6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Perforated & bubble cap plated columns

Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby bt1 » Mon Feb 04, 2013 7:09 am

Looking good!

Unless your area suffers extremely hot conditions or you have a limited /small~ish water supply then 5 x 1/2" should be fine. Around .5m say and you'll have a nice cool output to suit calibration of alco meter is the aim.

For Adelaide I use 5 tubes currently but have another about.6m on a 11lt tank and on real hot days it's fine.

bt1
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby Brendan » Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:25 am

Thanks for that bt1.

By the sounds of it, the cooling is going to be a lot different from my 3" VM...I use a 240L wheelie bin and even that amount gets warm after a couple of hours.

In NSW, not too hot and cool water supply so the product condenser sounds adequate :D

The only way I can see an issue, is if I take the plates out and use as a pot for strip runs (one of the ideas for going fully modular)...then there may be up to 6kW thrown at it...so would like to over engineer for that purpose :think:
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby bt1 » Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:41 pm

Yeh,

prior post...typo that tank is 1100lt

a wheelie bin aint going to cut it with a plater with 6KW..

an IBC with a radiator or cooling platform would suit I've heard IBC are fairly cheap your way.

Let us know how in any case.

bt1
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby Brendan » Mon Feb 04, 2013 2:25 pm

Ahh thanks for the clarification bt1...1100L is a little different...I thought you meant 110L :?

As for normal use...I will only be running at the usual 3.6kW or whatever, but will have 6kW available so that's where my thinking lies...

When stripping with my 3" pot at 4800W, I have been known to just run the tap water (slowly) through and out into the garden :shifty: I don't have a problem having to do this occasionally for an hour or so...


edit: Any idea where IBC's are available cheap down this way?
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby kelbygreen » Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:06 pm

few on gumtree every now and then but expect to pay about $120. I know a guy that said he gets some from gunnedah for $50 but a bit of a drive :)) But he said to me that try tire places like ones that do truck tires and big machinery. Maybe try stock places as the mollasses comes in a IBC lol might get a few 20lt drum of it to haha
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby Brendan » Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:11 pm

Yeah I hadn't thought of that...the stock feed place here would be the go :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby Brendan » Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:49 pm

So the last few days managed to get some of the sight glass ports worked out, and starting to take shape.

Went round to the grandparents place to use the workshop :D

Put the 4" holesaw through my only piece of 3"
Holesaw.JPG


And found out of sheer luck that the diameter of the belt sander was perfect, got to get lucky sometimes!
BeltSander.JPG


Fitting.JPG


Cut down and cleaned up a bit, ready for soldering. Most of them are a great fit.
SightGlass.JPG


A little mockup of the column with 4 of the ports on
PicMockUp.JPG


I think i'm going to end up going with soft soldering on these sight glass ports...as any attempt to get a piece hot enough to silver braze will well and truly melt my soft soldered easy flanges...I have thought of heat sinks and wet towels, but don't think it's worth the risk...plus a couple of them have little gaps which are much easier to fill with soft solder :doh:

Rock on bubblers :happy-partydance:
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby bt1 » Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:58 pm

Can I ask how you intend to flange the pictured sigh glass tubes?

bt1
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby kelbygreen » Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:58 pm

looking shit hot :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby Brendan » Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:09 pm

bt1 wrote:Can I ask how you intend to flange the pictured sigh glass tubes?

bt1


In a vice bt1, sitting on a 4" timber cylinder (grandfather is a woodturner), using my lever flange bar...and then finish it off with a few light taps of the hammer...or easy flange depending on what your question meant :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Trying to have minimal protrusion of these ports, so have allowed some room for the flange, and a bit of fudge factor, and the tri-clamp should sit in there nicely :pray:
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby emptyglass » Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:23 pm

Well done mate, doing an excelent job.

You might want to consider flanging the window ports before attaching them. Because you have to soft solder them, I don't think soft solder will take the working and hammering.
If you can, spin up a little hardwood plug and collar.
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby Brendan » Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:27 pm

Sorry EG, I should have clarified...

I wouldn't even contemplate attaching them before flanging, so yes that will be done first :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Thanks though, you never know the shit that you can overlook :shock:
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby bt1 » Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:31 pm

kk,

I'd be most keen to see a few shots of this ..This is my grief process and I need to get through it or cut off a limb which ever is easier.

bt1
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Posts: 2448
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:56 am
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equipment: 2 x Glass Bubblers, 5 plate 89mm & 6 plate 110mm
4" 6 plate copper bubbler, 500mm copper packed section
Several pots, custom boiler
14 keg rotating brew setup, fermentation & dispenser fridges.

Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby Brendan » Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:36 pm

Ok bt1,

I haven't attempted this yet...if it works i'll put up pics...if not you'll see something else 8-}

I'm hoping the flaring lever bar makes this painless, as I can get it flared out to about 75 degress before the hammer even touches it.

We'll see tomorrow... :pray:
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby emptyglass » Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:50 pm

Don't be sorry Brendan. I wasn't sure. I guessed you might have been attatching SS tricover ferrules and going that way.
You might want to thin your breaker down a little, due to the smaller diameter. Or you could knock up another thinner one. I little radiusing of the inside edge of the tool helps stop kinking.

And its hard to type what goes through your mind in the workshop.

BTW, I reckon you could use those column sections as axle stands, they look that tough. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby SBB » Wed Feb 06, 2013 10:40 pm

Soft solder will work on them fine , another thing to keep in mind is to keep them as short as possible , makes for a better view.
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby tickle » Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:55 am

subscribed and bookmarked! looking great :handgestures-thumbupleft:

also watching those sight glasses with interest
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby googe » Thu Feb 07, 2013 7:57 am

Looking real good mate :handgestures-thumbupleft: be nice to have a workshop at home like that hey :D
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby Brendan » Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:34 pm

LESSON LEARNED TODAY: Don't flare sight glass flanges! :naughty:

So I set out today to see about putting easy flanges on these sight glass ports.

I made my 3" rings and brazed them up...
Ring1.jpg


rings2.JPG


Then cut a new slot in my flaring bar to fit the 3" pipe...flared it out and...well it looked like shit :angry-banghead:

I realised that these didn't really need to strength on the 4" column modules anyway, so why not just flstten the 1/4" tube and solder it on there...and it turned out brilliant! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Notice a difference?
flange2.JPG


And I wonder which one looks more like the SS ferrule? :think:
flange3.JPG
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Re: 6 Week Bubbler Challenge

Postby kelbygreen » Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:37 pm

hmm yeah good point there :handgestures-thumbupleft:
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