How much water is needed to cool a 8 gallon run? I want to run a recirculation pump and not sure how large of a container to hold the cooling water and if ice is necessary if the quantity is large enough. Also, any advantage to runnng a secondary worm after the condensor to help lower product temp? Thanks, B.

RCRed, Thanks, How much ice is required for a typical run? As a new guy, I worry about uncondensed vapor out the condensor if water gets too warm. B.

I use my leftover 2.5 gal Distilled water jugs and they last about 90 mins before they thaw. But you can use 1 gallon milk jugs, or 2 liter pop bottles, any thing you can freeze water in...

As my understanding goes, as long as the water isn't as hot as the vapor, it's gonna condense it. Normally, the only way to get a jet of vapor out of the condense is when yer pump fails and there isn't ANY flow or, the condenser is DRY, both of which are no bueno. That happens, ya shut down the heat, pop the bung, ventilate the hell outa the area, and regroup. I've been experimenting with using really cold water but I've been told that's wasting time and energy, all I need is to keep the water cool...

Diesel had a good question there - Liebig or Worm.. ?

all you would probably need is just a cooler. Freeze a few gals of water,put one in the water and when that one thaws put another in. Should last the length of your run

Thanks for the help. I want to be sure I have enough cooling capacity with a fair margin of error. Would the storage bin be like a Tupperware tote or something larger? B.

I run an 8 gallon PSII, and my cooling reservoir is your everyday runofthemill large wheeled cooler. I grab 2 large bags of ice from the carryout (wish I could afford an ice machine lol), and knowing that my ice will melt throughout, I dump 1 bag and ONLY enough water to completely make the circuit through the still. That way when the ice melts halfway through, there will be enough room in cooler for the 2nd bag without having to drain water out.