[imp]

Hello! I am new here, this being my first post. Am active in another forum, and sought variety. Have been working on a 1-1/2" scale Northern locomotive here in the Missouri, Ozarks, USA, for 6 years. However, this thread is not appropriate for further such discussion.

Distilled water is in my opinion the best water to use in our boilers, as it contains no dissolved minerals to form deposits within them. However, it invariably DOES contain dissolved carbon dioxide, which makes it's Ph about 5.5 to 6.0, which further means, use of such water promotes corrosion. Therefore, distilled water must have it's Ph adjusted upward, to at least 8.0 or more. This is easily done by simply dissolving a basic chemical in the water, such as potassium carbonate. Sodium bicarbonate, baking soda to our ladies in the kitchen, is adequate, but will only raise the Ph to a little under 8.0.

Cost of distilled water is fairly high. So, why not build a still? I have been making my own distilled water for several years, at about 1/3 the local cost to purchase it, which currently is about $0.80 per gallon.

Not knowing how interested members might be in building a still, I will await comment. However, please do not hesitate to ask! I am a scrounger, and as such, found that building my still was very reasonable to do.

Thank you for reading!

imp

PS: Anyone interested in my locomotive may freely inquire about it, also!

 

[imp]

QUOTE (John Webb @ 1 Dec 2009, 05:44) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>By the way, we are not allowed to run an unlicenced still in the United Kingdom, even for distilling water. At my old school we had to have a licence for the chemistry lab still, and the 'Customs and Excise' people checked it every year to ensure we were only using it for water and not something more potent!

Regards,
John

Thank you for the information! The above-referenced fact, I suppose, should not surprise me quite as much as it did, but nonetheless I am appalled! Small wonder I note, then, the high cost of distilled water there. But, as I mentioned, I am "new to the ways and wiles" of your country!

As an aside here, I have communicated with a gentleman who, having been born in England, drove a taxi all his life, retired, and emigrated to, of all places, California, in my country. He was posting on a gun forum, explaining how much the thrill of having purchased a handgun for pleasure shooting and self-defense has encompassed him! He sounded almost like a child with a new toy!

A further thought having just struck me, as certain as the laws of physics apply equally well there as here, and knowing that enormous amounts of water are evaporated from bodies of water, and condense back to liquid again, would it be possible to de-mineralize water using natural forces such as sunlight, or would authorities view such work as a "still"?

Your far-away neighbor, imp

 

[imp]

QUOTE (frame69 @ 1 Dec 2009, 20:01) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I thought cooled boiled water was a good substitute for distilled water.Correct me if Im wrong.
cheers Frame

Frame, "correcting" others is not polite behaviour (we spell it behavior), rather "expanding upon the content" is more suitable to my thinking.

Boiling water eliminates some of the original water present before heating, assuming it is not ALL boiled away. Any material dissolved in the water to begin with, minerals generally, depending on it's source (well water is often highly mineralized, or "hard"), will remain behind in the water not boiled away, with the result that the remaining water will contain a HIGHER dissolved solids percentage than originally, making it even LESS SUITABLE for use in a boiler. Such liquid having higher than original mineralization content is often called "brine".

Now, the water vaporized during the boiling, which has left the original boiling-pot, contains no dissolved solids, and but a bit of dissolved gases from the surrounding air, carbon dioxide being the nasty one. The trick is to "catch" that vapor and allow it to cool, and turn back into water again! I have been advised such work is frowned upon in UK by authorities, a pity, as far as I am concerned!

imp

 

[imp]

QUOTE (John Webb @ 2 Dec 2009, 16:05) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Steam directed at a cold clean surface will condense back into water. So I floated a nice new kitchen roasting tray on cold water in my kitchen sink and directed steam from the boiler of a wall paper stripper into the tray. Result: about 1 litre of distilled water after an hour or so.

Regards,
John Webb

A most pertinent idea! Will it be necessary to obtain the proper credentials to continue preparing pure water this way? Is your abode likely to be visited by the "still" authorities? (facetiousness intended).

imp

 

[imp]

QUOTE (LTSR @ 2 Dec 2009, 18:12) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>De-frost your freezer and collect the water that'll be as pure as you can easily get. If you need a lot volunteer to do your neighbours!

For a regular supply get a small freezer and drill some holes top and bottom through the door to promote air circulation, if you were to remove the door entirely you would loose too much of the insulation.

Incidentally if water vapour is a problem when spray-painting then a coil of tubing placed inside the freezer will condense a large part of the water out. The intake would naturally need to be outside and the delivery end fed to the compressor; you would also need to provide a water trap before the compressor.

"Easily" is the key word, maybe. But a good idea, also! I suspect the ice formed within freezers consists of water formerly contained in the air surrounding the box, which enters when the door is opened, remains trapped, and it's water vapor "plates out" as ice within the cabinet. As such, it will contain minute amounts of foreign matter, I believe primarily dust particles, which are found clinging to vapor droplets in the air.

Or, I might just not know what I'm talking about! Recall reading though, that each raindrop contains dust.

imp