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Re: Methanol Recovery headache
Hi,
YOu're missing a few basic things about the process. In order to get it to boil, you have to continue adding energy to the pot- so a thermostat (which only adds energy when it turns the heating element on) won't do it.
A controller for the heating element is the piece most people miss when they first build these things. You want to temperature AT THE CONDENSOR to be 150 or so (maybe up to 170 at the end of the process, the boiling point would indicate that a lot of water was also vaporizing from near the element). It doesnt realy matter what the pot temp is. Temperature controllers can be variacs or other 'dimmer' (don't use a light dimmer, not big enough at 300Watts). I have used a Harbor Freight router speed controller to vary the heating element wattage, but boy is it a cheap piece of crap- a bit worrysome with this dangerous procedure.
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Homebrew biodiesel crazy:
...several years with a couple of different 6.9's... now running a (gasp!)1998 GMC 6.5 van... don't shoot me.
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