Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hey all :greetings-waveyellow:

I picked up some 6" and some 8" at the scrap yard the other day. So Ive decided to build a new 6" bubbler. I'm thinking of making a 8" inline thumper on the bottom also. If I can work out how to make it.

What volume should the thumper be? Also I'm thinking a 500mm 3" PC but I'm not sure on the RC any ideas what a good size would be ? 300mm?

Cheers

Good score, I wouldn’t go a 3” Rc though, looks like you’ve got enough 6” for the whole rig, inc the rc

Doubleuj wrote:Good score, I wouldn’t go a 3” Rc though, looks like you’ve got enough 6” for the whole rig, inc the rc

Do you mean PC?

I wouldn't go 300 mm on the RC, probably no more than 150mm, but it'll also depend on what size and how many internals you put in it.

My bad. Yeah I mean 6" RC and 3" PC.

So 150mm RC and 500mm PC would be alright?

Depending on internals... :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I would put baffles in the RC and PC, it will help cooling efficiency, which you will need with that much vapour through it.
Maybe keep the internal tube to 1/2" or 5/8",
3/4" is a bit big and needs a bit of mesh poked into it to work properly.

scythe wrote:I would put baffles in the RC and PC, it will help cooling efficiency, which you will need with that much vapour through it.
Maybe keep the internal tube to 1/2" or 5/8",
3/4" is a bit big and needs a bit of mesh poked into it to work properly.

:text-+1: but I think baffles in a PC are a waste of effort.

scythe wrote:I would put baffles in the RC and PC, it will help cooling efficiency, which you will need with that much vapour through it.
Maybe keep the internal tube to 1/2" or 5/8",
3/4" is a bit big and needs a bit of mesh poked into it to work properly.

What are baffles ?

Also would there be any benefits of having dual water inputs/outputs? In the RC. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Baffles are partial plates inside the RC that force the water to change direction and therefore have a longer journey through the RC. They are parallel to the end plates and the input is opposite to the open end of the baffle plate. If you go for multiple baffle plates each plate will have its open end opposite to the previous plate. Checkout woodduck's RC on his mother duck build, you can see his RC plates in the photos on this post the middle plate has a section missing from it, it's the open end.

Thanks DB. I will have a look into that :handgestures-thumbupleft:

My Rc is way too big on my 6", it takes forever to adjust and only needs a tiny amount of water running though it so is touchy as hell. When I get my ass back in the shed one day I will pull it out and halve it's length I reckon. I think the sheer volume of water in such a big rc is too much of a heat sink.

woodduck wrote:My Rc is way too big on my 6", it takes forever to adjust and only needs a tiny amount of water running though it so is touchy as hell. When I get my ass back in the shed one day I will pull it out and halve it's length I reckon. I think the sheer volume of water in such a big rc is too much of a heat sink.

What size RC would you re make it to?

Probably 150mm might even try 100mm. I like responsive rc's and I don't need to hold full reflux for long.

I finally got some work done today. Hopefully over the holidays i can get a bit more done. :dance:


I decided to make 6 X tee's with 4" sight glasses and a block head at the top to connect to the PC. Hopefully get the tees cut tomorrow.

I still have to cut the sight glasses out. But with some help from rc al, i managed to get the sight glasses to sight on with a tight fit :text-thankyoublue:

If you're keeping the plates as non modular have you thought about incorporating the ability to disable upto three plates?

As unless you like just neutral in which case there are other designs that are quicker cheaper and more efficient then you'll likely find that for most washes three or four plates better suited than six...

Yeah they are going to to be separate. I just have to cut them.

Is it better to have a package section or more plates? ( For neutral )

Packed section if you are after neutral.
Each plate increases the %ABV and strips flavour you feed into the packed section, and the cleaner the input the cleaner the output.

scythe wrote:Packed section if you are after neutral.
Each plate increases the %ABV and strips flavour you feed into the packed section, and the cleaner the input the cleaner the output.

Ok looks like i will add a 500mm packed section also :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Has anyone tired using SSP ? compared to the copper mesh. I had copper mesh in my 4" packed section, it worked well but just wondering if SSP is any better ?

There's a discussion about SPP somewhere here. I can't remember what the outcome of it was though.

You will need to research the size requirements for the spp in that diameter column, I think the regular hobby grade stuff will be too small and flood easily.
Scoria would be much easier and significantly cheaper

A 4" packed column will be a better match on top, you could pull the plates out of your 4" and fill it and the 4" 500mm you have with rocks. Why? height for purity, width for speed, 6" dose have a shorter hight per equivalent plate ie aprox 7-8 for 500mm, vs 11-13 for 1100mm of 4". 4" packed and 6" plates actually have similar power requirements for efficient use, the caps will have an easier time keeping up with the thinner column as they have a large range of power level that they run at, will make for a faster more stable running column in that configuration. Search for bubble ball for more info on how that works

Hehe how tall is you ceiling? Offset column here we come....

Also consider the boiler charge to fill all that column volume, 1100 of 4" and 500 of 6" have a similar volume, I dare say you will need a full charge of 40% low wines to make that run nice with your 100l boiler - a thumper might be needed for capacity more than as a nice addition if you want to make a one and done neutral from a regular wash

Just as another aside, if you can make your downcommers height adjustable (slip on extensions), more fluid depth is better for making neutral