"

Just about everyone recirculates their condenser water with a small submersible pump, I use a 30 gallon garbage can for a reservoir. How long will it take to ""make"" a run? I'm assuming you are talking about how long the distillation run on approximately 15 gallons of wash will take? If that's correct then it will depend on a lot of things. The type of heat used will determine how long it takes to get to the alcohol boiling point. Using propane and a big burner you could possibly get it up to temp between 1 1/2 to 2 hours. That's just a ballpark number, it could take longer. If using a 1500 watt electric hot plate it could take a lot longer. Internal water tank heaters will be a lot faster than a hot plate. Another guess if you are running 15 gallons of wash distilling it fast would probably take 6-8 hours or more. What you are looking at is a long day in the garage."

A 15 gal run with about 10% will take about 6-8 on my PSII goin' fer spirit run. I am with heeler on knocking the heat back and letting nature take her course... I took that advice here early on in my membership and never regretted it.

I use propane and can trim the flame to just a pinpoint, so I can get fairly granular - I was unable to get that with the hotplate... My next rig will be an internal element w/RSC as most of the boys here use

It's a matter of personal preference but I collect slowly and watch temps as only a reference. What really tells the tale on the run is alcoholmeter readin's as each container is completed or measured in a parrot... When you are down to your target ABV %, it's done