Thumper?

Simple pot still distillation and construction with or without a thumper.

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LWTCS
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Re: Thumper?

Post by LWTCS »

HookLine wrote:As has already been pointed out, it is not the temperature as such, nobody is arguing that glass itself can't handle 100C.
Just sayin.
ScottishBoy wrote:Jes layin truth dat' seems straight in light of my eyes that done seen it.
Best seen with safety glasses,,, I recon.

No matter. Best to you and yours
Larry.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by ScottishBoy »

My Apologies folks.
I run a board like this on another topic and I didn't take the time to learn this board's culture before I came. Our discussions usually run a slightly different course and I lapsed into that culture during this discussion. My apologies if I offended anyone. I was just trying to make a point and to contribute. I'm just really excited to finally meet some people who aren't too shrouded in history that they can relay information. I tried out a group a few years back that was insistent on doing everything the old fashioned way. Now I find all this new information and I can cross reference it with the techniques I was taught when I was young. Its like having dessert every time I sit down to read. (!)
( Didnt help any that I had 2 liters in me last night either...Ahem...)


In the forums I learn the most in, I usually start off by doing something stupid. I would say Im off to a fine start. ;)

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Re: Thumper?

Post by HookLine »

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Keen is good. We like keen.

We also like safe. Big fans of safe.

You'll fit in.

8)
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And have fun.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by ScottishBoy »

Thanks. :ebiggrin:
So...thumpers.
The big problem I see with thumpers is the back pressure created by the amount of force you need to push the vapor below the surface. We ran one for a while that was made out of a stainless steel fire extinguisher case. While the container itself was great, it took a pretty strong boil to get it functioning. I always felt that we may have had leaks somehwere. We later figured out that we just had too much medium in there and reduced it to make the pressure less. But when you do that, you decrease the effciency of the thumper. With the relux stills there is very little if any resistance so you would be less likely to loose anything. Attach a thumper and you will find any small gaps in your line. If its too deep, it may cause an undue amount of back pressure which could damage your still.

I always wanted to try something like a gas burner ( with vapor funneled through it) in a thumper in less medium to reduce the back pressure and increase the exposure time of the vapor to the mash. I also toyed with the idea of using plates to guide the bubbles in a more horizontal pattern to increase the time exposed. But that would have been a royal pain to clean. I think I may have some drawings somewhere if a metal crafter wants to take a swing at it.

SB
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Re: Thumper?

Post by ScottishBoy »

Hi All,
I attached a quick drawing of a design I did a while back. Had to reproduce it from memory, but the key is the screw type guide plates inside the thumper. Its semi-circular with a hole down the middle. The lips that go down are to keep the bubbles from just going straight up the column. Since the bubble will try to rise, this configuration will allow it do so, but it will take the long waybecause of the corkscrew formation. This will result in less back pressure because you can maximise the time the vapor travels through your medium without having to run it through a deep thumper. Less pressure, more exposure.

I figured if you wanted you could use an ice auger blade if you wanted to as well with the vapor feeds closer to the center, but it wouldnt give as much motion to the medium and might result in stagnant spots. My design allows for more movement and I think its actually simpler to make.

SB
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Rotational Thumper.jpg
ScottishBoy
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Re: Thumper?

Post by Hack »

ScottishBoy, I run a self filling thumper, which means the low wines it fills itself with are very shallow, usually only about 1 1/2" to 2" deep. It's not really necessary to have the medium very deep to get efficiency, I get the equivalent of two plates of distillation with it consistently, and my thumper starts out empty. Here's a link to the topic showing it. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... s#p6782951 I've run it with and without the diffuser and it only slightly raises the proof with it. I do think the waterjacket/worm inlet makes a big difference.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by LWTCS »

So, I run an in-line unit.
And similar to scotishboy's thinking, with a different approach,,,,
I want to re-work a set of (3) floats (sleeves or jackets) to sit on the thumper floor, Stacked in a telescoped (small to large) over my inlet/fill tube. Holes drilled low on the jacket, then at the top of the jacket, then low on the third and final larger jacket.

Baby bear, moma bear and papa bear.

