My Little Bubbler Mod

[MacStill]

Spent the last few days thinking about how to "possibly" improve my bubbler & thought adding another couple of distillation cycles couldnt hurt, ever since seeing LWTCS's humpa thumpa in action I thought I might try something similar but with a little twist of my own.

So I'm almost done building an inline "bubble fumpa parasitic boiler doovilacky thingo"... it's 15L in total capacity, but will be able to hold around 7L of liquid in the fumpa before it over flows into an external drain (not finished), this drain is below a 8" perforated bubble tray.

Here's some pics.

[MacStill]

I'll be putting a couple of sight glasses, a fill port, a drain, an external downcomer for liquid level in the fump section, and a drain to empty it.



Just gotta source a few more bits and it's done, but the sight glasses will have to wait til after xmas.

Cheers.

[SBB]

jeeeezzzus Mac...you sure you didnt knock that thing off on the last job???.......looks like a D8 muffler to me :think: :think:

[Kimbo]

That is gonna be awsome,
Cant wait to see this one in action

[olddog]

Your gonna need a step ladder to adjust the cooling valves.


OD

[MacStill]

Your gonna need a step ladder to adjust the cooling valves.


OD

Yeah I can reach the valve ok just, but I think if this works well I'll sort the cooling lines out so it's more comfortable to operate.

Cheers.

[MacStill]

That is gonna be awsome,
Cant wait to see this one in action

I reckon a simple pot still on top of a reflux condenser would be awesome on this thing, I've got another couple ideas floating around and some spare pipe so we'll see how this rig goes before I stick it under a pot still.

[MacStill]

jeeeezzzus Mac...you sure you didnt knock that thing off on the last job???.......looks like a D8 muffler to me :think: :think:

You'll be pleased to know a zip tie has been put to use, following in your foot steps cobber :laughing-rolling:

[stubbydrainer]

A very interesting concept you got there McStill :think: :think:
Have you got the 8" plate on a 10mm or larger grid, cos I was wondering about the action on the 8" plate with that Huge surface area with a suitable action, being fed up to the relatively small 4" plates above copping a high velocity of vapour speed,making there action too violent ( thinking a bit more :think: ) I spose if the hole size and count was the same as a 4" plate the problem would not exist :geek:
Makes me wanna go get some 8" pipe just the same, and incorporate it into my current build :whistle:

Cheers
Stubs

[Torp]

Looks really good, I can hardly wait to hear about how she runs

[MacStill]

Yeah the grid for the holes is 12mm, I cant see to many issues with the vapor speed creating too much turbulence.

What I'm trying to do is prevent any reflux entering back to the boiler, I want the reflux too stay within the still and not have it dilute by entering the wash in the boiler and having to be separated again.

I think by having the ethanol staying within the still run times could possibly be cut down by quite a bit, and possibly raise the ABV by a point or two.

LWTCS has done some vids of his rig in action, and explains the concept in detail.

Cheers.

[stubbydrainer]

Vids ?

[MacStill]

Vids ?

Hopefully Larry doesnt mind me posting this here.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24355&hilit=lwtcs+thumper

Enjoy!

[LWTCS]

Please continue as you do Sir.

You are well within good working order and quite keen to further discuss the advantages of this type of strategy.

[LWTCS]

You are quite on track Macstill..........

[MacStill]

Today I soldered this thing together so it's ready to be used for my next run, it'll be doing it's first couple of runs without any sight glasses on it due to not being able to source any 2" tri clamps and glass locally. With xmas here these last few bits will probably have to wait until the new year, unless anyone out there has a couple of spare tri clamps they want to sell me.

I've got a molasses wash that's ready to run so hopefully I get a chance to do a run in the next day or so, cant wait to see how the still behaves with this thing attached & I'll take a video of it too.

Cheers.

[MacStill]

OK so here's a couple of pics of how the beast is looking now, I've extended the off take to reach my parrot & the thumper drain/fill port/pee trap is fitted.

After looking at this setup for a couple hours sarvo I'm going to reconfigure the cooling lines, move the reflux control valve and maybe even give her a birthday to make it look pretty.





The little funnel I got off 5Star fits nicely in the fill port, this will be handy for filling the thumper with juice and creating the vapor lock in the pee trap.

Also! where the drain tubes enter the thumper & just below in the keg connection I've got 90 degree bends facing upwards, the drain is 3/4 inch.

:dance:

[LWTCS]

Haha you were ready for the drain trap question! Smart move turning the bends upward inside. That gives you better clearance on the exterior.
How much liquid volume will it hold till she starts to drain?

She looks crazy awesome. How tall is your entire assembly?
I wish I could say with certainty how your vapor speed will influence performance.

I'll wait here.

[MacStill]

Haha you were ready for the drain trap question! Smart move turning the bends upward inside. That gives you better clearance on the exterior.
How much liquid volume will it hold till she starts to drain?

She looks crazy awesome. How tall is your entire assembly?
I wish I could say with certainty how your vapor speed will influence performance.

I'll wait here.

I figure it'll hold around 7 liters before the drain is needed, I worked this out at more than what's required for a low wines charge of 35 liters at 20% but not entirely sure of how the beast will react under different circumstances.... unlike your humpa I dont have the option of opening the top up to modify things, however I do have a couple of 8" tri clamps that I'll utilise if the need be.

I'm reckoning it's about 8 feet tall (2.4) and my new gas burner is crazy so should be able to adjust heat to get the desired effect as far as vapor speed is concerned... if not then I'll have to work out my next move when I see where I'm at, but honestly I dont think it'll be too much of an issue, the way I'm seeing it is that the boiler is over 12", the humpa is 8" & the column 4"........ just got a feeling it's right ;)

If I get a window of a few hours tomorrow I'm going to do a test run on it with some feints I been saving up, it'll be a waste of good booze but I just gotta see this thing go now :pray:

[LWTCS]

12/8/4 has a nice ring kinda like a 1/3/5 chord progression. Hopefully the sizing is a none issue or enhances the quality of the run.
Good luck