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Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Cultivation
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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: twiztidthoughts]
    #11327848 -

Here she is, ready to use, converted to electric: the All-Canadian 110 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker.



All new materials were free or cheap from the scrap metal yard. The 240-volt electrical cable (metal-encased) cost $5, and came off a clothes dryer. The burner and dial were off a stove. In fact, aside from the 0-ring, bolts and one of the valves, everything on this PC is being re-used or recycled.

The latest additions, possible thanks to the ingenuity of my neighbor, is the burner, pictured below. It isn't as fast as the propane stove, but will be easier to control, and safe to use inside (in theory. I trust it). It doesn't heat up the floor enough to warrant tiles, and because of the metal sleeve and wide base, it makes the whole stove much more stable. You would have to rugby tackle it to knock the thing over.



For anyone interested in the interior, here are a couple of shots, showing the tray with stubby legs at the bottom, to hold contents above the water, and the other shot shows little tabs welded inside the upper rim, for hanging the liner, which will keep polypropelyne bags out of contact with the metal, and make it easier to load and unload.



So, there you have it.

Fairly soon, after growing some LC, I'll cook up some bags and jars and see how things go!

Note: the electric version will require an insulation jacket. Even at 240 volts, it took 1hr to reach 13 PSI with only 6 litres of water, and nothing else, inside. That's where it topped out, losing exactly as much heat from its hot surface, as was being pumped in by the element. However, when we wrapped it in a blanket the pressure shot up within a matter of minutes, so that's the solution -- to make a jacket for it -- of course, without any hanging threads that could catch on fire.


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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: Puma]
    #11601859 -

I like this idea, although I'd never have a use for a contraption so large, personally. :biggrin:

I think you'd be doing yourself a favor if you ditch the bolts and install some studs in the bolt holes so you can use larger wingnuts like on the AA PCs.  You don't really need that much torque to clamp it down, and I don't think it's really the greatest of ideas to constantly use impact tools unless you're checking/replacing the bolts and the bolt threads on a consistent basis.  The bolts and the threads will eventually get brittle.

Also, 6L of water seems like a lot.  You could probably halve that.

(I know this thread is a month and a half old, but I think this might be worthwhile.)

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: Sillicybin]
    #11601919 -

Nice! I will be building a square one after Christmas. I wouldnt worry too much, I saw one on Myth Busters and it took over 350psi before it exploded like the Oklahoma City Bombing.



--------------------
aRR aRR!
Cloneufc's easy Penis Envy spore tek!
Cloneufc's easy Cloning tek
Cloneufc's 360 degree LC
Cloneufc's No foil jar tek!
Cloneufc's Breaking up spores

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: Cloneufc]
    #11602284 -

If you need insulation, get some fiberglass insulation bats for walls, and tear the paper backing off.  Wrap the fiberglass around the tank, and then cover with metal flashing obtained from your local home repair supply.  You can use small sheet metal screws to fasten the flashing to itself after you wrap it around the tank.
RR


--------------------
Download Let's Grow Mushrooms



semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat

"I've never had a failed experiment.  I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work."
Thomas Edison

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: RogerRabbit]
    #11602484 -

that is just plain awesome.
congrats!


--------------------
learn that everything you learn is just, in fact, learned, and not necessarily the truth.
the same goes for what you've just read.

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: retarrrd]
    #11602681 -

When I was a kid I remember making dry ice bombs from 2 liter bottles. Those things were powerful. When I use a PC and it fills with pressure It reminds me of the dry ice bombs building pressure before they blew up, the PC even makes similar cracking type sounds too! When I look at your PC I see a huge bomb lol I'm sure its perfectly safe but just the idea of what that thing can do is scary.

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: jim617]
    #11603296 -

Reminded me of a cool water rocket toy. If you put the right amount of water and pumped it up with air, when it took off and blasted the air and water out, that thing would fly probably 500 feet high.

Puma, did the stench of ethyl mercaptan ever leave your monster PC?

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: SporeTek]
    #11603333 -

couldn't u figure out a way to use a big hot water heater tank for a pressure cooker?? i mean it already has the heat elements built in.


--------------------
:2cents:
shmuv box tek (poor mans flow hood)
RR's lets grow mushrooms videos
breadbag tek...well the way i use anyway.
rgs (rye grass seed)easiest & works as spawn for anything u grow
cultivation abbreviations


when i say i = me referring to my bro in the Netherlands

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: Sillicybin]
    #11608757 -

Wow, thanks guys! I'll respond to a few of your comments (Sillycybin, RR, SporeTek & fig):

Sillicybin said:
"...I think you'd be doing yourself a favor if you ditch the bolts and install some studs in the bolt holes so you can use larger wingnuts like on the AA PCs.  You don't really need that much torque to clamp it down, and I don't think it's really the greatest of ideas to constantly use impact tools unless you're checking/replacing the bolts and the bolt threads on a consistent basis.  The bolts and the threads will eventually get brittle.



Excellent idea. Didn't go with posts and wingnuts originally as we had space issues that prevented us from easily installing and weld-anchoring bolts from below the flat rim. I don't actually use impact tools; it is quick enough to loosen and tighten the bolts by hand tool, although wing nuts would be nice. Might do as you suggest if I run into wear problems.

This last month I've been experimenting on a smaller scale with a regular PC. By early January, however, I anticipate firing up this 110 QT to sterilize a full load of substrate for receiving grain-to-grain transfers. I'll document the event. 

