stilllearning's Glasser Build

[WTDist]

I think i get what scythe is saying. Im also thinking you can just place the ring in behind i but not solder it on, have it loose but there when you clamp as a spacer. Unless you have the 1/4" ring exactly the same as the plate it may solder away from it in places and make the problem worse with the flange being too thick. had this problem myself once. If you do the 1/4" ring, make sure it is the same flatness of your already flanged end.

I guess if it turns out too thick after soldering you could slowly file it all to the correct thickness. which actually sounds like a good idea if you want it precise.

i was going to follow your idea on my PC with the ends being wider. any suggestions from your observations? ill be using copper that was 3mm when in the tube and closer to 2mm now its flattened out. any suggestions?

[stilllearning]

Yep, placing it behind the plate is what I meant sorry. I'll file down the fillet of solder that is there now and bring the ring up behind the plate then solder it in. Might end up being a bit too fat but then I'll file that down too.

WT, I reckon you'll be fine, especially if you're using 3mm to start off. Doing it this way seemed to make the fabrication and soldering a bit easier, but it seems to work better with the larger size tri-clamps than the smaller ones. I'd have to guess that it's probably a tad stronger than a straight easy flange too, given that it's one continuous piece and it is soldered not just around the body, but also around any vapor pipes as well. Not that this mattered on my PC, but it may just add a slight bit more stiffness to any joints that are taking a bit of lateral load, i.e. an RC. :think:

Give it a go, can always add the flange ring later if you're not happy.

[woodduck]

Definitely 1" on the parrot.

Could you just use another or thicker seal to take up the gap? If not a flat plate ring like whats being discussed should work fine :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[stilllearning]

Righto, 1" Parrot it is then, thanks.

I could use another seal to fatten up the PC joint, in fact now you mention it I think I may have stuffed up which seals I used anyway - I think I mixed up 2 of the 2" seals with ones that came with my element housings.
I only had 2 white seals left the other night, pretty sure these are the ones that came with my elements which means the black ones that came with the tri-clamps must be installed in my elements.
Are the white ones OK for use in contact with vapour? They seem to be slightly thinner and a bit softer then the black EPDM ones, maybe this is where my small amount of play in the joint is coming from...

[woodduck]

Where did the clamps come from and where did the elements come from? If there from mac then you have them mixed up, his element seals are white and his clamp seals are black, they also have a rib on them that I usually have to cut off cause their too fat. Any seals you get from mac will be good for use in stills :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[stilllearning]

Ok good. Elements and housings were from Mac, clamps I got locally with EPDM seals. Pretty sure I've mixed them up :doh: I'll check tonight. I had to cut the bead off the white ones to use them in my flanged fittings.

[stilllearning]

So, I think I've found a solution to my loose easy flange problem (thanks woodduck for the idea)...

Was in at Midway Metals today grabbing a stainless ball valve and hose barb, noticed that they had some thick EPDM gaskets hanging on their wall with all the other bits and pieces.
They aren't designed for use with a tri-clover fitting, I can't remember what the guys said they were designed for but they have a "P" profile, where one face is flat and the other is a large rounded bead.
Anyway at $5 a piece (only $2 more than a 2" EPDM tri-clover gasket) I thought they were worth a try. They come in all normal sizes up to 6" from memory.

IMG_0784reduced.jpg

They are around 7mm thick to start with, I knew this would be too thick but tried anyway - the tri-clover was very difficult to mount and do up and when I finally got it to work the pipes were way out of alignment. You could see that some of the copper flange wasn't even inside the clamp's groove.

So, cut one down to about 4mm with a razor blade (took meat off the rounded side), and while she's a little rough here and there, it seems to fit just fine inside the clamp, clamp does up tight and there is no movement in the joint whatsoever. I haven't leak tested it but I doubt it's any more likely to leak than a normal gasket, especially with a little compression from the clamp.

