Shotgun condenser first attempt

[Rumblepants]

Hi,

I'm starting a CCVM build and working on my shotgun condenser. The plan is 500mm in length with 5 1/2 tubes. Question is have I stuffed up the vapour tube layout?

shottie-end-plates-smaller.jpg

Thanks

[Rumblepants]

I'm worried about the amount of coolant surrounding the vapour tubes as they are really close to the edge of the pipe. I stuffed up when making the drilling template and didnt take into account the thickness of the pipe.

Thanks

[Birdman85]

As long as it's watertight it won't be an issue. Water will get in between there and do its thing. If you're worried about it just have another crack

[RC Al]

Your all good, can you fit another tube in the middle?

Baffles with a 37% cut out every 2" or so will ensure that you get the most out of it

[Lesgold]

:text-+1:
An extra tube in the centre would be great. Don’t worry about them being close to the edge, water will still get there. Just finished a Shotty with 7 x 1/2” tubes and they were very close to the edge of the plates. It works very well. Baffles apparently improve efficiency but if attempting to add them, I’d be drilling the end plates and baffles in one go so that any slight errors in marking out and drilling will be consistent throughout. This will make assembly easier.

[Rumblepants]

Your all good, can you fit another tube in the middle?

Baffles with a 37% cut out every 2" or so will ensure that you get the most out of it

Thanks guys. I reckon I can fit another tube in the center. I'm out of 1/2 inch tube though. It might be a bit dicey drilling out the center of the rounded piece as well. I could pick a piece from Bunnings if it would make a lot of difference.

I think I'll leave the baffles. These two plates were a massive pain in the azz to fabricate. I'll see how I go with cutting our the last one. I'm going to try a combo of aviation snips and grinding.

Thanks so much of the quick feedback!

Rumble

[Lesgold]

Try securing the round end plate to the MDF with about 3 pan head (flat head) screws. It shouldn’t move. A pilot hole or a stepped drill will also make life easier.

[Rumblepants]

Try securing the round end plate to the MDF with about 3 pan head (flat head) screws. It shouldn’t move. A pilot hole or a stepped drill will also make life easier.

Thanks for the pan head tip!


To make the initial holes I used a gradual step up method with different drills bits then did the final couple of steps on a drill press.

Cheers
Rumble

[Bobsyauncle]

:text-+1: on the step bit, makes life so much easier than changing out drill bits every 30 seconds.

[Rumblepants]

Here’s an update. I ended up going with the extra tube in the center and chucking in a couple of baffles.

E5FD006C-93C4-44C6-81C5-2C974974BE73.jpeg

[Rumblepants]

After grinding

7E29F12A-95F8-426B-A98D-870683A00A56.jpeg

[bluc]

Looking awesome :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Doubleuj]

Nice, don’t forget to drill your inlet/ outlet holes in your outer pipe before assembling it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[chipboy]

Soft lead fee or silver solder? I suspect the former and that is excellent work you would be very satisfied.

[Rumblepants]

Soft lead fee or silver solder? I suspect the former and that is excellent work you would be very satisfied.

Soft lead free solder. Yep really happy with how it came out.

I did stuff up the the alignment of the inlet and outlet holes. No big deal but it kinda shits me. :smile:

prodcut_condenser.jpg

[Bobsyauncle]

Have the inlet/outlet facing the back of the still and she'll be right. Out of sight out of mind :laughing-rolling:

[dans.brew]

Nice job Rumble!
Should do its intended purpose id say. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[scythe]

Re water inlet outlet alignment:
No you didn't, you carefully conconsidered how the hoses will hang during operation and off set them so that they would hang neatly side by side.
Good work :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Lesgold]

Looks good mate. Well done. Do your snap hose fittings fit on OK? I found that the joiner cut in half was not quite long enough to allow the fittings to clip in place. I got two fittings and cut them a little longer to make sure everything snapped together. Worth checking out before you get to the next step.

[Rumblepants]

Looks good mate. Well done. Do your snap hose fittings fit on OK? I found that the joiner cut in half was not quite long enough to allow the fittings to clip in place. I got two fittings and cut them a little longer to make sure everything snapped together. Worth checking out before you get to the next step.

I'm unsure. I tried using a cheapo hose clip and they were leaking a fair bit. It seemed to clip in ok. I put it down to the clip being super cheap but maybe not.

More testing is needed :)

What is the point of putting flanges on either end of the product condenser? I was planning to soft solder on an elbow and reducer to either end. Would I regret this later?

Cheers
Rumble