First build - LM/VM

[Oxbo Rene]

OK guys, have been lurking for awhile, finally decided on a build.
Was impressed with "New Moonshiner's" build, but upon reading about positive disturbance issues, went with 2" to 1" reducer concept for the VM takeoff and the "Shotgun" Crossflow Reflux Condenser".
Not sure who gets the credit for each, forgive me, but to each, Tx Yu for you expertise.
See attached photos for View of my progress.
One question for me was, would it help, hurt or otherwise not much matter, if I added a plate to the 1" "T" in order to deflect the vapor into the VM path to the Lebig ?
Column is 2in (X) approx 5 ft to VM take off ........
Tx's
Oxbo

[kiwistiller]

Maaate, awesome work. I think your takeoff will be just fine without the plate.

What a great first build. hope you've got some scraps to make a pot head for stripping, and some insulation for that column, and you are away laughing.

Feel free to say hi in the welcome section if you'd like to.
Congrats,
Kiwi

[Oxbo Rene]

Tx's Kiwi;
Still, is a work in progress.
Next phase is to put in angle plates and forshots/heads takeoff, and, thermometer port.
Got in (ordered) 2" flange and received an alloy one with 6-8% lead, got to get on phone Monday and
get that exchanged.
Might be cheap makin booze, but, ain't cheap building one of these things LOL............

[kiwistiller]

could be a good idea to make the LM takeoff inside the shotgun condenser instead of in the column. Then, if you have a bit of a dam in there, you can use it for heads compression + extraction...

Good catch on the lead
cheers,
kiwi

[rad14701]

Although one might think otherwise, including me, in the past, the use of a deflector plate yields very little if any improvement in performance... Tweaks in other areas have proven to be better choices with sizing at the T and position of the take off branch size reduction being the two most critical in effecting performance... Reductions in cross sectional area and volume increase vapor speed and proportional resistance...

Looks like you're off to a good start, Oxbo Rene...

[Oxbo Rene]

Alrighty now .....
Finally recieved my piece from Brewhaus to attach my column to my pot head.
A little rusty on the tigging but got er done.
I thought about having a dam in the crossflow condenser but opted for slant plates, thinking that the dam would
trap spirits as opposed to a continuous exchange the plates would offer, whether that makes a difference I don't
know (newbee), just seemed better to me......
Here are a couple more pics of the rig to date, also a diagram showing dimensions.
Any opinions/suggestions to improve design = greatly appreciated .....
Oxbo

[flip]

sorry i see a pipe outlet on top of the T condenser that i dont understand , what is it for?

[hoody]

Vent to prevent pressure build up within the colom would be my guess

[Oxbo Rene]

Yep, vent outlet, etc........

[kiwistiller]

nice.! the dam would indeed have caused a well of reflux up there, but that can be a good thing. something for later maybe. it looks crooked in the photo? It really wants to be plumb. looks pretty top heavy too, so might want to consider bracing or something - remember that around half the boiler charge will be disappearing at least.

[Oxbo Rene]

Tx's Kiwi;
Yeah, just got her stuck together at present.
Planning on moving her out under the shed at end of porch when I get ready to run her, then will
plumb her up and secure her, etc.....
Still got to run the rest of my lines, order my packing (copper), thermo, and alcohol/SP gages, water pump/lines.
And, still got to hunt up ferment containers and spirit jars, etc, etc. Lots left to do .......
Not sure if I want to solder the slant plates piece in, thinking of just flour/water pasting it, see how it acts like that.
Oxbo

[rad14701]

Not sure if I want to solder the slant plates piece in, thinking of just flour/water pasting it, see how it acts like that.

+1, Oxbo Rene...

Looking good...

[Oxbo Rene]

Tx's Rad;
Seems like I read somewhere that you mentioned that the distance from centerline of VM takeoff to
bottom of takeoff plate should be ideally 3 inches.
Mine looks to be 5 inches, was wondering how much that difference matters ?

[rad14701]

Tx's Rad;
Seems like I read somewhere that you mentioned that the distance from centerline of VM takeoff to
bottom of takeoff plate should be ideally 3 inches.
Mine looks to be 5 inches, was wondering how much that difference matters ?

I usually give measurements of comparison or ratio... For the distance from take off branch to packing and/or reflux chamber a measure of one to two column diameters should suffice but more shouldn't hurt... The measurements are mere approximations anyway unless someone wants to experiment to come up with hard numbers... At any rate, too much is better than not enough - within reason...

[kiwistiller]

it will only help maximum takeoff speed - more 'heavy' vapour pushing down and out the takeoff port. Those crazy VM-E-ARC rigs have the takeoff around mid column, and the pressure on it is such they can use a 16mm branch.

[Oxbo Rene]

Tx's guys,
Getting my water lines hooked up today (1/4 inch all around) I'm thinking I might have to go larger, will see.....

[Oxbo Rene]

OK,
Finally got my parrot fabricated, plus, made me a turbulator for the liebig.
Hardest part of this whole project has been making that little funnel for
the parrot.
Actually got pissed and threw it in the garbage, then later on, decided I
couldn't let it get the best of me, etc......
Also, got my water lines going .....

