This is the reflux rig we designed by looking at several different rig designs found on various sites. It has a 2" column 48" tall with a 8 gallon Stainless milk can as a boiler. The cooling coil is 1/4" copper hand coiled to appx 2" outside diameter then set inside 3" copper collector. We have ran it one time so far and while the still works perfectly our recipe was not so good as I don't think we pitched enough yeast and we also had some sanitation issues. All these resolved and with some modifications to the water lines we are ready to try again. I found a simple sugar wash that will go into the fermenter this next week and I'll post the results.
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Not sure what a LM is, if you click the picture it gets larger I think.

It is a bit tall but manageable. it does have reflux or liquid management needle valves. We have since secured the cooling lines and have a pump to move the water vs stretching a garden hose. The idea of installing a heating element in the boiler is one that occurred to me today but I have limited panel service in my garage as it would require at least a 50 amp breaker. We

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50amps.....dude your just heating a liquid not cooking the world!!!!!! I dont mean to sound like a smartass but I have built several of these and they absolutley do not require 50amps to supply. If you check back through the forums you'll find that I even posted the wattage and amperage of the unit in heatup and in full cooking mode. That is.....one element in a 8 gallon boiler. I think you may find that the garage will do fine once you get accurate facts.
I even used a 4500 watt element in mine but of course I wont get that much heat - but you'll be pleased when it done."

Thanks Rick, I did the math this morning and I have several options however I have zero room left in my service panel. I mis-spoke a bit when I said it would call for a 50 amp breaker. What I meant was that my service panel is full and it is only a 50 amp panel. (I didn't build the shop/garage) Local code requires 100 amp min now so I would have to change the entire panel. It would not be as simple as adding a 20 amp circuit to the existing service. I promise to be careful :) I will post another picture when we do the next run and I think you will see that the whole thing is not as haphazard as it appears here. Thanks everyone for the input. I look forward to learning from each of you.!!!

It is open, doesn't build much pressure except a small amount in the boiler because the column is 2". We are adding a thermometer to the boiler so we can see the differential temp between the top of the column and the boiler. I say that because on our only and first run so far the only way I could tell we were making ETOH was I was watching for vapor rising from the condensor. Crude I know but we are learning. All in all it has been a great experience for me because I thought at my age I had learned all I ever wanted to. Now I am motivated and the war department is happy to have me out of the house.

Yes Sir and good for you......The research I have done told me with this type of system once your column was hot not to push the vapors thru the condensor, turn the heat down so that all was getting condensed.....thats why I ask that question, lol I wanted to know if it in fact did work as described........thanks for clearing that up for me.....maybe I will feel better about pursueing this rig........I like the concept!!!!!!!!!

Hawk the one we built (pictured) will operate as a pot still by simply closing the reflux valve and removing the packing. We have had one run but the wash was bad and our "neutral" ended up tasting like lighter fluid. I poured it in my truck and burned it. We are going to pot still an apple brandy that has finished fermenting and we are clearing it now. The wine itself is really good, in fact so good that I hate to still it. I look forward to great success with it. We also have another sugar wash that is coming along nicely and I expect a good run with it as well. The sugar wash just started a few days ago and we plan on running both in about 2 weeks. I will post the results. Oh and thank you, we worked hard at it, the column is 2 inch and the condenser is 3 inch with a cooling coil from 1/4 inch copper that we hand coiled, that probably took as long to get right than soldering the rest of the rig. It's a little top heavy so we have to secure it topside so as not to have an accident. The picture was taken after we finished it but we have made some mod's to the water in/outputs so that they are not so flimsy.

Great rig Shelby! And sounds like you got an awesome deal going Hawk! Wish I had those kind of neighbors.