The BEST way to recycle/clean dirty isopropyl alcohol for resin 3D printing!

[@AsimPaints]

I've had people claim a couple issues with this particular unit. Firstly, don't fill it more than halfway or you risk it leaking. Secondly, the gasket may become loose so keep a close eye on it (dont sit right in front of it the whole time breathing in the vapors, just check back on it periodically) to catch any leaks. Teflon tape can be used to reinforce the gasket lining. DISCLAIMER: Heating alcohol in an electric device is a fire hazard. If you are concerned with how hazardous this process can be I would encourage you to do your own research before trying this method. Proceed at your own risk. I've been using this distiller for a good while now, having recycled a single batch of IPA many times (with a small percentage lost each time), and have had no accidents of any kind. I am personally not worried of any potential risk this method may hold, as the distiller only runs for about an hour or two at most, in a well ventilated area, with no one directly around when in use.

[@Riverboat374]

In other words, you haven't blown yourself up yet, so it must be safe. Holy cow!

[@patrickl9930]

Running IPA inside an ultrasonic cleaner is just as dangerous. You MUST place the alcohol in a sealed bag, and place that in a UC tank filled with water. Google it: you’re one failed transducer away from burning down your house. The bag method was discovered at NASA in the 70s to safely ultrasonically clean resin prints. Putting it directly in the tank puts you one spark away from a fire that would burn your house down.

[@spagamoto]

I was considering putting together a legit chemistry lab distilling setup with hot plate, glassware, etc, but the water distiller is a great easy solution. Going to try it. Since IPA boils at a lower temperature perhaps the end-of-cycle thermistor can be replaced with a lower threshold one, sparing the user the nasty vapors at the end of the process.

[@AsimPaints]

I've seen a video of someone with that legit setup and it barely works and takes forever and is super complicated and not worth it. A few months later I came across this and was like "why the hell isn't anyone talking about this??" lol. The vapors at the end are actually not that bad because the distiller stops before it begins to burn the residual resin too badly; the leftover resin is actually slightly moist with leftover alcohol.

[@ASSOpid]

Besure to check local laws as you could go to jail for distilling alcohol.

[@AsimPaints]

@@ASSOpid I'm in MI so I think I'm good if I read what I found correctly.

[@ubiratamuniz]

It works! As long as I keep the distiller in a very well ventilated area it’s fine. Thanks!

[@AsimPaints]

Good to hear it! Thanks for watching!

[@irishology]

@AsimPaints Great video. one question are you using the carbon filters the machine comes with? or just not bothering

[@AsimPaints]

No, I think that's really just for water to further clean it for drinking, so it's unnecessary for alcohol.

[@calvin464]

Thank you for the video. Very helpful. I am thinking about getting a similar distiller from Amazon. My concern is that not sure how safe the process is. Is there any risk of fire or explosion from your research? Thanks

[@AsimPaints]

Thanks for watching! Alcohol is a flammable liquid so when working with it with an electric device plugged into the wall that heats it, there is an inherent risk of something going wrong. The odds of the alcohol causing some kind of fire or explosion is very low in my mind and I don't worry about at all, as the odds of the machine being damaged in a way that would allow the alcohol to make contact with circuitry is very low. Some people are far more cautious than I am and will emphasis the risks but to me they are not worth worrying about. That said I should probably invest in a fire extinguisher just in case as they're cheap so might as well.

[@sinepilot]

I found this video, and I immediately purchased this unit. I received the unit and ran it for the first time, putting a full gallon of dirty IPA right up to the fill line, and I ran it unattended because it was out in the garage and it's cold. When I came back, the machine had shut off and there was a nice beautiful jar of pristine clear IPA, however it was only half full, and the entire unit was sitting in a huge puddle of what I assume was the other half. Inside looked as expected, a good amount of moist resin sludge, and no excess IPA. I'm curious how so much IPA leaked outside the unit. I notice the cover has no latches, it's secured only by gravity and a gasket. I'm guessing it was a very vigorous boil since it was designed for water and perhaps a bunch leaked out between the tank and the top cover? How would I avoid this in the future? Just monitor it more closely and turn it off when it starts boiling over?

[@AsimPaints]

Damn, sucks it didn't work out completely. I've been using this unit for a year many times and have had no issues like this. I just turn it on, leave, and come back and the jar is filled. I use it inside at a normal temp, though I don't think that matters. Another user said he had issues with the gasket deforming, that was causing leaks. Not sure why this happens, my gasket is sealed perfectly. He said his solution was to tighten the seal by wrapping tape around the gasket lining's edge. Give this a shot. You can get heat resistant tape or tape meant for plumbing (called teflon tape I think, the white stuff that is kinda stretchy). I would recommend definitely keeping an eye on it next time to see when it begins leaking. Worse comes to worse you could collect the leaking IPA by putting the distiller ABOVE a container to catch it (not in the container, you don't want the IPA to get on the electrics or risk fire). Hope you get it working! Safe printing!

