Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi guys. Below is my 2" pot build and Liebig condenser. Column is 16" rise and Liebig is only 18" long with 16" of that water jacketed 3/4 over 1/2. Design is copied from an online sold unit and built from Bunnings/ Reece parts and soldered by a mate that's a master. I feel like I may have under engineered the condenser and it won't be able to knock down the vapour from the boiler I'm building. A 50l keg with 5sd 2400w on a controller. Rather then just running it the way it is, should I reconstruct the Liebig at 1" over 1/2 for 24" long or make a nice little 24" long 2" shotgun with 5 1/2 inch tubes? Thoughts advice and criticism are all welcome! Hindsight and the late discovery of this amazing resource are what's got me in this pickle but the journey is just as valuable as the destination so onwards and upwards!

Probably not the longest Liebig I've seen but I'd suggest leaving it as is and starting on that shotgun condenser.
No matter what the shotgun will be valuable for that bubbler I see in your future...

As for the current Liebig not handling the vapour, if your running a single element and a controller you can just run low and slow, the way you should run a pot still when doing a spirit run anyway.
Perhaps use chilled water if need be also.

:text-yeahthat: :text-+1:

Ok thanks guys I'll just finish the keg build and start on the shotgun while I run the pot nice and easy. Looking forward to some BWKO followed by Ag

Ozz , if u can be stuffed just 'alter' the existing leibig a bit. Get yr mate to un solder it, crimp the centre tube to create resistance and a 'longer' journey for the product, get some copper wire, make a tight spring/coil that will fit into the outer column, this will assist with water turbulance and keep it mixed up a bit better...mine is similar and works a treat and is a quicker fix than a shotty.All the info is floating around somewhere on the site.

Ozzy,
I made a multi-tube liebig, (3 x 3/8 inside a 1 1/4) but I reckon you could fit 3 x 1/4 tubes inside a 3/4 sheath. Gave the tubes a twist in the centre to create some turbulance. Works a treat! Just made a couple of copper manifold plates to tie them together. Never had a problem knocking vapour down. I have a 50 lt keg boiler with a 3 kW element, (and a controller), but on my stripping runs I run flat out and less than half a turn on the water flow valve is enough to keep the spirit liquid.


Cheers Phil

Umm, wouldn't a "multi tube Liebig" just be a shotgun condenser?

Yeah. But rather than piss off all the purists who like to think that a shotty only goes in the system as an RC its easier to call it a multi tube liebig. Which on further reflection is probably just a single barrel shotgun. And when you think about it more, why is it called a shotgun anyway? I never saw a shotgun that had more than 2 barrels. Or even one that looked liked a shotgun condenser. Its more of a Gatling gun. So what makes it a liebig? The fact that it is on an angle? Or if we put a twist in the pipe does it then become a worm, (coil in a bucket) condenser? Isn't any condenser just a method of moving a hot medium past a cooling medium to change its temperature, (or maybe its dew point)? Arrgghh my brain just exploded!

Cheers Phil

ps thanks for the pm. You could try emailing it to packhouse at itnq dot com dot au

Over never seen anyone suggest that 'shotgun' is only used to describe a reflux condenser?

Your little shotty looks the goods, Undertaker :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Undertaker wrote:Ozzy,
I made a multi-tube liebig, (3 x 3/8 inside a 1 1/4) but I reckon you could fit 3 x 1/4 tubes inside a 3/4 sheath. Gave the tubes a twist in the centre to create some turbulance. Works a treat! Just made a couple of copper manifold plates to tie them together. Never had a problem knocking vapour down. I have a 50 lt keg boiler with a 3 kW element, (and a controller), but on my stripping runs I run flat out and less than half a turn on the water flow valve is enough to keep the spirit liquid.


Cheers Phil

Wow. Thanks Phil!!!! I'm going to give this idea a try asap it looks brilliant!!! Do you think I could open up a piece of 3/4 and flatten it out for the manifolds?

OzzyChef wrote:Do you think I could open up a piece of 3/4 and flatten it out for the manifolds?

It would probably work. I had some 50 x 6 mm busbar that I used in those pics to make mine. I can send you a piece if you want? I also needed to silver solder the manifolds onto the tubes because I kept getting leaks when I soft soldered the sheath on.

Cheers Phil

Undertaker wrote:

OzzyChef wrote:Do you think I could open up a piece of 3/4 and flatten it out for the manifolds?

It would probably work. I had some 50 x 6 mm busbar that I used in those pics to make mine. I can send you a piece if you want? I also needed to silver solder the manifolds onto the tubes because I kept getting leaks when I soft soldered the sheath on.

Cheers Phil

That would be great thanks Phil! Save me cutting and flattening! So silver solder is the go?

It's heaps easier to solder materials of similar thickness, which might explain the leaks in your end caps.

Zak Griffin wrote:It's heaps easier to solder materials of similar thickness, which might explain the leaks in your end caps.

:text-+1:
I can vouch for that :O)

So my father in law has generously donated a scrap piece of 2.5" copper 500mm long so I'm going to collect bits and pieces to build my pic for what's becoming an inevitable bubbler build down the track. Will run my current 2" pot on the t500 boiler then keg boiler (soon as it's done) with a future 4" bubbler down the track.

For the Math guys, how many and what size inner tubes are my best bet?

You get 6x 500mm lengths out of 2x 1.5m lengths of 1/2" from Bunnings :handgestures-thumbupleft:

500mm 2.5" with 6x 1/2" innners will be able to handle absolutely everything you could possibly throw at it. And as a bonus, 2.5" looks really well balanced hanging off of the side of a 4" bubbler :happy-partydance:

Zak Griffin wrote:You get 6x 500mm lengths out of 2x 1.5m lengths of 1/2" from Bunnings :handgestures-thumbupleft:

500mm 2.5" with 6x 1/2" innners will be able to handle absolutely everything you could possibly throw at it. And as a bonus, 2.5" looks really well balanced hanging off of the side of a 4" bubbler :happy-partydance:

This is exactly how I worked it out without an ounce of mathematics but I wasn't sure if the gurus on here would crunch numbers and figure things out differently!
Thanks Zak appreciate your confirmation. Also, looking at 100mm square pieces of copper plate on eBay that are 1mm thick, is that sufficient and is there a grade to copper that makes it food safe/still safe/appropriate or is copper copper?

And I'm glad it will look nice on the bubbler! I'm starting to obsess over builds like the heart of gold and dogbreaths weapon as well

Buy a 6m length rather than the 1.5m lengths, it works out much cheaper and you always seem to need more than you think. I only realised they sold 6m lengths after I'd bought 5 1.5m lengths :angry-banghead:
https://www.bunnings.com.au/kembla-1-2- ... s_p4910018

I'm glad it will look nice on the bubbler! I'm starting to obsess over builds like the heart of gold. Just remember they dont all take that long to build. :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Ozz...from my own experience, a plumbing supply joint (not Reeces...too dear) are usually better on price than the big green shed.