RogerRabbit said:
If you need insulation, get some fiberglass insulation bats for walls, and tear the paper backing off.  Wrap the fiberglass around the tank, and then cover with metal flashing obtained from your local home repair supply.  You can use small sheet metal screws to fasten the flashing to itself after you wrap it around the tank.
RR


Hey RR, this is spooky: you just described the boiler jacket on my still! Seriously, here it is:



So far, I haven't done the same for the PC. But I did fit it out with a woolen blanket that tests show is a great improvement over nothing at all.


Now that I've mentioned the still (and in keeping with our theme of "DIY, but don't blow up the house") here's a way to make your own 95% pure ethanol disinfectant / lamp fuel for your lab. Double-distilled, it makes a great additive for eggnog, too. 'Tis the season!



SporeTek said:
Puma, did the stench of ethyl mercaptan ever leave your monster PC?


No! Much scrubbing later, the smell is still there, though reduced. It no longer makes me light-headed. This is how I learned the little-known fact that propane is virtually odourless, so the tanks are coated inside with what smells like rotten eggs, so that people notice gas leaks. That smell... oh why did you bring it up.

fig said:
couldn't u figure out a way to use a big hot water heater tank for a pressure cooker?? i mean it already has the heat elements built in.


So you're an ex-moonshiner, eh? Well I bet I know how you would modify a nice big copper hot water tank. Just needs a reflux column... :toast:

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: Puma]
    #11609274 -

Why did I bring up the smell you ask??? Hahahahaha because I know. They add only 1 pint per 10,000 gallons of liquid propane. It is embedded in the pores of the steel tank. You will never be rid of it. Nasty stuff that will invade your subs too. Anyone using this technique should invest in a new unused propane tank. You could cook it out with a torch but beware of explosion hazard.

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: SporeTek]
    #11609353 -

Quote:
Thiols can be oxidized to sulfoxides, which have only a faint smell, using bleach or related oxidants.


I love Wikipedia.

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: Sillicybin]
    #11611401 -

yeah, you can prolly bleach what you can get to but it diffuses into the metal grain under about 300 psi so it will be bleeding out for years I'm thinking. who knows. I have seen a split open tank covered in that black nasty smelly shit; I don't ever want to go there again.

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: Puma]
    #11611635 -

dam skippy but u wouldnt have the  smell with a water tank.
and i agree that thing is a little bit too long needs to be wider. but great project none the less.


--------------------
:2cents:
shmuv box tek (poor mans flow hood)
RR's lets grow mushrooms videos
breadbag tek...well the way i use anyway.
rgs (rye grass seed)easiest & works as spawn for anything u grow
cultivation abbreviations


when i say i = me referring to my bro in the Netherlands

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: fig]
    #11613025 -

I agree, wider and less smelly would be wonderful, but I had to work with the available resources. That is the name of the game where I come from. For example, when I read what RR said above about picking up sheet metal at the home store, I thought "fair enough, but why not pay 90% less by going to the scrap metal yard?" In my case, that's what's locally available, so I use it. You can't make generalized statements like "anyone wanting to make a big PC should invest in a new tank, or a hot water tank," because everybody has different things available. Sure, I think a big hot water tank would make a great PC if properly converted, but used propane tanks are cheaper and more abundant at the scrap metal yard near me, and they work! I had to do a lot of scrubbing with a powerful solvent (which I didn't love doing, for environmental reasons) but it's not so bad now. The smell only escapes when the PC is open, and then quickly dissipates. I will report back about whether it permeates the substrates, which I guess theoretically could happen through the filter, but if so, so what? Is it going to inhibit growth or lead to mushrooms that taste like ethyl mercaptan? If not, then I can bear a bit of a smell, for increased efficiency.

The whole idea is to have a practical way to do a week's worth of regular sterilization all in a single run. Given that this PC meets that goal, and is safe enough for me, I try not to sweat the small stuff.

By the way, did you guys check out the hot water heaters exploding in the video that Clonedufc posted above? (thanks man!) Pretty impressive how steam under pressure can explode. The video is a reminder to always keep your relief valves safe from getting clogged (and never to hold your head above a PC about to blow).


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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: Puma]
    #11613099 -

I love what you're doin' man and I wasn't trying to pee your parade or dis you at all....I just thought any one with ideas of folllowing your lead with a used tank should fully know what they are going to find and have to deal with if they crack one of those things open.  :hatsoff:

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: SporeTek]
    #11613436 -

Ah, thank you kindly, in that case. A very good point. I mistook that for pee raining down on my parade.

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: Puma]
    #11613785 -

:urinate::rabble: :badidea:  not me buddy

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: SporeTek]
    #11615761 -

I'd like to find a nice fat water heater to make a similar PC.  The advantage of using a water heater is they're designed to operate at up to 150 psi, and by law, can't fail at less than three times the operating pressure.  That's a pretty good margin of safety when we're talking about operating at 15 psi.

Thanks for posting, Puma.
RR


--------------------
Download Let's Grow Mushrooms



semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat

"I've never had a failed experiment.  I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work."
Thomas Edison

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker - New Pics [Re: RogerRabbit]
    #11615847 -

Way cool.


--------------------
Question: Why do women wear make-up and perfume? 
Answer: Because they're ugly and they stink.

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Re: Home-made, high-volume Pressure Cooker [Re: Puma]
    #11651802 -

That sirrr looks dangerous. Safety first!

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Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Cultivation
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