6 Week Bubbler Challenge

[Brendan]

If you listen closly he's actually saying "we got a still, thats called the red eye love"

Haha that's brilliant! :laughing-rolling: Nice 'interpretation' of the lyrics ;-)

[Kimbo]

Noice build mate, very noice :clap: :clap:

[Brendan]

Noice build mate, very noice :clap: :clap:

Cheers Kimbo :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Now I just have to find me one of these $50 grain mills to get stuff through it! :D

[drunkmore]

Awesome build.
^:)^
With your downcomers... Could you have made them all the same? I know the bottom one needs a vapour trap and I understand why but looking at all the others, it seems to me that they all have a cup at the bottom which would do the same thing.
Cheers
And once again
^:)^ AWESOME ^:)^

My heart sank when you had the ~x( moment with the cracked SG's on the vinegar run. Soooo close
I must admit ... :clap: your a better man than I, as I would have put in copper plates and ran it that way till the glass arrive.

[Brendan]

Hey drunkmore, sorry I only just saw this post mate.

As you mentioned, the downcomers can definitely all be the same, just have to have that vapour lock. The only reason I did it this way, was over my previous research, most designs had been using the downcomer cup on the plate below, and the J on the bottom one. By the time I did mine, I went for the elevated downcomer cups to give more effective plate space, and I only stuck with the J type at the bottom out of interest of wanting to make one after seeing them all the time. It also holds a bit more as the last point before dropping into the boiler, but that doesn't mean anything.

This thing is a beast, and I still love running her in all different configurations. And most of all, I'm glad I took the extra time to plan out every part of the build, and now I enjoy being able to set it up and pull it down very quickly and easily! The easy connect water fittings, filler port, drain port, and boiler view window are all luxuries that make the experience much more enjoyable, and less of a chore :D

[halfbaked]

Awsome build! :music-deathmetal: :happy-partydance: :music-deathmetal: How did you mount your plates inbetween the ferrules? Did you set them on the ferule or inside it ? You used no gasket right? Thanks for sharing your beauty :clap:

[Brendan]

Awsome build! :music-deathmetal: :happy-partydance: :music-deathmetal: How did you mount your plates inbetween the ferrules? Did you set them on the ferule or inside it ? You used no gasket right? Thanks for sharing your beauty :clap:

I've realised I never provided any photos of this. I can take some later if needed, but I'll try and explain...

I cut two gaskets for each section join. One gasket had the outer an inner diameter of the lip of the flanges that join together (the pics on page 7 show this lip I mean). And the second gasket has the same outer diameter, but the inner diameter matched the outer diameter of the plates...so the plates sit on one gasket, and in the middle of the other gasket, that way the sections join together neatly with the gaskets and seal well :-D

[halfbaked]

I am pretty sure that I know what you are talking about but I'd like to see a pic if its not to much trouble. Have I told you you do good work. I like it. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[VARocketry]

Brendan:

I realize I just found your GREAT ^:)^ build thread and reading a few pages in ....

You stated hard solder doesn't flow with capillary action .... this is really not a correct statement. Actually at the correct temperatures, the opposite is true.... hard solder flows extremely well toward the heat with the proper flux. It tends NOT to fill gaps as well as soft solder. At the proper temps, it wicks toward the heat/flux very well.

I use 56% silver hard solder on my builds [ had to move to oxy/acetylene for pipes over 2"] and the working temp is about 1100 degrees -- it's stated on the box or MSD sheet. The right high temp FLUX is mandatory too.

You may have already figured all this out months ago as you got further into your build.
VA

[P3T3rPan]

I never use any flux with silfos unless I am joining dissimilar metals.
Clean the copper by heating it to cherry red then let it cool for a moment or two so that it turns black. This brings any crap to the surface where it flakes off when you reapply the heat. And yes it will flow to the heat very well. With good flame control ( experience helps ) gaps etc can be easily filled. Far superior join to solder. Much easier for vertical and overhead joins. Only downside is its hardness makes it more difficult to file if you need to clean it up a bit. A dremel or similar takes care of that though.

[Brendan]

Yeah I probably had a bit of a spat there when things weren't going my way.

I got the brazing/silver soldering working fine on the smaller joins like the flange rings, and the entire 180 degree bend and all it's connections, as well as the output arm and parrot. Pretty much, most of the still that's not on the column tee sections, is hard soldered.

Like P3t3rPan said, I just got the parts really clean and heated it up to a red glow, and the stuff was like butter. I didn't use any flux for it, and at the time all the brazing fluxes I found were nasty shit, so didn't want to use them on my gear :snooty:

The problem in the tee sections was that I wasn't able to get a 3" of 4" piece up to that red hot temperature with a TS8000 torch on MAPP...would need oxy acetylene like VaRocketry was suggesting :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[P3T3rPan]

Yeah oxy acetylene makes all the diff with silphos. Much easier to heat small areas selectively

[Brendan]

I meant to put these up earlier on. This is how I made up my flanges using the 100% silicone baking sheet (which i tested thoroughly, as discussed in another thread).

I cut two rings, the plate sits on top of one, and inside of the other, so that the modular sections join together smoothly with a double flange. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

flange1.jpg

You can see that the top flange has a slightly larger ID to accomodate the plate.

flange2.JPG

flange3.JPG

flange4.JPG

Might look a bit rough, but the tri-clamp pulls that together tight and i've never had the slightest leak out of any of them :D

[Smbjk]

:handgestures-thumbupleft: nice work brendan :handgestures-thumbupleft: might have to use that one day :D

[Yummyrum]

Brendan. How thick is the silicon rubber sheet you have ?

[Brendan]

Brendan. How thick is the silicon rubber sheet you have ?

I'll have to check the box to be sure, but I think they're about 1mm from memory. Only thin, but very effective and I use 2 at each join...works a treat :smile:

[MacStill]

Unless anybody objects I'd like to put this up for BOTM.

Anyone wanting to build a bubbler for themselves by hand this is one of the best threads on the net to take notice of, and it's not just all about skills either....

Time - effort - patience - dedication = reward :happy-partydance:

All I need is a really nice hi res pic I can use for the portal page ;-)

^:)^

[Bushy]

Why not build of the year? Took that long :-D

[Brendan]

Unless anybody objects I'd like to put this up for BOTM.

Anyone wanting to build a bubbler for themselves by hand this is one of the best threads on the net to take notice of, and it's not just all about skills either....

Time - effort - patience - dedication = reward :happy-partydance:

All I need is a really nice hi res pic I can use for the portal page ;-)

^:)^

WOW, thanks Mac! I'd be honoured :happy-partydance:

I'll email a couple of pics first thing in the morning :-D

[Brendan]

Why not build of the year? Took that long :-D

Haha I've got nothing for that Bushy, good on ya :))