That seems to be a good hot plate except for that cycling and not staying on at the hot heat setting. You can bypass the thermostat and wire it so that it stays on full heat all the time. If you can live with that then its easy to do, just don't forget to unplug it. I've got one of those also and the cycling drove me to drink :) I wanted to be able to have some heat control for the end of a run so I did some tinkering with the thermostat. What I did was to bend the little tab the contact points are mounted on so that it will now stay on full heat without cycling. You can turn the heat down with the thermostat now but you can't turn it completely off, you have to unplug it.

"I bought a tab extender so i could plug boyh wires ont on terminal . All that counts is that the both wires that are plugged into the thermostat are always connected. Just make sure that after you mod the thing, that the ends of the wires dont touch the chassis of the hot plate. I use a ranco controll and a thermowell to controll the temp of my boiler. I set it fot abpve boiling with a 1 degree diferential. I sometimes use other temperatures when experimenting. i had the thermowell welded into my boiler-- a thermowell is an piece of stainless tubing that is welded closed at one end.
I cut a length that allows it to stay about 1.5 inches above the base of the boiler. the probe from the controll is then slid way down into the well. naturally another design is needed if you want to controll the head temp at the top of the tower. ill do some relays activated by a pid if i ever stop being lazy"

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This seems pretty simple, but if you have a pic or a diagram, that would really help me out. I ordered the same hotplate and it will arrive today. Thanks! :)"

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JUST OPEN THE BOTTOM It is very straight foreward"

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That would be especially true as the alcohol within the wash gets depleted as the course of the run progresses. Boiling point will be some where in between the wash ABV to water ratio. Then the boiling point will continue to change as the run continues. The wash will establish the temp, not your input as such.

We just stumble along in an effort to get good separation rather than smeared cuts."

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Aha! Now that does sound reasonable and sound practice. Should make a grand mash. Love Irish whisky, and I make a great poiteen sp. also with pure oats. Its one of the family and friends favorites.

As for the still run, you have to boil, but a gentle simmer is best.

Heres a tip. You can judge it by sound. Use boiling chips, I now use a couple handfulls of reishig rings, but have used copper fittings, gravel, broken glass etc in many years past. All work. It breaks the boil into small volumes of vapor like a gentle simmer, and not the big bubbles of gas. You can hear if its boiling hard or a nice simmer boil. The rashig rings work best for me, as they are uniform in sound. Lets you know better than any thermometer in the pot whats going on.

When finished with the run, I put a piece of coppper screen over the opening of the boiler, with the clamp to hold it in place and dump the stillage. Then if the pot need cleaning from time to time, I will fill with hot water and perhaps some glasrens, and swirl around the bottom, then lay on side and roll around. The boiling chips scrub everything clean. Then rinse well with water. Don't have to do this often, but occasionally to get the minerals and such that builds up just as it would in a cooking pot.

Again, remember that your alchohol- water mix is going to boil in the 170's range, depending on altitude and atmospheric pressure for that day. It can vary. The only time I use the thermometer, which is digital with an alarm, is to alert me when its close to collection time, then again after stabalizing the run, when temps are changing to be ready for the cuts. Just warnings. I use taste, smell and feel for the cuts. as well as the volumes, as I now know how many ml of heads, hearts and tails each of my individual mashes or musts, or washes are going to be good. If I make something new and or different, I have to start all over with the small collection jars.

HTH"

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Scotty. In my opinion, the bigger the pot, the better you will make with your cuts and quality. If I were going electric, I would contact a local plumber and perhaps get a free, glass lined and fully insulated water heater he has replaced because an element was bad. happens all the time. The owners want a new one and not just a cheap repair, as the service call is half the price, plus the element. You have to remove the catalyst from the top, and plug the hole. Replace the plastic drain at the bottom, and the plastic inlet tube at the top inlet water supply. also plug the pressure temp. control valve on the side. Probably tops $50 or so for a 25 to 50 gallon boiler. When done, attach a hose after cooled enough and drain then flush. Use a ball valve for the drain so it won't clog up.

this is my idea for next winter, when I can't run the propane outside, and who would ever look and expect a water heater to be a distiller when the column isn't attached? the bottom heating element would have to be adjusted to do the proper job.

There are some here that use electric that could give you better advice."

I bought the 1500w hot plate from Brewhaus and am sending it back. I'll stick to propane. Tried to make a run with it and after 2 hours of trying to get 6 gallons of wash to heat, decided to bag it and put my still on the propane burner. Even at a nice slow, low setting, propane only takes 45 minutes to come to temp.