Vapor will rise into the fill tube, then be directed down ward (as they are with my current set up) Then up, then down and finally exiting the series of chambers to waft up to the column.

The vapor path will be an up, down, up, down, up movement while also expanding outwards while moving into the forthcoming chamber.

I would like to do this while the thumper is dry. Sort of a hybrid kind of expansion chamber/quasi lentil or some such shit.

I assume that some refluxing within the (thumper) pot will accur. But will obviously not be directed back to the primary boiler.

Was talking to olddog and hawke about this. I was hope Hawke could draw something as I am a retard and can barely type. Never mind draw on the puter.
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inlet/fill tube
inlet/fill tube
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Re: Thumper?

Post by Savagesfolly »

Been reading till my eyes have crossed tonight... maybe I am drunk.. lol. I currentlly run a 15 gal keg, roughly 4' column at 2"... cross over to a 1" pipe down to my 7.5 gallon thumper... out to my condensor.. ect.. still really new at this... so far i am in love with my set up except with a couple of hook up changes I want in the future... The main point of my post is.. If i am running wine, I am thinking of buying some cheap stuff for the bottles... should i thump it, or leave the thumper empty and use it as part of my condensor??
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Re: Thumper?

Post by LWTCS »

Savagesfolly wrote:should i thump it, or leave the thumper empty and use it as part of my condensor??
Not sure what that means? Got any pics of your set up?
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Re: Thumper?

Post by goose eye »

you best put somethin in that doublein keg or you gonna have a time condencein it there
if you got your wick up. how far off the botom you got it.

so im tole
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Re: Thumper?

Post by Savagesfolly »

goose eye wrote:you best put somethin in that doublein keg or you gonna have a time condencein it there
if you got your wick up. how far off the botom you got it.

so im tole
Thanks, I run it straight to the bottom, but I will put something in there for that run.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by Daantje »

I was wondering how everybody using a thumper experiences it.

I used my thumper set-up a couple of times now and post what I find. I think the "free" gain in ABV is really nice, I don't do strip runs, just fill the thumper with wash, and ik kicks my abv up to about 60% (for the final keeping product). Flavor wise I am not really convinced. I run a rum wash with cane sugar (unrefined) and filled my (12L) thumper with wash and about 900 grams of molasse, expecting a full buttery flavored rum. The result however did not really differ from a plain cane sugar wash I made earlier when I did not have a thumper jet.

Overall, I like my thumper and will try many different things with it, but what are your results?
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Re: Thumper?

Post by olddog »

Your thumper should only be filled to cover the input from the still. I only put one litre of wash into my thumper and have not experienced any loss in flavour.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by Daantje »

olddog wrote:Your thumper should only be filled to cover the input from the still. I only put one litre of wash into my thumper and have not experienced any loss in flavour.
I do fill my thumper, which has a total volume of 12L, with wash so it covers the inlet but not too much. I don't lose flavour, but i don't really gain either
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Re: Thumper?

Post by scarecrow »

I don't do strip runs as such, so I always connect my thumper. 20 litre pottie and a 7 litre thumper with 2 litres liquid. Usually the wash or with rum I use 250 ml molasses and about 500 ml oils topped up with wash.

Love listening to the gurgling and banging it does when it gets going.

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Re: Thumper?

Post by Daantje »

And how does it usually come off? I don't bother with tails that much (I don't think it is really worth the gas expenses) but I find I have little heads when using the thumper set up. Last run, a 40 L UJSS wash (didn't take readings, but say it's 10% potential) and I got about 3L of hearts, I collected 250 ml foreshots and about 900 ml heads. From what I read this is much less compared to normal set-ups. Is this due to my cuts or is the "compressing heads" capability of the thumper this good?
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Re: Thumper?

Post by olddog »

I normally run 25lt washes of UJSSM. I usually take 200ml forshots and discard, usually around 800ml of heads then I collect down to 50ABV giving me around 3/1/2 to 4 litres of hearts. With the thumper forshots start at 84ABV then down to 75ABV for the heads, below that is hearts and tails.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by Daantje »

I go down till say 55%, so maybe I'm a bit too carefull. Well, 3 liter at a time is more then enough for me, but will try a bit deeper to see if there are other flavours there.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by olddog »

If you want to stabalize your hearts and give more precise cuts, put one or two scrubbers into your column.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by adama_bill »

Manu is making me a 24inch [600mm] long shotgun condenser - I want to use that on the thumper (and my other equipment) but to do so I either have to increase the height of the stripping head or have a tall "vapour out-pipe" on the thumper so I can get a collecting jar under the shotgun.