[@sinepilot]

@@AsimPaints Thanks, I'm sure I'll get a workable solution with some tweaks. It's definitely due to the gasket not seating as intended once things heat up, even though I'm certain it was correctly seated at the beginning. When I was examining the unit after it ran, that gasket was now very floppy, seemed to have lost a lot of its elasticity.

[@AsimPaints]

@sinepilot4384 the only reason I can think the gasket has failed for you and others is newer units are using a cheaper gasket than when I bought it. Should be a simple fix. Good luck!

[@sinepilot]

@@AsimPaints Fixed it! I watched it like a hawk this time. Liquid leaking out the top was not the issue. Well, not the primary issue. The main issue was the cap for the glass bottle is not well designed and as condensed liquid was coming out the spout, it clung to the underside of the cap and spilled out between the cap and the lid. I had not attached the rubber hose to the spout because it seemed to mate up perfectly without it, plus it was difficult to stuff the hose through the cap. So to adjust I simply removed the cap leaving a wider opening for the liquid stream to fall through and that worked like a charm. I could also attach the little rubber hose to the spout to make sure the liquid exits at the correct spot, but again, I found it too difficult to insert that tube into the jar through the cap. Later on I discovered a very slight amount of liquid leaking out the top of the tank per my original theory, and confirmed the gasket is so loose it pretty much falls off when I lift the cover. HOWEVER, I noticed this leaking stopped after just a little while. I believe it's due to alcohol climbing up the walls and reaching the top edge, but there's only so much it can climb before gravity wins out. And sure enough, I found that if I fill no more than 1.5 inches below the Fill line, then nothing ever comes out. So lessons learned: either don't use the cap or make sure to use the hose with the cap as well, and use an imaginary fill line about 1.5 inches below the printed one. A nice big full gallon of pristine IPA!! (although slightly less than a gallon from now on since I'm not using the prescribed fill line lol)

[@AsimPaints]

@sinepilot4384 glad you managed to figure out! Funnily enough, I had my first failure the other day and while it wasn't due to the gasket I'm pretty sure it began leaking due to being filled up too much. Lost half my alcohol but lesson learned. Didn't think it would be an issue as filled it too the max line when I first got it without issue but I'm gonna do no more than half way from now on. Hopefully we don't have any more issues. Enjoy perfectly clean alcohol!

[@yougosquishnow]

So how do you clean the distiller after and how do you dispose of the resin?

[@AsimPaints]

The leftover resin tends to clump together and is pretty easy to scrap off with a plastic tool, I use that spatula thing printers come with for the vat. Just cure it like normal and you're good to throw it away in the trash.

[@karllautman]

Great video. I just got my first 3D printer (Anycubic Photon Mono X) the other day and am still setting it up. My research drove me to distilling as an excellent way to conserve IPA, but I haven't bought the machine yet. Two questions: 1. How do you clean the resin from the distiller? Just wipe it out with paper towels, or is there more to it. 2. Given that it's still toxic, and curing it while still in the IPA causes the problem you mentioned elsewhere, have you tried curing it after cleaning it from the distiller? If so, what were the results? If that works, you could then just toss it in the trash.

[@AsimPaints]

Thanks for watching! I haven't been able to completely clean all the resin out mainly because I don't mind it being dirty so I haven't tried but acetone works really well and then you can scrap it off and use a paper towel to clean it out. Are you referring to the leftover resin still being toxic or the newly cleaned alcohol? The resin, yes you should cure it after taking it out before throwing it in the trash and it'll cure like normal. The alcohol should be pure but you never know so I wouldn't use it for anything other than cleaning prints again.

[@Rakeeshj]

I got a similar distiller but with a temperature control. I set the temperature to 85C and got pure IPA out with the water left behind, still in the distiller. Though I can't figure out how to clean the left over resin, it's really goopy and sticky. Any ideas?

[@majidmahjoorart]

You can remove it with instant thinner

[@AsimPaints]

Try running the distiller with the water in it to try and "cook" the remaining resin. This will turn it into a more squishy and compact substance that you can easily remove by hand. Normally I just leave the resin in there long enough and I guess the multiple cycles just does something to it to where it's super easy to remove.

[@andrewyoung9178]

I would scoop it on to something you can throw away, like cardboard, and cure it before tossing it.

[@DifferentRussian]

I'm having seal leaking problems with the exact same model. The damn thing just falls out. Maybe I'm installing it wrong, and there's nothing in the manual. Can you show your seal more up close, to see how it's installed?

