Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Ok...I'm overseas and it's so fkn wet there is not much to do but drink.....but for now I'm sitting in the hotel working on my modular 4" / 6" design and couldn't find an answer to this.....

If I make 2 columns (4" & 6") with an 8" Thumper.....would a 4" ferrule boiler connection be a bottleneck when using the 6" column? Or would it make no difference? Vapour speeds?

Or would it be better to have the boiler ferrule 6"

Any advice very appreciated

Ideally my opinion would be to have a 6 inch ferrule on the boiler. But if you are running a keg with a 4 inch fill port you may be strugling for room.

With the reducers by having a 4 to a 6inch reducer, i cant see in a hobby scale going to affevt things dramaticly. Vapour will speed up at the smallest diameter point then slow down at the largest diameter point. :-B :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Wouldnt you really need to go bigger for 6" like a 100l milk can? Isnt a keg bit small :think:

Yup, I have a bigger boiler sorted.....an 18 gallon and another bigger one that I'm working on

that's why I want to get this right first time

I would go a 6" connection no matter what on a keg boiler, my man sized arms don't fit through a 4" ferrule if i need to clean anything internal.

And why use a 4" fill port if you are going to siphon or pump the wash in, 2" should be plenty.

You could put a few 2" ferrules on your boiler if you wanted, 1 to look through and one for illumination

From someone who needed to lube his arm with dishwashing detergent to get his arm free of a 4" ferrule, get a 6" on it or get your kids to do any cleaning on the inside for you.

warramungas wrote:From someone who needed to lube his arm with dishwashing detergent to get his arm free of a 4" ferrule, get a 6" on it or get your kids to do any cleaning on the inside for you.

:laughing-rolling:

warramungas wrote:From someone who needed to lube his arm with dishwashing detergent to get his arm free of a 4" ferrule, get a 6" on it or get your kids to do any cleaning on the inside for you.

:laughing-rolling: :text-+1: that doesn't sound like very manly arms, mate! :laughing-rolling: I struggle to get past my forearms ... but then I lift heavy things...

I left the 4inch ferrule in place and added an 8inch ferrule ta mount my 5gal thumper,gives me versatility to use either .I also mounted view port and filler on the side for plenty of clearance on top ,have a look at viewtopic.php?f=17&t=9980 cheers hillzabilly

Hillzabilly,
I like the side addition, where it looks as tho you have a thermometer!

I think a large top ferule (say 8" to 10/12") could open up the top and you could still have a fill port on the side (with or without the thermometer)... clever!

I have been thinking about doing one large ferule at the top and then having several blanks to clamp in there with a tri-clamp. then you could have either a 4", 6" or other on different blanks ... what ever you need... Would also make for an excellent opening to get your arms in there for cleaning and maintenance!

just me thinking ...

EziTasting wrote:

warramungas wrote:From someone who needed to lube his arm with dishwashing detergent to get his arm free of a 4" ferrule, get a 6" on it or get your kids to do any cleaning on the inside for you.

:laughing-rolling: :text-+1: that doesn't sound like very manly arms, mate! :laughing-rolling: I struggle to get past my forearms ... but then I lift heavy things...

That's cause I get blokes like you to do the lifting for me! :laughing-rolling:

I can find you a 12" but it'll cost you around $200 just for a single ferrule and clamp. Dunno about a cap.

EziTasting wrote:Hillzabilly,
I like the side addition, where it looks as tho you have a thermometer!

I think a large top ferule (say 8" to 10/12") could open up the top and you could still have a fill port on the side (with or without the thermometer)... clever!

I have been thinking about doing one large ferule at the top and then having several blanks to clamp in there with a tri-clamp. then you could have either a 4", 6" or other on different blanks ... what ever you need... Would also make for an excellent opening to get your arms in there for cleaning and maintenance!

just me thinking ...

Wouldn't you just use the appropriately sized reducers to fit 4" or 6" to your larger ferrule?