IMG_0785reduced.jpg

So, seems to work well. Cutting them down with a razor is a bit hard on the fingers but only took about 5 minutes. Might be the go if anyone else needs a little more fat to work with in their joints, saves having to repair/rebuild the easy flange although I'll probably do that down the track anyway just because they're a bit fiddly to mount and do up.

[stilllearning]

Oh, and forgot to mention the rest of my 25mm caps turned up (36 now in total, including 6 for downcomers), and got a length of 1" pipe and a 1" reducer for my parrot. Just waiting on my stainless cap screws to arrive and then I have everything I need to finish this sucker.
Hopefully get some time to crank out some caps this weekend.

[stilllearning]

One for the design gurus;

I bought a 1/2" stainless ball valve and hose barb, I want this to be a bottom drain for my parrot. How do I join this, without using brass?

Looks like a 3/4" pipe will fit nicely, provided I can get a thread cut into the copper. Do I use a reducer to get from 1" to 3/4", then a piece of threaded 3/4" into the valve??

Can I braze or solder somehow? Is there a special, non-brass fitting somewhere?

Thanks in advance.

IMG_0786reduced.jpg

[TasSpirits]

One for the design gurus;

I bought a 1/2" stainless ball valve and hose barb, I want this to be a bottom drain for my parrot. How do I join this, without using brass?

Looks like a 3/4" pipe will fit nicely, provided I can get a thread cut into the copper. Do I use a reducer to get from 1" to 3/4", then a piece of threaded 3/4" into the valve??

Can I braze or solder somehow? Is there a special, non-brass fitting somewhere?

Thanks in advance.

IMG_0786reduced.jpg

My Brother inlaw cut me a thread on a lathe, needs to be very lightly done, then a few wraps of ptfe tape and you should have a good seal :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[rumdidlydum]

Or hard solder a stainless steel fitting onto the copper pipe, I did mine that way :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[WTDist]

Or hard solder a stainless steel fitting onto the copper pipe, I did mine that way :handgestures-thumbupleft:

:text-+1:
Thats the idea i had also, although i though soft solder 8-}

[woodduck]

I used soft solder, just check out the soft solder thread cause you need different flux. I think it is called 801??? But not totally sure. I also annealed my copper tube and hit the ss fitting into it so the copper formed around the hexagonal shape which made it nice and tight.

[WTDist]

Interesting ideas on these parrot SS connections. Im going to have to steel the idea for a new one myself :D

[hillzabilly]

I would get another hose barb fitting ,and cut the hose barb off then braze ya copper pipe to that side.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

[hillzabilly]

The hose barb fitting is for 1/2inch tube ,so a copper 1inch to 1/2inch reducer would prolly slip onto the trimmed end of the hose barb fitting and would stil need ta be brazed,then ya 1inch for the parrot body could be soft soldered into the reducer.cheers hillzabilly ;-)

[stilllearning]

Hmmm some good ideas, thanks guys. I might try to make a crude thread / PTFE seal for now, and do something brazed down the track.

[stilllearning]

Just put on my first wash ever - 50L of TPW. :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft: can't hardly wait till its done. That means I've got 2-3 weeks to finish this rig!!

Going to have the parrot done this weekend hopefully, the next weekend caps and downcomers.

[maddogpearse]

Just put on my first wash ever - 50L of TPW. :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft: can't hardly wait till its done. That means I've got 2-3 weeks to finish this rig!!

Going to have the parrot done this weekend hopefully, the next weekend caps and downcomers.

You've got to be kidding? You just knocked up this flash rig and you've never stilled anything in your life? Talk about jumping in the deep end! Balls and all!
I take my hat off to you mate. Bloody good on ya! :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[stilllearning]

Hey I'm not here to knit socks for caterpillars right?! :laughing-rolling:

Seriously though, I know the normal way is to build up to something like this but I fell in love with the other glassers getting around when I was doing the research on a LM/VM build (there's a thread I half started around here somewhere), back then I was already thinking a bubbler for an end game. You could say I just decided to take the shortcut. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Of course, I wouldn't have had a hope in hell of doing any of this without a place like this and all the knowledge it contains.