[@AsimPaints]

Around 1:10 you can see there's just the clear gasket/lining. I didn't install anything it just came as is and was basically ready to go out the box. No leaking issues, so I can only guess you got a bad one or something. The top portion should fit snugly into the lower one.

[@DifferentRussian]

@@AsimPaints That's the thing, when exposed to alcohol vapor, it relaxes and slips out. I did fix it by adding a bunch of ducktape around the rim to make it thicker to give a tighter fit, as well as using some superglue to hold the seal in place. Ended up turning 15 liters of fouled IPA into 11 of perfectly clear one. 15 more liters saved, and this thing will pay for itself, haha.

[@AsimPaints]

@@DifferentRussian I see, that's odd I haven't had that issue. I guess mine was a tighter and proper fit as I've been using it for over a year and that liner is still fine. Glad you managed to make it work though! A more elegant solution might be to use that white teflon tape meant for plumbing joints for a better seal.

[@DifferentRussian]

@@AsimPaints Ye, it's a good method, and I guess these problems can happen model-to-model. Perhaps the manifacturer just switched to a cheaper seal material, that still works fine with water, but doesn't interact with the IPA vapors (which is fair, because it's not an intended use). You might want to add something in the description about how you can still make it work with a little electrical/plumbing tape.

[@AuntJemimaGames]

I don't think I'd be willing to risk running the distiller inside, but I'd also be concerned about using IPA in an ultrasonic cleaner! Eesh.

[@Nazrac79]

I have a 20l unit with it and it's heated. Still haven't had a fire in my shop.

[@haroldwiegel]

Depending on the size of your prints, it's less wasteful and a lot saver to fill the ultrasonic cleaner with water and use a plastic container filled with ipa inside the water. If you use a thin walled, flexible container, it won't stop the vibrations all that much.

[@Nazrac79]

@@haroldwiegel I have a system but that wouldn't work with my size prints and it will reduce effectiveness. I run a lot of prints so for me no worries.

[@MrNBridger]

I have seen a similar video before and got a maschine with temp control and it works ok but I have never ended up with a full glas char like yours. The only difference I see to mine is the tube you have added. May I ask a few questions? Does your gasket also become loose after a run? Because it only has a start button I guess it boils the alcohol at 100°C ?

[@AsimPaints]

Yes I saw the temp control one too but when I came across the reviews for this particular machine it had the most consistent positive ones. Luckily not have a temp control didn't matter. No the gasket has not become loose and I've ran a few cycles already. And yes i would assume the temp is set at 100c as it's meant to boil water. It's nice though because right as it finishes boiling just about everything it automatically shuts off, so there's no alcohol leftover but it doesn't continue running to the point where it starts cooking the resin, at least not that badly. The resin remains moist so that makes clean up easy.

[@MrNBridger]

@@AsimPaints Thanks for the answers. I have ordered the same maschine that you are using.

[@AsimPaints]

@@MrNBridger hopefully it works as well for you!

[@javiercalvo7075]

I bought the same model as the one in your video .... but the first time I used it the silicone gasket stretched and all the alcohol came out .... so from 4 liters of alcohol I would have been able to get 1 liter only

[@AsimPaints]

Sorry to hear that. No idea what would cause such an issue, perhaps an improper seal of a defective unit? I've ran many cycles, only a couple days ago most recent, and it has worked perfectly.

[@javiercalvo7075]

@@AsimPaints the material of the joint does not withstand alcohol at 100 Cº and it begins to dilate... I have done the test with water and it works perfectly.... it is only with alcohol that the joint dilates thanks for answering

[@sinepilot]

This happened to me too, exactly as you describe.

[@GamesFromSpace]

You should try "curing" the contaminated IPA before distilling it. It might be a lot less messy and definitely less toxic.

[@AsimPaints]

I think I'll try testing this out! Other than no longer working with toxic liquid I'm not sure if it would make a difference. I've cured used IPA before and it turns into a gloop like the resin gets completely dissolved or fused so idk how that would affect things.

[@bluediablito]

I just purchased the distiller. Can I use 99% alcohol?

[@AsimPaints]

That'd what I use. Be super careful while using it, boiling alcohol with an electric device can be hazardous and I don't want to be held responsible if anything bad happens!

[@bluediablito]

@@AsimPaints thank you. Any suggestion on the safest way to do this? I am planing to distill this in the garage. Should I do it in the backyard instead (it's cold where I live)?

[@AsimPaints]

@@bluediablito I do it in my basement with a box fan blowing fumes out a window as I personally am not too worried about the risks, so it's up to you depending on how concerned you are over it. Garage should be fine, it's only going to be running for no more than an hour or two depending on how much alcohol you're distilling.

[@bluediablito]

@@AsimPaints thank you. I'll test it put and then go from there. Have you had any close interactions?

