On Tue, 10 Sep 2013 07:00:01 -0400, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

Ignorant guess: so that the flammable vapors won't escape, and possibly
catch fire.

As to fusel oils, not a big deal. Circuit boards won't complain of hang
overs and head aches. Might even help clean the boards.

Well, the OP's question is about distilling methanol. I've never heard
of fusel oil being a problem with that, although I have no idea.

We also were talking about stills for making drinking-quality ethanol.
Fusel oil is a product of fermentation of some sources of sugar and it
can be an issue with that distillation.

--
Ed Huntress


.
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
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On 9/9/2013 9:33 PM, Joe Gwinn wrote:
I've seen copper-coil condensers run through a bucket of water that
will cool and condense the outlet to negative pressure. You just have
to pour in cold water from time to time, and let the excess flow over
the side of the bucket. That's what the gooseneck is for -- to tell
you when you're getting positive pressure and you need to pour cold
water around the condenser.

Why do you want negative pressure, given that ethanol won't decompose
from the heat at atmospheric pressure?

Joe Gwinn