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

I wanted the thumper to sit directly on top of the boiler ,thus heating it with better efficency the space between the 4inch ferrule and the 8inch can be seen boiling dureing a run ,and I was trying ta keep it as low as possible as well while useing the 4inch ferrule to mount the 4inch single bubble cap with the downcomer all incorperated in one piece.I did think about cutting out the 4inch ferrule to the 8inch one ,spose this is where personal choice can come into it ,cost of a blanking disc and another ferrule plus welding and cutting,or buying a reducer wasnt needed,also I can use the 5gal thumper keg without the bubble cap as a boil ball ,with or without plates above it for single runs or stripping ,foaming just does not get past it ,worked a treat for stripping rum washes,added a drain from the thumper to the keg drain for more ease as well ,other wise I had to syphon it dry befor I undid the 8inch triclamp and had 10lt hot stuff gushing everywhere.Stability was an issue as well ,I donot like the slightest wobble or misalighnment .For cleaning my arm fits thru a 4inch so yes size could be a issue for some ,a pressure cleaner works its magic well to with the right nozzel set up ,H20 only tho .Hope that hotels mini bar is well stocked.cheers hilllzabilly :))

I was commenting on ET's suggestion to use a plate to adapt to 4"/6" etc not your completely genius solution to fitting your thumper to an existing boiler hillzabilly!

Cheers,
Prof Green.

Yeah, some great ideas there..

Think I will go with the 6" ferrule and then use a 6"/ 8" concentric reducer as the lower section of my thumper and mount the bubble cap and riser to a plate sandwiched between that and the boiler ferrule. If I was to put a drain at the base of the reducer, could you stop the run as you see the tails rise in the column, then just run off the tails from the drain? (Providing each plate has a small drain hole) Or have I got that completely wrong?

Love the idea of the 90 degree fill port/thermo port off the side and using the blanking caps with ferrules to get the right size reducers to save space.

And no Hilz...there was nothing in the minibar....but I fixed that :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Professor Green wrote:I was commenting on ET's suggestion to use a plate to adapt to 4"/6" etc not your completely genius solution to fitting your thumper to an existing boiler hillzabilly!

Cheers,
Prof Green.

Your correct Proffessor Green,if ya had a 8inch ferrule reducers would be cheaper and a lot easier than modifying blanking discs,but will take up more vertical space, prices for 6inch and bigger seam to be fairly high though ,but the quality of some fittings can be low,something to be aware of,no disrespect intended or taken . cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Very true what you say about the cost and quality. Something I certainly had not considered.

Cheers,
Prof. Green.

No need for the plate to be stainless tho people.
A flat bit of copper with an appripriate diameter and edge thickness for a clamp to seal on will work.

Smaller diameters will be stronger than larger ones obviously, but it should take the weight required fairly easily.

We are not talking about tons of force here remember.
If you are that worried a few ridges will strengthen it even further.

Or you could even make your own cone to transition between diameters.


Just remember there are other options available to you apart from purchasing expensive stainless hardware.

hillzabilly wrote:

Professor Green wrote:I was commenting on ET's suggestion to use a plate to adapt to 4"/6" etc not your completely genius solution to fitting your thumper to an existing boiler hillzabilly!

Cheers,
Prof Green.

Your correct Proffessor Green,if ya had a 8inch ferrule reducers would be cheaper and a lot easier than modifying blanking discs,but will take up more vertical space, prices for 6inch and bigger seam to be fairly high though ,but the quality of some fittings can be low,something to be aware of,no disrespect intended or taken . cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I haven't yet found a 10" or 12" reducer to 6" or 8", hence my suggestion to gat an end cap to which you can then weld the sized ferrule you require... I have looked for reducers they just aren't easily findable (discoverable?!?! better word!) ...

My thoughts on using such a large ferrule also incorporated the idea to store hoses and connectors within the bowels of the boiler. Keep in mind tat I don't have a dedicated place for my boiler! It moves between 2 homes so needs to be moveable and this ability to store hosing would be of great benefit.