The current stripping head is 20inches [500mm] tall.

I was thinking I can add an 8inch [200mm] section of pipe to the stripping head, making it tall enough to get vapour into the thumper (using some connecting copper pipe of course); the height off the floor would then be enough to fit the shotgun with a jar underneath.

But maybe it's better to have a shorter stripping head (because more flavour will come over if it's not so tall - not make it 27inches [700mm] high?).

Can anyone please advise me which way to go ~ taller stripping head or taller vapour out-pipe from the thumper? :?
Attachments
shows the approximate alignment of where I'd like the thumper to be.
shows the approximate alignment of where I'd like the thumper to be.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by Hack »

My guess is it wouldn't make much difference which way you go with it.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by adama_bill »

Thanks for the comment Hack.
If that's the case I'll extend stripping head to 27inches [700mm].

Regards
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Re: Thumper?

Post by post4rational »

Has anyone had any experience with this type of thumper design?


Image
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Re: Thumper?

Post by olddog »

That's similar to LWTCS's humper thumper.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by rad14701 »

Yep, that's an inline thumper you've got there, post4rational... We have several similar variations posted here...
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Re: Thumper?

Post by LWTCS »

................and,,,,that was the question??
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Re: Thumper?

Post by Hack »

If you think about it, aren't all thumpers in-line? :ewink:
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Re: Thumper?

Post by rad14701 »

Hack wrote:If you think about it, aren't all thumpers in-line? :ewink:
Perhaps "stacked" is a better term... I was thinking about the "in-line" part as I was typing it...
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Re: Thumper?

Post by The Baker »

adama_bill wrote:Manu is making me a 24inch [600mm] long shotgun condenser - I want to use that on the thumper (and my other equipment) but to do so I either have to increase the height of the stripping head or have a tall "vapour out-pipe" on the thumper so I can get a collecting jar under the shotgun.

The current stripping head is 20inches [500mm] tall.

I was thinking I can add an 8inch [200mm] section of pipe to the stripping head, making it tall enough to get vapour into the thumper (using some connecting copper pipe of course); the height off the floor would then be enough to fit the shotgun with a jar underneath.

But maybe it's better to have a shorter stripping head (because more flavour will come over if it's not so tall - not make it 27inches [700mm] high?).

Can anyone please advise me which way to go ~ taller stripping head or taller vapour out-pipe from the thumper? :?
Not sure if I am visualising this right, but this may work; to make it taller, stack a few bricks under the stripping head/ boiler part of the still.
This won't change the COLUMN length and so won't affect the distillation.
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Re: Thumper?

Post by myles »

adama_bill wrote:Manu is making me a 24inch [600mm] long shotgun condenser - I want to use that on the thumper (and my other equipment) but to do so I either have to increase the height of the stripping head or have a tall "vapour out-pipe" on the thumper so I can get a collecting jar under the shotgun.

The current stripping head is 20inches [500mm] tall.

I was thinking I can add an 8inch [200mm] section of pipe to the stripping head, making it tall enough to get vapour into the thumper (using some connecting copper pipe of course); the height off the floor would then be enough to fit the shotgun with a jar underneath.

But maybe it's better to have a shorter stripping head (because more flavour will come over if it's not so tall - not make it 27inches [700mm] high?).

Can anyone please advise me which way to go ~ taller stripping head or taller vapour out-pipe from the thumper? :?
I have been messing about with my pot still and am convinced that you can make the neck above your pot any length you like and it will make no difference at all. Make it as tall as you want to have your collection point at a convenient height. I have a 3 foot long neck in 2", then a sloping up arm, again in 2" for about 2 foot, before it goes into a long taper down to the condenser.

Image

The wierd multi angles in the arm are just to take in a 2 foot sideways shift to get the output above the work bench.
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