Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Im curious what people think about inline thumpers on a pot still with an reflux coil in a Tee piece instead of a 90 degree bend. Like the T500 CM coil.

Would a depth of 500ml in a 4" bubble-cap thumper section with reflux above it be alright, speed controlled with a 1/4" reflux coil?

I would assume the separation of fractions and perhaps ABV would better/higher than a standard thumper being it is a refluxing inline thumper with a DC and a small depth. (basically one plate, large volume).
Im not thinking for speed here, but single runs and cleaner separation than a standard pot.

I think this will work fine in my head 8-}
But thats my head :)) although Im wondering how much flavour would be retained from a single run this way. Will it be too strong being one plate/inline-thumper?

Is flavour determined on how fast you collect, meaning if you slow down a bit will it loose a little, go faster to keep more?
Or will the fact that the volume is a lot that it will settle out to a nice product granted it isnt run super fast.

Cheers for any input.

Haha your mind is going to do a big end bearing if you keep it running at 7000RPM wtd!
Just finish your bubbler and forget the thumper! Bubblers make good booze!

I am thinking an inline thumper (refluxed) would make a bigger difference on a pot than a bubbler...and have been toying with the idea of one since day dot..

My bubbler, thumper and keg are a different topic which is still in motion and waiting for quotes to come back. How about this thread stays on topic ;-)
I asked a genuine question and want genuine answers.



Bluc I thought so to, I was wondering how it would go if i made one on a keg with a single element, no power controller, just the reflux coil, like the T500, a CM to control speed and have a removable packed section for neutral. Would be interested to see what others have to say also. Might be a good plan to toy with as i have all the materials here. Not short on a few bits of copper these days

I think your still gunna need a power controller.

I really like hillzabilly's keg thumper setup with a half size keg on top of a full size keg joined with i think was a 12inch ferrule. But i dont have the ability or tools to do it. But i may be able to wrangle some copper pipe...my idea is to have a small 6" 100mm bath depth inline then turn my t500 boiler into a traditional style thumper so two thumpers in a row should give as a refined product as double pot distilled.

I was thinking if the reflux coil can make it go full reflux for 15-20 mins and do fores at a drip that this would help condense the alc in the small thumper and drop the higher elements to the bottom (back to the keg/boiler) while keeping the lighter ones, and then slowly close the water off to collect at a speed of 1.5l/h or so. Would a controller really be needed?

going on this what power would you think would be good. to get good reflux/seperation more power than a normal pot run will be needed. how much volts/watts do you use on a spirit run with a pot?

I use 180v 2l/h on a spirit run. on second thought with a reflux condenser it would most likely be fine on full power. I think they run bubblers flat out on 2400w although the plates seperate the fractions so with a single deep bath you will get some smearing but still think it would be an improvement over a standard pot..if you had the inline thumper and the reflux as well as dropping back to 180v there will be better seperation i would think.. :think:

Ive read alot of people running 4" on 3600W lately, some here but mostly on other forums.

The video of doc doing his single malt, the one with the no no still lol, he used 6000W for heat up on the vid then dropped it back to 4000w to collect his spirit at 80 something %. He did this on low wines also. watched the video the other day again (seen them a few times lol) and noticed it this time.

It makes me think with people saying to run 4" on more than 10Amps and then seeing that i figure this design would be ok on 10 amps. Maybe 2.4kw is what people say to use on 4" bubblers, as its the most you can get out of a standard 10A power point and is easy to use :think:

I have a piece of 4" at 140mm long i was thinking of using with reducers either end. If i get some bugger stuff bonus. Mises just msg me saying my oxy/map kit was delivered so maybe i can make some rummy style lol.

But, with the 4" i have I was thinking of making it 75mm bath depth, if i fit the plate in the reducer this will make it 500ml or there about after taking out a 2" cap volume. The packed section was just because, might as well take advantage of the RC and make it more usable.


the idea was for something that would resemble a pot spirit run, but a single run although im thinking the reflux might help increase hearts cut but only by a fraction. and packed section for feints runs or whatever.
I could try add in a second plate (i wont) above it but then it gets more complicated and i was aiming for something simple yet effective and cheap and easy to build

I have often thought of grabing one of the tri clamp pipes, and a couple of reducers from mac to make one from 4 inch... but I keep talking myself out of it for some reason. :? Happy with pot stilling but would love to double distill in one go..

Reason I'm using the 30 liter fire extinguisher versus the 11 for my thumper is that I want to try a corn grain sugar head or maybe a full grain one day.
I can always reduce the amount it holds for the smaller runs.
I'll set it up under my reflux head only and reflux the lot in until its full, then I'll turn off the reflux to make a pot still and rip it out like a secondary thumper. It should be holding at least 60% abv in it before I turn off the cooling (which I'll calculate ahead of time to get the right volume).
Hopefully like a slightly higher tech secondary thumper.

Warra did you get your fire extinguisher thumper made? How are you finding the spirit? As good as a double distill?

I don't get it, are u trying to make a poor mans neutralizer?

Best of a pot but a single rather than double pass..thumpers are fairly common on comercial pots just wondering what an inline thumper with a reflux condenser to help compress heads and tails would achieve..

bluc wrote:Warra did you get your fire extinguisher thumper made? How are you finding the spirit? As good as a double distill?

With any luck I'll have it all welded up tonight.

Ok cool keep us posted :handgestures-thumbupleft:

WTDist wrote:My bubbler, thumper and keg are a different topic which is still in motion and waiting for quotes to come back. How about this thread stays on topic ;-)
I asked a genuine question and want genuine answers.



Bluc I thought so to, I was wondering how it would go if i made one on a keg with a single element, no power controller, just the reflux coil, like the T500, a CM to control speed and have a removable packed section for neutral. Would be interested to see what others have to say also. Might be a good plan to toy with as i have all the materials here. Not short on a few bits of copper these days

Larry thought so, was the bees knees only a few years back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7GKXB_YoVM
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =1&t=24355

warramungas wrote:

bluc wrote:Warra did you get your fire extinguisher thumper made? How are you finding the spirit? As good as a double distill?

With any luck I'll have it all welded up tonight.

Nope. Not tonight. TIG heads busted. Borrow one for tomorrow night hopefully. One bloody thing after another.

Wobblyboot wrote:I don't get it, are u trying to make a poor mans neutralizer?

I guess it could be called that lol but isnt every reflux still from a HBS a poor mans neutraliser? :))

The idea is to make a single run pot controlled/improved with reflux. key term here "pot"
Having a packed section is just because i can and to see if the reflux coil can handle it for full reflux neutral as bubble plates and packed sections both react differently to RC water flow. Bubble plates need a little while packed sections need far more water.

I wont always keep this still if i make it. Ill find a mate that will take it. Hopefully i can turn another one to this dark side :))

I'm confused. As soon as you add an RC, it's not a pot. It's a single plate CM reflux...your key word is invalid :geek:

righto then, a RC controlled single plate thumper.

Quality will be that of a pot i would imagine :think: which is why i said that.

Why so critical, just a friendly forum here man ;-)