Bryan's Bubbler Build

Perforated & bubble cap plated columns

Re: Bryan's Bubbler Build

Postby RuddyCrazy » Wed Nov 28, 2018 6:32 pm

G'day Guy's,
Well after that crash last weekend I'm on the repair trail but the 3" blockhead and the 3-4" reducer is RIP :crying-blue: :crying-blue: :crying-blue: due to the crash.

So that pic in my last post will be the next setup to finish the TPW I have left to run with a heap of feints to throw in.

Hard soldered the 1/2" pipe to the 3-1/2" reducer that sits under the pc tonight and on the way home from work tomorrow I'll stop in bunnings and grab another spool of aqua safe soft solder. I'll make a new 1/4" easy flange for the 4th plate and I do have a spare 3" sight glass saved for events like this.

I am thinking of making a stick in RC for the 4" blockhead so the still isn't close to hitting the roof of the shed. I reckon a 4" drop in RC for doing neutrals and pack the SS scrubbers in the lower part of the blockhead will make a nice addition to the still collection.

I do want to get this still back to it's former glory and as far as getting the rest of the spent wash out I'll just use that bunnings wet/dry vaccum I have sitting in the shed. :angry-banghead: Should of used that along. :angry-banghead:

Cheers Bryan
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Re: Bryan's Bubbler Build

Postby bluc » Wed Nov 28, 2018 7:28 pm

What happened bryan did it fall over? Were you running it at the time :shock: :doh:
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4 plate 4" bubbler, 600mm packed section

Re: Bryan's Bubbler Build

Postby RC Al » Wed Nov 28, 2018 9:19 pm

sucky that it happened, but yeah post some pics mate

I'm interested in how the various bits broke, can't see me destruction testing any thing in a hurry, might learn something :sad:
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Re: Bryan's Bubbler Build

Postby RuddyCrazy » Fri Nov 30, 2018 7:26 pm

G'day Guy's,
Well got the aqua safe solder and repaired the 1/2" outlet and made a new easy flange for the 4th plate. Got a big job tomorrow morning shearing the sheep then hopefully in the evening load up the rest of the TPW wash and throw all the feints in. I have put that 3 ring burner I repaired in that provides a nice blue flame on a low pressure reg. It be interesting to see how it performs and if needed I can always throw on the HP reg. Also I'm making a fire guard to go around the rim so flareups can't happen when changing the flow using the hp reg.
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equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Bryan's Bubbler Build

Postby RuddyCrazy » Mon Dec 24, 2018 4:44 pm

G'day Guy's,
Well go onto fixing the 3" blockhead or so I thought I was :scared-eek: from the fall some of the soft solder on the 45 degree join decided to part ways so there went the seal. :angry-banghead: So one thinks well just clean the area and re-solder eh :think: well after 4 or more attempts it still leaked. :angry-banghead:

So the only thing to do is cut it off, clean it up and start again to ensure a full sealing joint is done. So into my hacksaw cutting bench it went and started cutting, just got it started then BANG the hole thing let go. :angry-banghead: The top pivot had ripped out where the 4mm rod holds the tension and my only choice was to make a new pivot. The thread on the tensioner bar was 3/16" bsf 32 tpi so off for a look in my dads gear and found a tap. :happy-partydance:

Found some 12mm bar to make a new one and found out well S.S. may as well do just tapping it was nice and slow. Then onto the mill where I milled in the start of the slot then hacksawed the slot so I could then clean it up with a file. Got it all fitted up on the saw and tensioned so cut the 45 dergree off and cleaned it all up. Then resoldered the joint and I reckon I got it so now just the water test and cleanup.
RuddyCrazy
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Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Bryan's Bubbler Build

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sun Jul 12, 2020 3:55 pm

Well the beauty of making a modular setup for the bubbler today I setup for a 4" pot still to strip TPW. Now as shown I left the RC on as changing the plumbing for a few runs will be a pain in the rear end to change it back so the RC will just stay closed.

4 inch pot still.jpg


Now as this will be the first time running this setup I made a new 3" frustum for the output and I'm wondering with the output flow should I put a breather on the frustum as if the output is full on thru the 1/2" pipe it could cause some pressure buildup which we don't want to happen :scared-eek:

After being frustrated for years with plates not fully loading using a 3 ring burner I made my own luxford burner out of some 3/4" copper pipe, closed the end of the 3/4" pipe in the vice and hard soldered it to seal it. Then a 0.8mm hole was drilled in and a short piece of 1/8" pipe was hard soldered around the hole. Used some 2" pipe and carved out both sides to get the fuel to air ratio just right and running this on 50 psi is an eye opening experience. I do find running it on 5-6 psi for a run is the best and all the pastes load nicely now too so in all it was a btu issue or lack of :angry-banghead:

luxford burner.jpg
'

Now that 1/4" needle valve is on there to provide length so the gas feed line isn't in the path of the flame. I should of made the 3/4" pipe longer but when designing something new hindsight is always a pain :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Cheers Bryan
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RuddyCrazy
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Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Bryan's Bubbler Build

Postby RuddyCrazy » Thu Feb 11, 2021 6:47 pm

G'day Guy's,

Well set up my still with 4 plates and packed section and doing a steam run to clean the still as I haven't used it for so long. Now I've got 22 litres on average @55% and all my aged CFW is going in the boiler so in the end I'll endup with about 40 litres @40% to do a spirit run. The way the water is coming off in pot mode to clean the still its taken 1 hour and a half to get 2.5 litres now my still is 2.5 metres tall so I reckon a spirit run will take 12 hours or more. Now this is the first time I've done a run at 40% and the idea is do the same the next day just so i can have some triple distilled neutral for my macerations.I mean the ones Ive done in a pot still are nice but I do want to take this one step further so in the end with my maceration's they will be distilled 4 times.

The way I figure doing a spirit run should net 16-18 litres of 90% + so watering that down for a third run sounds the go to get a great base to work with.

Cheers Bryan
RuddyCrazy
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Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

Re: Bryan's Bubbler Build

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sat Feb 13, 2021 9:27 am

G'Day Guys,
Well here's a pic of my setup which I took while doing the cleaning run :handgestures-thumbupleft: tried to take some pic's just now but this pic is the best by far and the wacky lense decided to take a day off :laughing-rolling:

a todays setup.jpg


Cheers Bryan
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RuddyCrazy
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Posts: 2439
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:36 pm
Location: Not far from Kanmantoo SA
equipment: 4" copper bubbler with a setup for Neutral and a thumper for Whisky and my old 5 litre pot for doing maceration runs and MiniMe the baby pot still

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