Rubber bung in vapour path.

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Matt2
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Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by Matt2 »

So I am finally moving south out of the tropics and am going to start distilling with my 2nd hand shop still.

My question is, due to the design of the still here is a rubber bung in the vapour path to facilitate a thermometer. From my reading here and elsewhere this is a "no, no".

I visited the store that it was purchased from (by the previous owner) and the guy did not fill me with confidence. When I asked about the rubber bung, he just said "that's how it's designed" and tried to sell me a new one.

My thought is to perhaps buy a cork sanding block and carve it to fit. However I'm worried that the cork block would be just granulated cork held together with glue and formed into a block.

I'll attach some pictures and would really appreciate any ideas or comments on a good course of action. Btw I know the still needs a good clean.

Matt.
Attachments
Thermometer bung
Thermometer bung
Packing removed vapour column
Packing removed vapour column
Still head top
Still head top
Still head
Still head
Last edited by Matt2 on Sun Nov 19, 2017 9:23 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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acfixer69
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by acfixer69 »

A piece of oak stuck in it would work. You probable got more issues than that Why don't you post a piccky and maybe we can help in real time.

AC
zapata
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by zapata »

Can you just leave out the bung and wrap your therm with teflon tape to fill the space?
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shadylane
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by shadylane »

Plan B, would be to wrap Teflon tape around the rubber bung.
As acfixer said, a pic would help us, help you :lol:
Matt2
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by Matt2 »

Do the links at the bottom not show up for you guys. They should link to a pic of the bung and the top of the head. I'm posting from my phone and they work ok. Maybe it's a permissions thing with Imgur.
zapata
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by zapata »

Pics show up for me. In the future you should upload pics here, outside hosted pics eventually go away making threads useless in the future.

I think the request for more pics is both that, and the pics dont really show whats going in. Zoom out a bit, I know I cant tell what kind of still it is.
Matt2
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by Matt2 »

No worries zap. Just a cheeky post from work. Will upload to the site when I get home in a a few hours. My first attempt the site knocked back because it exceeded to maximum pixels.
Matt2
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by Matt2 »

Uploaded pictures directly to site.
zapata
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by zapata »

Thats a big hole. If it were mine and I wasnt going to do an extensive reworking of it I'd just solder it closed with a flat piece of copper or stainless scrap. Treated like a potstill it doesn't need a thermometer there anyway. If you really want a therm to watch you could make a smaller hole in the cap and just wrap your probe in ptfe tape to seal. Use appropriate solder and flux, stay brite and stay clean would be my choice.

Or if you really cant be bothered, same copper or stainless stock to cover the hole, sealed with flour dough each time you run.

I personally would not trust just wrapping that black stinky rubber bung with ptfe. If you want to go that route I would at least get a silicone bung, and still cover it in ptfe tape.

Thats my $.02
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Matt2 wrote:and the guy did not fill me with confidence.
That still doesn't fill me full of confidence, its all stainless for a start ..it will benefit from some copper in the system at some point.
It seems that those pipes go right through the column ..sort of a badly designed reflux still maybe.?
If that's the case your probably better off to run it as a pot still .....It certainly wont do a good job as a reflux.
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thecroweater
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by thecroweater »

Egads the welds are rusting and not the little welds weren't pickled right rust but wrong welding rod type of rust. When you first described it I was thinking of posting panic less as I thought it was a proper reflux design but its not. This is a really old semi-reflux design (when packed) and a pot still with a little passive reflux ran like that. The rubber stopper is a really bad news as it is most certainly in the vapour path, wood might work but not to hold the thermometer at it will swell and bust it. You two best options then as I see it is to get a cork big enough or get a wooden bung and drill a hole though it just smaller than the biggest cork you can get, then put the thermometer though that. You could add a copper extent ion to the dick spout but that's not adding copper to the vapor path so I would say look at getting structured copper mesh. If running it as a pot you don't need/want the thermometer so you could pack it above that internal cross line and if you want reflux pack under this lines. These are not fantastic stills but they are not really uncommon either.
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shadylane
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by shadylane »

zapata wrote: I personally would not trust just wrapping that black stinky rubber bung with ptfe. If you want to go that route I would at least get a silicone bung, and still cover it in ptfe tape.

Thats my $.02
+1
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thecroweater
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by thecroweater »

I just can't see how you could wrap it fully with a thermo hole in it , very tricky
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Benjamin Franklin
zapata
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by zapata »

It is tricky which is why I would have it be silicone which will be safer-ish. But I have done exactly that for a different application, lets see if it makes sense in words... Basically I fully wrapped the bung, inserted the thermometer further than necessary, stretched a bit of loose tape around the probe, secured it with an extra wrap, then tucked that back into the hole as I withdrew the therm to the proper depth. Then wrap the crap out of it again. You end up with the outside of the bung thoroughly wrapped, a bit tucked into the vapor side of the hole, and a "fillet" of tape around the therm/hole area. I wouldn't call it fail proof by any means, but it was good enough for my application.
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dieselduo
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by dieselduo »

you can get cork from here http://www.widgetco.com/jar-cork-stoppers-standard" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Danespirit
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by Danespirit »

If I were you, I'd find an appropriate material..like say a cone of massive wood.
It could be oak or such...coniferous tree won't do, due to a large amount of resin in it.Any kind of leaf-bearing tree will be better.
THEN wrap it in PTFE tape and you'll end up with a safe solution.
Btw...you should get that rust out of the column. The column is clearly welded without backing gas, which is the cause for discoloring and rust.
See if you can reach in there with a tool and scrape the worst off it away. Then clean it with undiluted vinegar. It might even be necessary with a bath of acetic acid and let it sit a few hours.
Don't worry about the metal, it won't be damaged by this process if it's genuine stainless steel.

Edit..it should be easy enough to construct said conical form from a doorknob or have a piece of wood set up in the drilling machine to let it rotate against an abrasive device.
A lathe would be the easiest way, of course..
Matt2
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by Matt2 »

Thank you all for the replies and thoughts. If this head doesn't turn out to be usable, Im not to worried. It only owes me $100AUD for the lot. the guy who owned it had it sitting in his shed for 2yrs+ before i bought it.

I think Ill find a a large enough cork and bung it that way.

I will do as suggested and get a small wire brush in there to clean it up and give it a good soak in vinegar.

Im moving close to my brother inlaw who Im trying to convince to help me build a Bokakob. Might just have to accelerate those plans. Well a Bokakob and a keg boiler.

Thanks everyone, a fair bit of info for me to stew on.

Matt.
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thecroweater
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by thecroweater »

Make a deal with him, you help with the bokka and he helps with a pot still, you won't be getting an ideal whisky out of a bokka.
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Benjamin Franklin
zapata
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by zapata »

Matt2 wrote: I will do as suggested and get a small wire brush in there
Fyi, Brass or stainless wire brush. Steel wire will embed in stainless and lead to more rust.
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NZChris
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by NZChris »

Weld a socket onto it and use that to fit a thermocouple, thermowell, thermometer, whatever takes your fancy.
kimbodious
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by kimbodious »

That'll make an okay pot still (no packing) once you've found a way to plug that hole.
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Rubber bung in vapour path.

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Gotta agree ..its a rubber plug ..its gotta go ..block the hole and use it as a potty.
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