6 Week Bubbler Challenge

[punchy21]

Awesome work so far Brendan :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I agree with the others - the quality so far has been top notch, so you dont want to rush the end and not be happy with the final product...

[rustee]

SPOILER ALERT: Due to the new seals, I have decided on an unexpected name for the new rig, but will let you ponder until it's done...[/quote]

So have you decided on a name yet? The red eye express maybe??

[Brendan]

I have...but I'm saving it for the christening :silent:

[tickle]

Looks great, b! Not mutch left now! Like cupcake said, the final moments are gut wrenching....is this right? What about that? How is this? And then...it all works! And you walk on water, leap over tall buildings, and strippers throw their gear and their money at you! :smile:

[Brendan]

Got my 2" shotgun product condenser mocked up yesterday...cut the end plates and vapour tubes and fit them together ready for soldering into the shell...pretty happy with it :D edit: It's 500mm long

Shotty1.jpg

Got most of the major parts together, now left with lots of soldering over the weekend, and to put all the fittings together :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Shotty2.jpg

[tickle]

:handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft: keep it bro! Soooo close! You should be a proud papa!
Get the sight glasses on there? Hard for me to follow on the phone, gotta review the laptop when I get home. You got this dude. Setbacks and all, no compromises, top end end job!

[emptyglass]

The timeline i've set is 6 weeks, which ends on Sunday 3rd March

:whistle: :whistle: :whistle:

Yeah I know I said don't rush it... but how we looking? (I think you had a few days credit there somewhere)

[Brendan]

I don't want to make excuses, but with another wedding tomorrow it will most likely be a few days over.

I won be too worried because I'll have a bubbler soon :dance:

But the people want the results and photos and I won't be making them wait long :D

[emptyglass]

You will be able to use this stuff for mouthwash after owning a bubbler

[Linny]

Got my 2" shotgun product condenser mocked up yesterday...cut the end plates and vapour tubes and fit them together ready for soldering into the shell...pretty happy with it :D edit: It's 500mm long

Shotty1.jpg

Got most of the major parts together, now left with lots of soldering over the weekend, and to put all the fittings together :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Shotty2.jpg

Ahh I see . there's more room than what I thought

[Brendan]

Well it’s obvious now that I did not complete this build within the 6 week timeframe. After a quick start, there were quite a few hold ups towards the end, but that is only to be expected. I lost 4 out of the 6 weekends to family commitments, weddings, and a funeral. All of that aside, I could see the finish line at the 6 week mark and was a great motivation to push on. :D

Strangely enough, as soon as the 6 week mark hit, my whole week opened up with free time...but i’ll take it where I can get it. At the moment, I see it finished within the 8 week mark, which is still a great result for an amateur still builder as far as i’m concerned.

So to push on, this week saw the condensers put together and boy did they come up a treat. Both the reflux and product condensers were leak free on the first go! :happy-partydance: :dance: :happy-partydance:

Here’s the 3” reflux condenser, with 4x 1” vapour tubes...this one came together without any difficulty at all.

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[Brendan]

The product condenser on the other hand was more of a pain. Due to the smaller area, there were some very thin bits between holes. When twisting the tubes a bit, these started to tear...you wouldn’t know after soldering though, it looks like they are all large areas between holes and the solder is holding strong. :-D

Had to pile on a fair bit of solder to build it up nice and strong, but looks a beauty once all filed down.

It’s a 2” product condenser, with 5 x ½” vapour tubes.

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[Brendan]

Here they are side by side :D

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[Brendan]

I made the first attempt at attaching a sight glass to one of the modules. The solder ran everywhere and was a big mess, but after a quick 10 min clean up, it looked a lot better.

After dropping the holesaw through the column, I will probably re-flow the solder briefly to make sure there’s a good seal and will go to work filing and sanding to clean it all up.

Here’s the progress of the first attempt.

The mess before a bit of a clean up...

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And after tidying it up slightly...

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Getting close now :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Kimbo]

God work dude, I bet ya cant wait to run it :dance:

[tickle]

whoop whoop! i knew you would get the goggles on! did you try the hard solder?

i used to have a bitch of a time getting 4" hot enough, i've found putting a sheet metal shroud ( like the venting off a gas water heater or stove) around it really keeps the heat in, turns into a mini blast furnace.

not that you need help, that looks great! :handgestures-thumbupleft: just might ease the process is all.

you've got all the hard shit done, wrap it up and fire it up!

[googe]

Good stuff mate :handgestures-thumbupleft: now pull finger and get it finished :teasing-neener:

[Brendan]

Thanks guys :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Got my boiler back today too...will get some photos up soon :D

[bt1]

Well it's coming along nicely...

I'm working over Easter so I'll be booking in some time to read about your first run? :D

bt1

[Brendan]

I have a week off over Easter, so hopefully you'll be hearing about my first 5 runs! :D

I have 6 x 30L fermenters, and plan to use them all :handgestures-thumbupleft: