"4" bubble plate vs. thumper NOVICE

[Mightynova63]

Hello, so as my subject states I am new to the hobby. I am building a keg boiler with a 4" bubble cap and a 2" column. So I noticed that if you have a stack of plates that a thumper is not used. I am in the understanding that the more plates you have will give a higher proof, but will strip your flavor. so my question is with one plate will I still need a thumper?

set up
50L keg
4" bubble plate
2" column ( its 24" at this time but Im not sure that the size is right or needed (bigger smaller...))
column will have copper packing with rings
5.5k heater
DIY controller (with PID and a Potentiometer, switchable between the 2 )

undecided on my worm size still reading (any suggested post would be helpful)

thanks in advance for the help

[bluefish_dist]

The plate will act like a thumper if you have reflux. If you don't have reflux then there is no way to load the plate, unlike a thumper which gets loaded before you start.