[@AsimPaints]

@@bluediablito you mean with danger? No, apparently from what I understand if something goes wrong its gonna explode lol soooo yeah nothing so far. If you're concerned you can research more on Google or ask around on reddit but I found people are overly cautious for my liking. To each their own.

[@donniem7979]

thank beep boop beep you beep reeee ttiiiitttttteeee boop for this video

[@AsimPaints]

You're welcome boop

[@alfredopaez3538]

DUDE!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE THE FUCKING MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@AsimPaints]

Lol thanks hope it helped!

[@webflys]

Oil spill filter and epsom salts - $1 / 60 seconds 👍

[@yohjohnson748]

Could you elaborate?

[@EastwoodFabrication]

Since you can not control the temp on this one, I highly suggest not getting this model. If the liquid gets too hot inside bad things happen. IPA shouldnt go over 85C. How do you know what temp it is set at? Also, is this a robot talking?

[@AsimPaints]

I believe it's set at 100c, can you elaborate on what bad things happen if it goes over 85c? And yes it's a text to speech robot lol

[@derfalon]

It`s distillation, so no matter how strong your heating is (in reasonable range) the temperature in the container depends on the distilled liquid itself. Because it`s IPA it boils in 82,5 C and then the vapour, as the hottest, escape into some condenser where the heat is somehow discarded (water cooling or so) and IPA becomes liquid again. The temerature in the container will stay at ~82,5 C untill there is no more IPA to evaporate and take the heat away. If you dilute your IPA with water and try to distill it it will heat to 82,5 C and stay there untill almost all IPA is gone, then temeprature will rise to 100C and water will start to evaporate. Temperature will stay at 100C until whole water turn into steam. Thats it. Only thing you can control with heater is the rate of evaporation and not the temperature itself.

[@Submanca]

Yea boiling IPA doesn`t sound like something I want to do. Sounds like a ptetty dangerous act.

[@AsimPaints]

Yeah if you don't want to risk it, don't. I've looked into the risks, and I've found the odds of explosion or something to be low enough. Been distilling like this for years with no problems. I bought new alcohol once in that time. Totally worth it for me.

[@Riverboat374]

This is pure insanity! do you have any idea how flammable alcohol vapor is? You could burn down your house really easily by trying this.

[@AsimPaints]

Could you point me to some resources that demonstrate the exact risk and exactly how likely it is I can burn down my house? Are we talking a 1% chance, 10%? Or are we just assuming that can happen based on your own supposed understanding of the physics involved?

[@sigterm15]

haha, you sell new IPA, dont you? :D

[@Nazrac79]

So just using one of these devices is not really efficient. And a lot of alcohol vapors will be uncondensed and enter the space. This is somewhat dangerous but you do need to reach a certain amount of alcohol vapors to become combustible. No take the effluent from the water distiller and run that through a PC radiator, I use a 240mm with 2*120mm fans. All of the vapors are condensed. Best practice is to get an adjustable temp distiller and set it just a hair over the boiling point of your alcohol as IPA Ethanol and Methanol have different boiling points. Happy printing.

[@ASSOpid]

Be sure to check state laws as it is illegal to distille any alcohol without a license in some states.

[@Kevin15673]

yeah cause the cops are gonna bust down his door for distilling ipa for personal use

[@chrisg4433]

Doesn’t it become water after …..

[@AsimPaints]

No alcohol evaporates into alcohol vapor, so if you boil it the gas is still alcohol just in gas form. You can then condense it back into liquid just leaving behind all the stuff that was in it. It goes from dirty alcohol to pure alcohol.

[@TierDrama]

na thats what jesus did...I guess ;)

[@baldr2510]

I can't believe what I have just read

[@johnmiller0000]

Oh, dear god. Just because you pin a disclaimer to the comments about the fire hazard, recommending this is utterly reckless. Just leave it in sunlight in a closed, clear container to cure the resin and then filter the liquid. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS. I'm a chemist by profession - this is just BAD and STUPID.

[@AsimPaints]

I've already done it, many times over, without any issue. For a chemist by profession you'd think you would urge more in depth warning than "this is just bad and stupid" lol. Can you elaborate on why this is reckless instead of just telling me not to do it?

[@ExoformStudios]

If any one of your devices sparks the ignition point of IPA is just 399 degrees. If there is a jump on the grid or fault in any electronic devices nearby for any reason, your setup can detonate, and that metal distiller might become a shrapnel grenade, or best case scenario an incendiary device. Just because it's worked for a year, doesn't mean what you are doing can't end in disaster. I looked into your method myself actually and deemed it irresponsible after chatting with lab technicians. What would safer is a glass borosilicate setup designed for rapid changes in heat with a hotplate instead of a flame. Your call though.

[@ExoformStudios]

I second this, this is a stupid way to lose your house.