How do you use the Evaporator?
Power it with a charged power source, put a container of water, alcohol or Lipobond Agent in the Container slot and sleep. It works overnight.
Probably Stolen Evaporator Guide
The Probably Stolen Evaporator works overnight. Put a charged power source in the Battery slot and a container of water, alcohol or Lipobond Agent in the Container slot; by morning up to about 300 mL of those liquids is gone and everything else stays behind. The Distillate slot only catches the vapor if a module gives the machine Quality. With no Quality, the water simply disappears.
How the Evaporator works in Probably Stolen
New to the game? Start at the Probably Stolen guide hub.
The Evaporator at a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| What it does | Evaporates liquids out of a solution overnight. Source: In-game text. |
| Slots | Battery, Module, Container, Distillate. Source: In-game text. |
| What evaporates | Water, alcohol and Lipobond Agent; everything else stays in the container. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| How much a night | About 300 mL, more with Performance from modules. Source: The game code. |
| What Quality does | Sets how much of the vapor the Distillate slot catches. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Solvent Recovery Module | Catches only alcohol. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
| Where to get one | Joe Wild's Retired Chemist favor and the retired chemist's weekly visits. Source: In-game text; the game code. |
How to use the Evaporator
The Evaporator is "A slow machine that works overnight to evaporate liquids out of a solution using low heat and dry air." Its instruction sheet adds: "Works overnight when power and a water container are provided."
| Slot | What goes in |
|---|---|
| Battery | A charged power source, such as an Energy Cell |
| Module | Modules that change Power Consumption, volume and how much vapor is caught |
| Container | The container you want to dry out or distill from |
| Distillate | An empty container to catch the vapor (optional) |
- Give it power. It only runs on a night when its battery can cover the power it needs. How power works is in our machine power section.
- Load the Container slot with something that has water, alcohol or Lipobond Agent in it.
- Add an empty container to Distillate if you want to keep what evaporates.
- Sleep. Nothing happens during the day; check the result the next morning.
The instruction sheet lists what the three module stats do here:
- Efficiency: "Power Consumption"
- Performance: "Volume Evaporate Per Night"
- Quality: "Volume of Vapor Captured"
Why the Distillate slot stays empty
-
Quality Module -
Evaporator Solvent Recovery Module
Because the machine has no Quality. Quality is the stat for "Volume of Vapor Captured", and in the game files the Evaporator has no Quality of its own: it comes only from the modules you fit. Each night, the Distillate container catches that night's evaporated liquid multiplied by the machine's Quality. At 0% Quality it catches nothing, so the water leaves your bottle and never reaches the Distillate container.
To catch the vapor:
- Fit a module that adds Quality, such as a Quality Module. The more Quality, the more of the vapor you keep, up to all of it at 100%.
- Put a container in the Distillate slot. With the slot empty, nothing is caught even with Quality.
Each module's stats show on the module itself; general module stats are in our module stats section.
What the Evaporator can evaporate
Only three liquids evaporate: water, alcohol and Lipobond Agent. The Bottle of Lipobond Agent says so itself: "This agent can then be evaporate off." Everything else stays in the Container: heavy metals, microbes, microplastics and other contaminants, Dream Cap Extract and the other extracts, and acid or base solutions. That is why Ghostwater left in the Evaporator turns into a smaller amount of dirtier water.
How much goes each night:
- About 300 mL, shared between the three liquids in the same proportions they are in the container.
- More with Performance. Performance from modules raises that amount in proportion.
- Less if there is less. If the container holds less than a night's amount, it all evaporates that night.
Making pure water or alcohol with the Evaporator
Yes, you can distill with it, slowly. Set it up like this:
- Put the water in the Container slot.
- Put an empty container in the Distillate slot.
- Fit modules that add Quality.
What the Distillate container catches is only water, so in the game files it comes out 100% pure: Pure Water, the top grade. The grades are in our water grades table. Three things change that:
- Mixed liquids are caught together. Water and alcohol in the same container evaporate together, and the Distillate catches both.
- Whatever is already in the Distillate container mixes in. Start with it empty.
- The Solvent Recovery Module catches no water (see below).
At about 300 mL a night and only the Quality share caught, this is a small-batch method. For larger amounts of clean water, use the methods in our water purification section.
