Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi just throwing around a few ideas I have collected the stuff to make an in line thumper
Off the boiler at 4 in then step up to 6 in in that plate put a 3 in riser and a 4 in bubble cap
Now heres my query I can make the 3 in riser and 4 in bubble cap any height I want
Meaning you can have a product bath any depth you chose
I could have an 18 depth with download valves every 3 or so in
your thoughts would be appreciated
thanks aussie

You are getting alot of views... I have to tell you I really don't understand what you are asking. Maybe some others don't as well.
Something like a thumper? With drain tubes?

Mac EDIT: removed reference to unwanted supplier.... for the 5th time.

good bye zombie, nobody is that thick.

i cut you some slack even tho you're banned from Artisan & HD for trolling, now you can have the same privilege here :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Sorry for the derailment Aussie, he won't be bothering us again ;-)

hey aussie, i can't help with your query but am keen to know more about inline thumpers
I'm thinking a 6 inch inline thumper would help speed up my runs on my with my fsd 4 inch bubbler :-B
would love to find out more about them :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I have a 6" thumper under my 4" bubbler.
It won't really speed up your run much... It's more of a different way to run.
basically, you keep the bubbler in full reflux till the thumper is full and the plates are loaded.
Then you can run it 1 of 2 ways,
1. Turn off the RC and let it all drain out.... Sort of like a pot mode( you will get more spirit but at a lower ABV)
Or
2. Run it as you normally do but with a little less reflux, just to keep the ABV up.

I'm going to shift this thread to the research section so it doesn't get lost in the dunder pit :handgestures-thumbupleft:

There's more to thumpers than one might expect, specially when it comes to what you want from it.

Do you REALLY want quicker runs ?

What about tails retention, has anyone thought about why you would run a big plate under a 4" column ? I believe there's great advantages to be gained here.... ;-)

Flavour, well here we go............ endless scenarios here.

Or is it a cosmetic thing ?

There's something to get ya thinking :teasing-neener:

MacStill wrote:I'm going to shift this thread to the research section so it doesn't get lost in the dunder pit :handgestures-thumbupleft:

There's more to thumpers than one might expect, specially when it comes to what you want from it.

Do you REALLY want quicker runs ?

What about tails retention, has anyone thought about why you would run a big plate under a 4" column ? I believe there's great advantages to be gained here.... ;-)

Flavour, well here we go............ endless scenarios here.

Or is it a cosmetic thing ?

There's something to get ya thinking :teasing-neener:

Thanks for that its just another idea I had and would like to have a go at
I get most enjoyment at building like my still first few runs were great now I couldn't be bothered
I am not after speed just a different way of doing things
If I don't have things to do I get bored
As it comes together I will post photos

Aussie I am very intrigued by the concept of inline thumpers. I am still learning the basics of my bubbler and experimenting with different ways to run it. Once I am more comfortable with the still as it is I will be looking at setting up an inline thumper.

I did a small amount of reading on HD and saw one made from a stock pot I believe with a thick SS plate lid, then a couple of plates on top of that. It had 2 external drains on it that fed back to the boiler one at bath depth and one on the bottom to drain the thumper post run.

I don't see why you could not have multiple external drains with ball valves so that you can change bath depth, possibly mid run if you were so inclined. The only thing I am not sure about is maximim bath depth. The deeper the bath, the higher the pressure in the boiler in order for the vapour to push through the liquid. I have to admit the thought of a pressurized boiler does not excite me. What are peoples thoughts on this?

While faster runs are always good, like Mac said, a thumper adds a plethora of options to a simple bubbler in regards to flavoured alcohols. I had never considered tails retention however the endless options for flavours by using a thumper precharged with wash/backset is very appealing.

Sorry for the long winded reply but it is a subject that has been hovering in the back of my mind.

Does anyone have a diagram of an inline thumper? It might be nice to see the inner workings of such a beast.

Dominator wrote:I have to admit the thought of a pressurized boiler does not excite me. What are peoples thoughts on this?

Dom I think the amount of pressure build up would be very minimal and of little if any concern.
Would it be any greater than with a traditional style thumper?

A inline thumper is not too unlike a big single bubble cap. Here is a very rough digram of an inline thumper with multiple external valves. The arrows show the vapour direction. It makes its way up the smaller center tube, down between the outer wall of the center tube and inner wall of the larger tube then out through holes or slots in the bottom of the larger tube then the vapour is forced through the liquid bath and on to the main column.

SBB wrote:

Dominator wrote:I have to admit the thought of a pressurized boiler does not excite me. What are peoples thoughts on this?

Dom I think the amount of pressure build up would be very minimal and of little if any concern.
Would it be any greater than with a traditional style thumper?

Yeah I reckon your right SBB, I am probably being a bit overly cautious.

Thanks Dom,

By the looks of it, all the fores & heads will be concentrated in the thumper liquid by the time the hearts are ready to roll.

Is this the intention? Do you then expect the fores and heads to boil out of the thumper before the hearts? This is really a second distillation process isn't it?

Thing is its an unknown quantity and if someone doesn't try it we will never know :D

Petulance wrote:Thanks Dom,

By the looks of it, all the fores & heads will be concentrated in the thumper liquid by the time the hearts are ready to roll.

Is this the intention? Do you then expect the fores and heads to boil out of the thumper before the hearts? This is really a second distillation process isn't it?

Yes & no,
the heads will still be concentrated on the top plate as usual. The tails (if the thumper is the correct volume) will be in the boiler.
Therefor, your whole hearts charge should be sitting in the still.... which is the reason why you can then turn off the RC and let it all strip out.
the other option is you make the thumper bigger so it holds some tails.....this is a flavour/taste thing :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Kimbo wrote:I have a 6" thumper under my 4" bubbler.
It won't really speed up your run much... It's more of a different way to run.
basically, you keep the bubbler in full reflux till the thumper is full and the plates are loaded.
Then you can run it 1 of 2 ways,
1. Turn off the RC and let it all drain out.... Sort of like a pot mode( you will get more spirit but at a lower ABV)
Or
2. Run it as you normally do but with a little less reflux, just to keep the ABV up.

Hey mate how do you run yours option 1 or option 2? I could be wrong but if all the tails are back in the boiler then running in pot mode should give you a more flavoursome drink with less tails smearing across the fractions? Is this the great advantage of thumpers or am I missing something :))

Hi Whiskey,
I generally run the second way, just to help with tails compression ;-)

Kimbo wrote:Hi Whiskey,
I generally run the second way, just to help with tails compression ;-)

Yep :handgestures-thumbupleft:

.... and by having a bigger volume of the lower alcohols on the bottom plate, naturally that's where most of the tails will stay for longer.

MacStill wrote:

Kimbo wrote:Hi Whiskey,
I generally run the second way, just to help with tails compression ;-)

Yep :handgestures-thumbupleft:

.... and by having a bigger volume of the lower alcohols on the bottom plate, naturally that's where most of the tails will stay for longer.

Ahh, now it makes sense. Thanks Mac and Kimbo :handgestures-thumbupleft:

so I'm thinking a six inch bubble cap plate then three 4 inch plates(maybe even 4 plates) :think:
would this help compress tails more and /or get me more take of speed(maybe 3lt plus per hour)