Andybear's Glasser

[andybear]

I haven’t been stilling for long, but I’ve read enough on this site to know that a bubbler is the ducks nuts. So the T500 has probably had its last run with me.
So I’ve read every build on glass bubblers on this site and have been gathering bits for the last couple months. I’ve also been keeping a tally on costs. As I was unable to get a guesstamet on what it was going to cost before I got started. I'll post these in the next few days. I’m also going to need to build a keg boiler before I can use the bubbler. More about that later. For now I've got some pics to share (as soon as I work out how to load them). Any comments or suggestions are most welcome.

[andybear]

This is my mud map.

[andybear]

It looks like the photos load in the reverse order that I put them.
I did a lot of cutting before I lit the burner. Mostly because I was have never used a torch before, but as it turned out the Bernzo ts8000 is a cool tool. I improvised on Macs instructions of the reflux condenser when making the PC and it worked a treat. I reckon I finished the first solder in less than 5 minutes and that was too much heat. Most of the solder flowed out and onto my brick. But it still sealed. The second took about 2 minutes.
I followed Macs instructions on making rings for easy flanges. These are for the 2.5" tubes (see photo at the bottom). Used the 5% silver for these. They needed alot more heat than the soft solder. but not bad for my first go at silver solder.

[woodduck]

Looking good andy :handgestures-thumbupleft:

hexagon plates by the look of it, nice, that's something i don't think I've seen yet.

Keep up the good work mate.

[SJC]

Andybear

Lookin good mate :handgestures-thumbupleft: good feeling getting stuck into it

[bt1]

Nice to see someone having a go and learning a few new skills... WD!

Looks good bloke, enjoy the build cos they are fun to do and a real sense of achievement.

Keep us posted, keen to see you version of the plates.

cheers
bt1

[andybear]

thanks for the encouragement. Had another busy day on the bubbler. Got the RC done. Drilled the plates and got some progress on the bubble caps. See photos. Also, note that most of the soft solder was done with the cheap butane burner as shown in photos. It wont do the silver solder for the flange rings, but for a $6 burner and $1 gas can it does pretty good.

[Meatheadinc]

Looks good.

Looking forward to seeing some more :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Urrazeb]

Nice, I can picture this rig already... All pointy and shit :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[andybear]

Finally got back to the project. Had to take family on Hols. Getting close now. See photos.

[andybear]

The underside of the plate shows how I connected the caps. I drilled and tapped a 3mm hole in each piece. The tapping was done in the drill. As copper is soft I didn't break any taps. I also used rocol lube. I also drilled an extra hole on each side to not restrict the vapour flow so much. The 4" to 2.5" reducer is SS316. I saw this on ebay for $20. This would have taken me hours, so this looked like a cop out.

[SJC]

Looking good Andy B :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[woodduck]

Nice work andy :handgestures-thumbupleft:

That was a clever way to attach the caps.

Won't be long now mate

[bt1]

Rather nice bloke...
we're about ready for the first use tale...
keep us posted.

love the caps btw nicely done.

bt1

[andybear]

Well its finished now, almost. I spent the last few days building the boiler. The biggest job was cutting the holes for the two 4 inch flanges to go on the top (bottom of keg). NOTE to others. There needs to be more than a few millimetres to spare when testing the flange distance. I put the tri clamps on and marked them out when they were not touching but I didn’t allow for the space required to actually fit them on. So its not easy now to remove and install my fill port/sight glass. Fark :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: . I can just manage to get it on by tightening the crap out of the bubbler connection. I got the flanges welded on by my brother in law. Using a tig. This cost me nothing luckily :handgestures-thumbupleft: . Also the weldless elements didn’t go in without a problem. I thought I did good by using a guide for the holesaw and the hole looked great, but the raised ring around the keg meant the nut (bottom of guard piece) couldn’t put even pressure on the inner gasket. No real big deal. I made some big washers with the 32mm holesaw using some flattened copper. And then they worked a treat. No leaks. Below is a list of my costs, for those who want to have an idea of what one will cost to build, obviously you have to adjust for your location and any time difference, inflation. These bits were purchased from Oct 14 to Jan 15.

135 - Copper from scrappy
40 - Rotary tool (Bunnings)
20 – Soft Solder (Masters)
70 - Lantern Glasses, BCF (5, one was spare but not needed)
34 – Safety goggles, ( the oxy weld type, they may not be required but I didn’t want to risk it)
48 – copper elbows, reducers, flux, silver solder stick and mapp gas bottle from pumbing co-op
105 – M8 threaded bar, nuts, washers all in 304SS ( I could have saved $30 here if I didn’t over purchase the threaded bar. The 1 metre length is just long enough to do 4 sight glasses.
100 – Triclamps from FSD, I bought another 240 of stuff for the keg boiler (Thanks Mac and Sue, great service and great products)
12 – Silicon baking mats for gaskets, Target
80 – Bernzo TS8000 ( from amazon, includes delivery)
8 – Butane torch and two cans of butane
16 – holesaw
40 – clear tubing for cooling system, Bunnings
12 – flap disks for grinder, Flee market
20 – 4”to2.5” ss reducer ( I got lazy and found it on ebay)
That’s $740 all up. Some of the cost is tooling and that will last me most my life and some can easily be done cheaper, like the hose for cooling, but it may cost more if you need a pump and tanks. I’m going to use mains water and collect it then use it for the garden once it cools off. I think its $1 per 1000 litres atm and one run uses about 150 – 200 litres. So 20c per run. The tube fittings and valves were left overs from a mates job and were going to be scrapped so they came for nicks. Thanks Bro, some Rum coming your way, eventually. I also have enough copper left over to make a 4”x 300mm long packed section. I may want to play with that one day. I hope that helps some of you. Cheers.

[1 2many]

Looking forwards to the pics. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Zak Griffin]

PICS?!

You might get away with your triclamp clash by grinding down a bit of the meat off of the triclamp? I thought I was going to have the same issue with Agrajag's sightglasses, and Mac suggested that you can get away with taking quite a bit of the metal out if need be :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[andybear]

I was thinking that too Zac, but I didn't have the guts to put it on the grinder. So how much material can I get rid of?
I got a couple picks to post but I'll take more when I get home. Working away from home atm. :handgestures-thumbdown: So not enough time to play with my new toy. But I've got a mcRum waiting for my arrival.