What the Solvent Recovery Module does
The Evaporator Solvent Recovery Module's effect reads: "Will only recover Solvent". With it fitted, the Distillate slot catches only alcohol, still in proportion to the machine's Quality. Water and Lipobond Agent still evaporate, but they are not caught.
That is how you separate alcohol from a mixed batch and use it again. Where it fits among the machine-specific modules is in our machine modules section.
The evaporation step in chemistry recipes
The Chemistry 101 Guide describes the Evaporator as: "Work overnight to remove certain liquid such as water and alcohol. Use normal modules". In the Dream Dust recipe it is step 3:
- "(Optional) Filter the solution from the previous step with a Kotton Fabric as filter to remove large sized contaminants"
- "Insert the container into the Evaporator"
- "Make sure the Evaporator is powered with a Energy Cell"
- "Wait until the next day for the Evaporator to work"
Step 4 only starts "(REQUIRED) When all the water and alcohol has evaporated". So a batch with more than about 300 mL of water and alcohol needs more than one night. Li Bei Wen's note has the same rule ("All water and alcohol are evaporated") and later asks you to "evaporate the Lipobond Agent". The whole recipe is in our Dream Dust section.
For chemistry the Distillate slot is optional; with a Solvent Recovery Module it gives you the alcohol back.
Evaporator not working
| What you see | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing changed overnight | No power source, or not enough charge for the night | Put a charged power source in the Battery slot |
| Nothing changed overnight | Nothing in the container can evaporate | Only water, alcohol and Lipobond Agent evaporate |
| Nothing changed during the day | It only works overnight | Sleep and check the next morning |
| The water is gone but Distillate is empty | No Quality, or no container in Distillate | Fit a module with Quality and add an empty container |
| The Chem Finisher won't take the batch | Water or alcohol is still left | Give it another night |
| Distillate has alcohol but no water | The Solvent Recovery Module is fitted | Remove it to catch water |
The developer's 100-Rev3 hotfix on October 28, 2026 fixed the Evaporator sometimes leaving a tiny trace of water in mixed alcohol batches, which cost an extra night. If you need more nights, a Turbo Booster works on the Evaporator; see our section on speeding up machines.
Where to get an Evaporator
Joe Wild's Retired Chemist favor. Its description reads: "Immediately receive a Chemist Starter Kit. A retired chemist will visit you the next day and, subsequently, once a week, selling chemical supplies and equipment." The kit includes an Evaporator. The favor is listed in our Joe Wild network table.
The retired chemist's visits. The retired chemist's stock can include an Evaporator and the Evaporator Solvent Recovery Module.
The Chemist start. It starts with a "Chemistry Manual" and "Chemistry Lab Equipment". How it differs from Retired Chemist is in our Chemist start section, and how it compares with the other starts is in our starting scenarios table.
Version notes and limits
This page doesn't give module numbers, power use or prices. Two things are not settled yet: whether the Chemist start's lab equipment always includes an Evaporator, and whether other visitors, such as the retired water merchant, sell one. We will update this page when the public build changes the Evaporator or those answers are confirmed.
Probably Stolen Evaporator FAQ
Why is the Distillate slot empty?
The machine has no Quality. Quality comes only from modules and sets how much vapor is caught; without it, the water evaporates and is lost. Also check there is a container in the Distillate slot.
What liquids can the Evaporator evaporate?
Water, alcohol and Lipobond Agent. Contaminants, extracts and acid or base solutions stay behind.
Can you make pure water with the Evaporator?
Yes, in small amounts. With Quality modules and an empty Distillate container, the water it catches is Pure Water. Mixed water and alcohol come out mixed.
What does the Solvent Recovery Module do?
It makes the Evaporator catch only alcohol. Water still evaporates but is not kept.
Why does the Chem Finisher say the batch isn't ready?
Some water or alcohol is still in it. The recipe needs all of it gone, and the Evaporator handles about 300 mL a night, so leave it another night.
Where do you get an Evaporator?
From Joe Wild's Retired Chemist favor, which gives a Chemist Starter Kit with one, and from the retired chemist who then visits weekly.
How long does the evaporation step take?
One night per roughly 300 mL of water, alcohol and Lipobond Agent in the container, less with Performance modules.
Sources and version history for this guide: Probably Stolen sources and versions.
Spot an error or a post-patch change? See how we label evidence and handle corrections in the Editorial Policy.