How to clean the Air Still

If you own the Still Spirits Air Still, or you are interested in buying one, you need to know how to clean it. Brewing shops will try to sell you over-priced chemicals, but you don't need them. In this video I will show you what to do after each use.
0:00 Introduction
0:30 Rinsing the base
1:05 Drying the base
1:53 Taking the head rubber gasket off
2:19 Cleaning the head rubber gasket
2:57 Wiping the head
4:14 Explaining how to deep clean the head
5:20 Deep cleaning the head
6:47 Rinsing the head
8:06 Drying the head
8:39 End

[@user-ob3qc6mc9x]

I'm getting crusty spots and a whitish film in mainly the bottom of the air still. Its getting harder to get it off. Is the spots lime scale?

[@brewingadvice]

@user-ob3qc6mc9x, it does sounds like limescale. How hard is the water in your area?

[@user-vb2uc1jp7c]

Anyone know where you can get replacement seal? (Australia)

[@brewingadvice]

Sorry @user-vb2uc1jp7c, as I come from the UK, I can't help you out. I hope you are able to find a supplier. You could always email Still Spirits and ask them if they know of any suppliers in Australia.

[@edwardcottrill584]

Hi there. During distillation of a sugar wash, my Air Still's lid is sometimes lifting off the unit with vapour shooting out the sides when it does so. This is quite alarming. In my latest run, I have: - Run hot water through the condenser tube several times before the distillation - Stirred the wash thoroughly to de-gas it - Added 10 ceramic cooking beads to the bottom of the still - Added a knob of butter to change surface tension So, I did everything "right", yet while watching there was a moment of several seconds where liquid stopped coming out of the nozzle, and this was followed by a pressure surge and the lid lifting off the still, with vapour shooting out the sides, followed by liquid resuming coming out of the nozzle. I switched it off and let it cool down overnight and gave the seal a wipe around with a dry paper towel. I have restarted the still now, but am worried it may happen again. I have had runs where this doesn't happen at all, without doing all the above steps. Yet in around half of the runs this will happen. Do you have any suggestions, please? Thanks. 😊

[@brewingadvice]

Hi, sorry for my late reply. I have three questions for you. 1. How old is your Air Still? 2. How often a month (or year) do you use it? 3. Where do you store the Air Still when it is not used? (meaning, in a shed, garage, loft, back bedroom...) The only two things that I can think of is that either the lid's rubber gasket is upside down (which will mean it can't hold in the pressure correctly), or that the rubber gasket needs replacing as it isn't rubbery enough (as rubber gets old it can start to get too firm). If the rubber isn't as rubbery, then it won't create a full and proper seal, so when the pressure builds up inside the boiler, it will not be able to hold the lid down. I hope that helps.

[@edwardcottrill584]

@@brewingadvice Thanks for your reply. I've had the Air Still around 5 months and had used it 10 times when I wrote this post. I have since just started running it with only 2.5 litres of liquid in it, and nothing else -- no ceramics and no oil. It's behaving itself now. So I'll continue to run it just with 2.5 litres. It's a shame it doesn't really do the 4 litres it's supposed to, but it is what it is.

[@brewingadvice]

As you have only had it for 5 months, I would highly recommend reaching out to Still Spirits. The still would come with a warranty and it is not working as it should. Personally I think being forced to run it with only 2.5 litres of liquid is not good and it will really slow you down if your washes are the standard 25 litres. Hopefully Still Spirits will be able to assist you.

[@edwardcottrill584]

@@brewingadvice I wrote to Still Spirits giving a detailed report of the problem. They replied that I should buy their distilling conditioner to reduce foaming. Do you think that would even work? It seems shady that their product does not run "off the shelf" without buying all this extra stuff from them. What's your experience?

[@brewingadvice]

Hi @edwardcottrill584, sorry for not responding sooner to you. Sadly yes, they are correct, you do need an extra product to stop foaming. The good news is that you don't need to buy it from them, you can either buy 'distilling conditioner' from any distributor, or do like I am many others by putting a small piece of butter or margarine in instead. As to how much butter to add, everybody puts different amounts. For an Air Still, I would say around 1/2 tsp (I don't know how much that would be in grams or ounces). When I add butter to my 25 lite boiler (which is 6 times the size), I add a little more than 1 tbsp, but I don't measure it, I just stick my knife in and cut a piece out. Don't worry, noting will happen if you put too much in. If you don't put enough in you will still get some foaming. So, why do you need it I hear you ask. The reason is that there will be some sugars left in the wash. This sugar will foam up when it gets hot, so you need something to help break up the surface tension to reduce the about of foam that is produced. Distilling Conditioner is a perfect product and it does the job very well. I used this myself for over 8 years and was very happy. The small bottles lasted me ages as you only put in a small amount each time you distil. After those 8 years though I bought more equipment and came away from Turbo Yeasts as wanted to try new tings. This is when I learnt about using butter (some use vegetable oil), and now will only use that.