail a warning or a fine of up to five basic units with confiscation of these drinks, semi-finished products and devices.”
*You can still purchase moonshine stills for home use, since their second purpose is to distill water and obtain components for natural cosmetics and perfumes.
A tubular electric heater is a metal tube (copper, stainless steel, aluminum) into which a chromium-nickel spiral is inserted. The gap between the inner walls of the tube and the heater is filled with a special dielectric powder that conducts heat well but eliminates electrical contact. The powder used is dry quartz sand of the smallest fractions or periclase (magnesium oxide in crystalline form).
Heating element, contrary to popular belief, is not a new invention. Patent for schematic diagram A similar heater was issued back in 1859 in the USA (the inventor was engineer Simpson). The powder-filled ones were granted a patent by the General Electric Company in 1915. Their novelty lies in the fact that they have only been allowed to be produced outside the United States since 1955.
Every person who has an old-style electric kettle or a household boiler is familiar with the heating element - an indispensable attribute of all Soviet business travelers. TEN are produced in the form of a tube bent in the form of a paper clip or in the form of a one or two-turn spiral on long legs. Some elements are filled not with sand, but with dielectric oil, but such heating elements are relatively rare.
You can install the heating element yourself
If desired, the heating element can be installed on any device with a steam chamber. To do this, just drill two holes for the heater in the tank and secure it there, sealing it securely.
The electrical outputs of the heating elements are isolated from the housing with ceramic inserts, which prevent breakdown. If the heating element's spiral burns out, which can happen during prolonged operation in an airy or dry environment, the spiral simply breaks off and the heating element stops heating. There is an opinion that if the spiral burns out, it may become deformed and touch the body, which is unsafe. Yes, such a danger exists theoretically, and it is possible that out of thousands of heating elements, a breakdown will occur in yours. It’s better to play it safe and throw away the burnt-out heating element. It is almost impossible to repair them, and buying a new one is not too burdensome for the budget.
Moonshine stills with heating element
The design of a distiller with a steam steamer or a rectifier with a heating element differs from a conventional one only in the presence of a heater built into the volume of the evaporator. A moonshine still with a heating element works on the same principle, and there is no need to consider the operation of the remaining parts. We are interested in the evaporator.
A special feature of the device is that the mash is in direct contact with the heater. The heating area is small, which leads to the occurrence of complex thermodynamic processes in the volume of liquid. At a time when the liquid in direct contact with the heating element is already heated to boiling point, the neighboring areas are still cold. We have to wait until convection currents level out the temperature and the boiling process begins throughout the entire volume. For cubes with a capacity of 10 - 15 liters this is not a problem, but for forty-liter cubes the preheating time increases significantly.
The heating elements are installed near the very bottom of the vessel, so the mash is heated more or less evenly throughout the entire volume. But there is another problem here - an electric moonshine still is prone to burning the mash. To eliminate this unpleasant phenomenon, which spoils the taste of the finished drink, the mash should be strained, allowed to stand for several hours and strained again through a fine sieve. Pieces of yeast or flavoring particles contained in the liquid may burn. By straining and settling the mash, it is possible to reduce their quantity to a minimum.
Calculation of heating element power
When choosing a device with a heating element or making it yourself, you should remember that there must be at least two heaters, or one powerful one, but equipped with a power regulator, electronic or mechanical.
It is enough to equip a moonshine still with a heating element with a volume of up to 25 liters with heaters with a power of 1 and 1.5 kW, or one 3-kilowatt with a regulator. With a volume of 25 - 40 liters, heaters of 1.5 and 3 kW or one of 5 kW will be required. This is determined by the operating mode - the electric moonshine still is first turned on at full power for rapid heating, then, especially when working with a steamer or in the rectification mode, the more powerful heating element is turned off and distillation occurs more slowly.
Having an electric regulator is much more convenient than two heating elements. In this case, the temperature can be adjusted very smoothly, which is especially important in devices with a distillation column.
Such a regulator can be purchased separately; even if you have a device with two heaters, connecting it is easy. It is convenient to do this on a higher power heating element.
Once you acquire some skills in working with an electric moonshine still with a steamer, you no longer want to go back to a conventional one. Industrially manufactured devices, for example, “Saturn”, “Umelets”, “Vesely bearded man”, “Bavarian” are equipped with a steamer, some with a bubbler, thermostats, thermometers and other accessories that allow you to turn the process of moonshine brewing into pure pleasure.
When purchasing a device with a heating element, pay attention to what material the heater body and the cube itself are made of. If they are made of stainless steel or copper, then there will be no problems. Aluminum products are not only harmful to health, but also short-lived - electrochemical corrosion will quickly render them unusable.
The second thing you should pay attention to is the cost of electricity. Heating elements are quite voracious and can “wind up” a decent amount in one distillation session. When using the device once or twice a month, it is practically unnoticeable, but with more frequent use it becomes noticeable.
Experience shows that electric moonshine stills, especially the latest models, are much more convenient to use than traditional ones. Give it a try.
In the recent past, when artisanal moonshine production was a forced measure, the vast majority of home stills were installed over an open fire. Now that moonshine brewing has begun to gain popularity as a creative hobby, interest in distillers that use electricity for heating has sharply increased. Such a solution is moonshine stills with heating element. We will talk about them in this article.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Like anything with an electric heating element, it has its pros and cons.
The advantages of such distillers include:
- There is no need to install the cube on a stove or other heat source. Firstly, modern devices equipped with additional systems for removing excess fractions are often simply impossible to place on a burner due to their large dimensions. Secondly, you can put the device in a far corner where it will not interfere.
- Heating elements can be used in large-volume distillation cubes, since there is no need to move them to the stove and back.
- Using a heating element, you can more accurately regulate the temperature and even fully automate the process.
- Heating occurs much faster.
There are also disadvantages:
- The high cost of moonshine stills with heating elements.
- Energy intensity of the distillation process. Such a distiller is a fairly powerful consumer, creating a load on the network and increasing energy costs.
- Scale formation on the surface of the heater. This may subsequently affect taste qualities product.
Which heating element for a moonshine still to choose
When choosing a heating element, they are guided by the volume of the distillation cube. The higher it is, the more mash will have to be heated. There are special algorithms for calculating power determination, but they are usually used in industrial distillation, when the time and amount of energy expended are large, and the accuracy of the calculations is high cost.
At home, the following rule is quite applicable: for every 10 liters of distillation cube volume, 1 kW of heating element power is required.
Temperature control
One of the main advantages of using a moonshine still with a heating element is the ability to accurately regulate the temperature. The advent of thermostats freed distillers from the need to monitor the thermometer and turn the heating element on and off manually.
You can find it on sale today huge selection such devices. Thermostats are supplied either built into heating elements or separately. For home brewing, a device designed for temperatures up to 95 °C is sufficient.
It is recommended to uniformly heat liquid in cubes with a volume of over 20 liters using two heating elements. There is also the option of combining them with a steam generator. This is necessary when distilling high-density mash to avoid burning. In such cases, it is advisable to connect all heaters to one remote thermostat.
Installation of heating element
So, to use electricity during distillation, you need a moonshine still with heating element. Such equipment can be purchased ready-made or made independently.
Installing a heating element in the distillation cube of the apparatus is not difficult at all. This can be done by anyone who has an understanding of the operation of electrical appliances, at least in general terms. It is necessary to use a heating element designed to work in liquid. It must fit completely into the cube so that it always remains completely covered with liquid during operation.
During installation, pay attention to maintaining the seal of the cube. Do not pinch the fasteners and contacts.
