"Couple questions. I did a initial water run today as per direction book. Is steam supposed to come out of the top of the stack? It leaks around the stopper also the thermometer is not very snug in the stopper.

In my kit there was one skinny 2 inch O ring not like the ones that join the stack together, any ideas? What do I do with the chain?

Thanks for helping a Newb."

"to respond to your questions on your new distiller

1. NO, there should not be any steam coming out of the top of the extractor. you either do not have the right size stopper or it is just not down in far enough. It is an open system so no concern about explosion. go ahead and seat it in there.

2. additionally the same for the thermometer. I usually have it in 1.5 inches past the bottom of the stopper which puts it very close to the exit path for the vapors.

3. the chain I believe is to help clean out your tank after a distillation, sometimes you can get dried residue inside and may alter future distillations. So shake it around in there to help clean it out.


Best of luck.

HotRod"

"The thermometer goes into the stopper easier with a little lube. In Chemistry class we used glycerin, but KY has glycerin in it and is always around my house. :-)

I modified the stopper that came with my kit and added a digital cooking thermometer that has a beeper that comes on when the set temperature is reached. I used food grade epoxy from the Hardware store. It's pretty easy to know then when it all starts making heads.

Just hang in there and it will all make sense after you've done it a couple of times. The rewards are tremendous. Party on...

Steve"