[kiwistiller]

beautiful work!

[hstuurman]

This is a nice peace of work

Compliments to you

[Oxbo Rene]

Appreciate it guys !
Can't wait to see how she's gonna act when I fire her up, getting closer and closer......

[Oxbo Rene]

And moving right along ......
Although somewhat cluttered with all the stuff in background, here is a pic of the setup with
an angle attached (going to the left) that I clamped the parrot on/w/ plate to set collection jar on.
Also a small angle shoots off to the right where I attach (magnetic) the digital thermometer (just under the gate valve).
I soldered a piece of 3/8ths tube on column just under top diagonal plate and
ground down a round piece of teflon to tightly fit into the tube, drilled a hole
down it's center then, also had a real snug fitting teflon feral that fits on the thermometer probe
to be able to adjust it's depth = probe touches nothing but the teflon plug, which only goes
about 2/3rds distance to the column (the plug).
Only thing left to do is insulate and get some glass chards to put in the boiler to
promote easier bubble release, etc.......
Being as though today is Sunday, have to wait till tomorrow to get that stuff ....
Have a nice day,
Oxbo

[Samohon]

Hey Oxbo, lookin good man.. I like the shelf clamped on for the parrot and collection jar, cool.
Can't wait to see how she performs....

[Oxbo Rene]

Tx's Sam;
I believe it was your mech drawing that I used to build the top LM/VM portion of this still.
You had an inline reflux coil, I tried three times to wind a coil and failed !
So, I went with Harry's crossflow design, which turned out to be not so difficult, even though
originally I shied away from it.
And for clarification. seems like I read somewhere that a "Shotgun" crossflow condenser
meant that the "spirit" ran through the many small copper tubes, as opposed to the regular "Crossflow"
design where the "cooling" water ran through the many copper tubes.
Well, mine is apparently a "Crossflow Condenser" from Harry's website (and I appreciate that design Harry),
except, I went with the diagonal plates for the takeoff for the Fores and Heads as shown in your design.
She's looking pretty good at this stage, I want to change "her" generic designation from a "she" to an "it".
I got a good name for "it" when "it" shows me how "it" performs.......
I invite any/all suggested names to be offered and of course they will be taken into consideration, but I got a real good name for "it" if "it"
performs goooooood, etc......
Oxbo

[LWTCS]

"It" looks good.

BTW what did you pay for the thermometer?

[Oxbo Rene]

Hi LWTCS;
I got it it from = Mile-Hi -->
http://www.milehidistilling.com/Digital ... /86231.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Actually, I'm not too far north of you (think NASA/Space Shuttle).
Only thing I'm disappointed with is that it doesn't show 1/2 degrees, etc.......

EDIT = I mean 1/10th degrees .....

[Oxbo Rene]

Well dad gum it ! !
I been laid off for the last eight months, ever since our glorious president decided
we didn't need a moon rocket anymore (USA).
And I have enjoyed this time off, but, all good things come to an end.
Just got the call to go back to work (6/10's), so,
Got to put my toy away for awhile.
She's (it's) done now, just waiting to get the first cleaning wash.
Here's a couple more better pics.
Appreciate all the learning I've gleaned from this site.
I'll only have one day a week off, after laying around on my duff for eight months, am pretty out of shape.
Will probably be laying on my arse on my day off recovering (Ironworker).
Anyway, here she (it) is finished .......
Oh yeah, I was/am going to name her/it ==== "The Widowmaker".......
(If there ain't nobody else got that name, etc).........
Have a nice day,
Oxbo

[olddog]

Congratulations, great looking rig, all you need now is a bigger boiler, a keg maybe.


OD

[Oxbo Rene]

Tx's OD,
Yeah, that little pot looks a bit small.
Perhaps in the future for sure ..........

[Samohon]

She's, sorry (it's), lookin good ox. You gonna run with gas for the heat source then?
I use a propane/banjo burner for fireing the boiler, I wrap a fire blanket around the keg that also acts as a wind shroud leaving only 1/2" clearance on the bottom for ventillation. I do this outside ofcoarse, if I'm in the garage, I make the vent gap at the bottom 3".

Glad the drawings came in handy ox. What did you use to solder your crossflow, mapp, acetalyne?

Once again congrats on the build man, thats a nice thing you have there...

[Oxbo Rene]

Sam;
I got a little single ring propane burner I'm going to use, gonna have to dig a hole and
put it partially down in it, so the crossflow will be able to fit under my shed ( Roof only = no sides).
As for soldering, I just used reg no-lead solder/w silver with a little hand held propane bottle torch ya get down
at the hardware store.
Don't know when I'm going to be able to get back to the project. Just went back to work yesterday
and MAN ! ! All day welding (7018) out on a "HOT" concrete slab, I was completely drained
of energy, had to come home, take cold shower, go to bed, too long sitting around house in AC.
Hope I can get my chit together today, I was a worn out puppy yesterday ! !
So, till I can get the time, the still is just sitting out on the back porch, etc...........