4 Inch Hybrid 2 Stage Dephleg

[Sungy]

Thanks WV. I have never heard of distilled vinegar. Do you make that or buy it some where.

[wv_cooker]

Grocery store usually, White Vinegar. Many threads about using to clean copper here, works really well!

[Sungy]

I have a few pics of the bits I have been working on. I finally finished up with making the valves. A couple of hours of fiddling and the valves are all fitted to the plates. The stem of the valves are flaired and the holes in the plates are also tapered to form a flat matting surface on the flair and the flat edge of each penny.

The plates where all fitted into the column sections individually. Notice there are two sizes of plate. That is because every other plate will sit in the joint between the two sections of column. They fit best in only one spot for a tight fit. So I decided why not make a removable trap that can be mounted on any plate giving me maximum flexibility in configuring this modular build. Im testing a few designs first then I will post pics of the trap
.

Started work on a 3/4 branch line for the 2 inch UBend I bought. flaired a 3/4 copper tube and tacked the edges down with solder. Then shaped the edge to fit the 2 inch UBend. After that a simple solder and poof its done.

And finally there is what we have so far with all most all the pieces in one place. There are still some clamps and valves to re-claim from my 1st build.

Now to design a parrot worthy of attaching to this beast and building that there condensate trap.

Hope you are having as much fun reading this as I am making this little bit O Copper Porn.
....... Its like therapy........ You cross one little hurdle them move on......Look back every so often, just to see how far you have come. ..and feel proud of where you are....
Sungy

[Sungy]

I finally got a bit of time to work on the parrot trap. I love watching that parrot flow into a Jar so I figured let try to do the same so that I can monitor reflux returning to my boiler and this is what I came up with.

If the flow rate is more than the 3/8 parrot beak then it will just overflow as a normal trap would. The bolt and wing nut are stainless steel. The trap is removable and will fit on every plate. I soldered a 3/4 coupling into the 1 1/4 inch pipe that is 2 1/4 inch long with a copper plate soldered to the bottom. Split the coupling and solder on a few tabs for the bolt to run threw and presto a removable parrot beak trap.

[six]

very nice... let's see her run!!!

[Sungy]

Thanks very much six.

Spent some time working on the real parrot for this rig today. Gonna have to pick up a few fittings this week to finish it off. Then its off to finish making a water management panel and remake the water barrel and pump setup.

[Sungy]

Ok I know its been a while since I updated this build thread but it has been worth it....
First I built a bench buffer for the polishing of this rig. After many hours of polishing I have a nicely shined copper column.

Now After marveling at my own accomplishments I realized A fill port for my boiler would bake life sooooo much easier.

Then I thought wouldn't a thermometer look really cool in the lid of the fill port. So I made it. Wow it did look cool. Then after a few jugs of Hook Rum...(Man that stuffs good)....I thought .....give me a nother Rum...thats what I thought....ok I know get back on track.....The parrot was born...

I know its a crummy pic but what do you expect after a few jugs of Hook Rum....

[Sungy]

Too continue...The next creation was to control this big boy. So this is it.

And from the back

I still have hoses to make yet but last week a friend came by and gave me a early present. This is what became of it.

And yet still more I have to finish.

[Sungy]

Have been working on this one for a while but most of the stuff I have been dong is the boring stuff. Sanding flanges and fixing some leaks on the condensers. The latter messed up the shinny part......gonna have to shine it again after a vinegar water run this weekend. Yup she is all done now. I had to modify the cooling tower to take the increased water flow after the new cooling water panel was installed. It has 5/8 heavy duty garden hose for lines...( by the way dont mention that part to the wifie......think her garden hose went missin over the winter...not sure tho.) I had to add some more holes to the spray bar.

After a cleaning run its polishing time and a few test runs with alcohol....to get a handle on this one.

[googe]

very nice mate, it's a big beast . Love the plates!. And the coolent control!. When's the first run?.

[Sungy]

Should be running on the weekend. Hopefully I can get a video of this rig doing what it does best. I will see if I can post it once its complete.

[Sungy]

Today was the big day. The second cleaning run. The vinegar and water run cleaned a bunch of junk out of the big girl. But this was the first time I could see what was going on inside. Wow...The suspended traps work absolutely perfect. They stay full all the time and don't care how much power I throw at them. The plates have a huge sweet spot of operation. They stay active from 12 amps to 24 amps. The Dephleg worked like a charm. It is a two stage with the first stage being a 1 inch thick standard condenser. The second stage consists of seven 6inch liebig condensers. Total reflux can be maintained at 24 amps with the second stage and 1st stage can maintain 21amps in full reflux and this may even increase as I didn't try to go any higher on this run. Output for my big girl was good. The highest proof so far was 190 at 2 liters per hour. When run hard Proof dropped to 180 at 4 liters an hour. These will be refined as I learn more about her operation. The higher water flow rates through the dephleg led to lower water temps coming out of the dephleg and also my water tank didn't heat up as fast.

Looks like I got a winner here.

[Sungy]

So I thought I would post a video of Big Girl in action.....

My 4 inch Hybrid 2 Stage Video

She was running 2 plates on a rum run. I managed to run 2, 12 gallon batches in 9 hours. Cooling water never got above 78f. for both runs.

[Saltbush Bill]

Sungy , just read this thread from end to end, Wow what an epic build, that is a still that will serve you well for a life time. There were times that I wanted to ask, but then I noticed this.
........WHY?.....Because I can......
good stuff

[Sungy]

Thanks Saltbush Bill. There are 2 more modules in construction. A 6 inch rum ball bubble plate and a section for structured packing. I will post some pics when I get a bit more done.

[bearriver]

What sort of noise levels are you getting off the fans?

And the crowd goes wild. AHHhhh....

Nice toy!

[humbledore]

Amazing. Just stumbled across this by looking at the links in your sig, Sungy. Man, this is good stuff!

[Sungy]

Thanks humbledore. It works very well. The trap design and valves make this still a very stable machine. Short run times at low power inputs (17 amps 240 Volts). The dephleg very works well but is grossly over sized even with 1.5 inch (tube length) 1st stage I run at 25-30% on my water flow and I did test it at full reflux with just the first stage and was able to keep it in full reflux.

[Misneac]

I'll say it even though it's pretty obvious to anyone who reads this thread; That's Frickin Impressive. I gotta correct you on one thing though: in one of your posts you said you're not a machinist. I think you're wrong there. Anybody who can put this kind of apparatus together with a grinder, a hammer, and a railroad spike is pretty competent in my book. What a beast!

[Sungy]

Well thank you Misneac. That's a fine comment. It is a treat to run and was very satisfying to build. I hope others will enjoy the build thread and maybe inspire others to create their own dream stills.
She has made a few wonderful streams and all have been enjoyed with close friends.
Cheers.