Mr Tinkers Bubbler

[A&O]

Couple of little questions Mr Tinker. Using a flat piece of copper for the ends of the Condensers, what did you solder first during assembly, was it the end caps then the tubes or was it 1 endcap, solder the tubes to that then repeat the process the other end? Just out of interest, did you have much of the tubes poking through then trimmed them or was it all correct lengths to star with and just needed cleaning up. Hope this makes sense. Cheers.

[Mr Tinker]

Hey A&O

Good questions, probably should have covered this more in posts above...

These were the steps-

- Set up one end with tubes protruding through the end plate 3-4mm (getting all the tubes in place, protruding by the right amount and all secure was a bit of a juggling act).

- Solder the tubes to the plate from the outside, being very careful not to let any solder run onto the outer sealing face of the plate. I made sure of a good build up of solder onto the protruding part of the tubes (2-3mm).

- Set up and solder this end to the shell, this can be tricky and heat control is very important. I found it necessary to cover the tops of the tubes, because they were acting as tiny chimneys and drawing away too much heat

- Cool down, fill with water and check for leaks

The other end was done in the opposite order. The thinking behind this, was that if the tubes were done first, the plate may be pushed around/away from the shell due to expansion while soldering. This could result in a difficult join with potential gaps to fill, and/or more importantly, an out of square flange. So...

- Fit plate to other end (using pencils to line up the tubes for the PC, see photo in earlier post above)

- Solder plate to shell (top of tubes covered again to eliminate chimney effect)

- Cool down and flip over to solder the tubes to the plate. The trick here is to get enough heat for good penetration on the tubes, but not so much that the shell-plate join melts and runs down the shell. To help with this I wrapped a wet rag around the shell a bit below plate.

- Check for leaks

- Using a ‘Flapper’ disk in the angle grinder, very carefully grind the tube ends down to around 1mm (beware the outer sealing face again!)

- De-burr tube ends

These steps were basically common to both condensers although each one had it’s own challenges.
Like anything, I’m sure this could be done differently, but this was successful for me.

:teasing-blah:

Cheers

[Mr Tinker]

TL;DR??

1st end - tubes to plate then plate to shell
2nd end - plate to shell then tubes to plate
All from outside
Trim extra length after

[A&O]

Great write up, thanks very much. I’ll be giving this a go this week.

[hillzabilly]

Impressive build Mr T,just wondering which soft solder flux and brazeing rods and flux combo you use for the build ,as a trade'y I would think you have a very above average skill set in that department ,tempered with shitloads of experience.Also noticed ya downcomers set in the middle of the plate not the usual to one side configuration ,then set up the plates with the downcomers at opposite sides ,yes I see the spouts on the downcomer caps to direct flow ,but was curious why you did it that way.? cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Mr Tinker]

Thanks Hillza

For all copper - copper work I use 15% silver (hard) solder. I use 45% silver solder and Ausweld L.T. Silver Brazing Flux for everything else; copper - brass, copper - stainless, brass - stainless, stainless - stainless, etc.
Rinsing while hot helps remove the flux and hot water and a scrub gets rid of whatever is left after that. I avoided joins requiring the use of flux that I couldn’t access after for proper cleaning.
Lower silver content solder is fine as well, I’ve just got access to 15% & 45% at the right price.

I hate to disappoint, but my soft soldering skills are well below average for anything beyond the odd wiring job, so I’ve not used soft solder on either of the stills I’ve built.

As far as the downcomers go, you could probably chalk it up to a touch of OCD and obsession with symmetry. Though to be serious I figured with the small size of a 4” column and the amount of action in the small volume in the bath, the reflux will be thoroughly mixed in very quickly regardless of downcomer positioning. Without doing a comparison to the cross flow method, I am happy with the performance, great flavour @ >90%.
On a 6” it would probably make an appreciable difference, and 8” definitely.

Would love to have a 6” column and the time to thoroughly test it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[hillzabilly]

Thanks mate ,she is a beauty,have plans myself for a 6inch this year and trying ta nail down the details of the build ,and make maximum use of the forums knowledge as useual.cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[clintonb]

Mr Tinker - I really like many elements of you still ^:)^ and wish to use some of your ideas (I hope that's alright, I am still in the planning phase, nearly there though). I have two questions for you, I have acquired some new 1.9mm thick copper sheet and want to make the all in one flange/plate idea that you have on your RC and PC. I know you used 2mm and 1.9mm is very close but do you see any problems this may cause? Secondly how are you sealing these flanges (ie a gasket), and have you had any problems in doing so?

Thanks

Clinton

[db1979]

I did something similar with my RC bottom plate in both my builds. I used flattened 2" pipe though. 1.9 mm will be fine. I flared the end of the RC first, then soldered on the end plate using soft solder. Clamping it down (with the plate end on the bottom) against a flat (non combustible) surface helps to get a good joint.

[Mr Tinker]

Hey Clinton,
By all means, use away, goes without saying :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I'd say 1.9mm will be just fine, it does end up being narrower than triclamp ferrules, so you will need to make sure you've got a thick enough gasket material, or your clamps will bottom out.

I use 1.2mm silicon sheet for all my gaskets, and I've had a bit of trouble getting them to seal consistently when stacking to get the thickness right.
So ended up making a copper ring (basically an easy flange that's not soldered) to slip over the flange and sit between the back side of the flange and the clamp.
Just using a gasket of the right thickness maybe about 3mm would be a better way but I didn't have any at the time.
I think some guys have wrapped gaskets in teflon thread tape to gain thickness also.
Hope this helps, good luck with the build!
Cheers

[clintonb]

Thanks for the info, really helps :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Mr Tinker]

DB thats a great idea, I would do it your way if I was to do it again ^:)^
(Sorry didn't see this post before I submitted mine).

[The Stig]

Look at the portal Tink, congrats mate you just made The Featured Build of The Month (or year)

[Mr Tinker]

Wow!
Cheers The Stig.
I used to look at Milky's up there, and all the other awesome builds on here and just dream about having my own.
I've said it before, but I can't say it enough; thank you and all the other admin, moderators and quality contributors that make this forum what it is.
So many of us get so much more from this hobby because of what you do here.
Cheers

[db1979]

Congrats tink! Well deserved :clap:

[bluc]

Congrats tinker

[dans.brew]

All that tinkering paid off... :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Nice work! :clap:

Was wondering if someday they would choose another feature build.

[Milky]

Thanks for the kind words Tinker!!

Congratulations mate!! Well done and it's an amazing feeling.

I also used to look at the featured builds like you.... Well earnt mate. Well done.

[woodduck]

Well done mate. It sure is a great build :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Professor Green]

:text-+1: well done Mr Tinker.