Blown cap

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Bavis54
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Blown cap

Post by Bavis54 »

All u vets already know this- but to the rest out there take an idiots advice- pay close attention to the amount of liquid- wash, water, juice, watever u put in ur thumper. Today I was doing stripping run on a sugar wash- it's an apple pie distill that truckin butch and jedneck told me bout. It's a great recipe- u charge thumper with apple pie contrary and spices. I am making multiple distilles on the sugarvwash with apple pie in thumper to make it smooth, and get lots of flavor in it from spices. Anyway I charged boiler , then opened frozen juice concentrate. Poured concentrate in thumper. I put 15 cans, that weren't thawed completely in thumper. Hooked up condenser and went on as usual. Kept noticing that had bad leaks at fittings. Paste jus wouldn't fix them, then I noticed cap had leak. Now I keep three cinder blocks on cap- but before I could say o fuck the fukn cap raised up and steam n shit blew everywhere. . I was fine- nobody hurt, just a mess. Once mess cleaned up I started investigating wat the fuck happened- and it was simple- I put too fukn much juice in thumper, and the pressure couldn't go anywhere- so poof blown cap. Once the thawed chunks un thawed the level of juice was over the outlet arm to condensor. Once mess cleaned up I finished run- but only got about half of what I should have. Anyway guys jus pay attention . When I was fighting the leaks I knew somethin was fukd- but instead of cutting heat off and thinking I kept going thinkn it was jus a fluke. If I'd listened to my instincts I wouldn't have blown cap n had mess. Be careful friends.
semper fi
Pikey
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Re: Blown cap

Post by Pikey »

Bavis - I had a leak (tiny) a couple of days ago- shut her off. Found th eissue - sorted it !

Leaks in the vapour path are a huge sign that "SUMMAT'S WRONG"

[Edit- you're pressuerising - pressure is BAD ]
Bavis54
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Re: Blown cap

Post by Bavis54 »

Your right pikey- there shouldn't be much pressure at all unless something is stopped up. N I checked everything before I started. Still had been put up for a week so I boiled it out before use-There's always a little bit of pressure in mine between boiler and thump post- until thump charge gets up to temp n boiling that is- but it's nothing at all like what I fought today. I soldered everything except two slip fittings, that way I can assemble n disassemble everything, I always paste those two slip joints and around the cap and usually never a issue. Never had any issues before, I built this pot two winters ago n I've used it almost every wknd since- anyway I jus didn't realize or take into account that the frozen juice chunks would thaw out to be so much liquid- it got above where the outlet arm in thumper exits and it wouldn't let any pressure out. It was jus too much liquid in thumper . Dad told me stories of having cap blow and scald people n I always try n be safe- I just should've listened to my instincts- anyway lesson learned.
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Shine0n
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Re: Blown cap

Post by Shine0n »

Lucky you have an open environment and plenty of fresh air.
You have a shit ton of peach to run in the next week or so so now you know what can happen and I know you'll pay close attention.
I've gotten laxed a time or 2 but not had anything go on me, thank god.
Glad you're still around to tell the tale friend :thumbup:

Keep on keeping on brother glad you're not hurt.

Shine0n
The Baker
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Re: Blown cap

Post by The Baker »

First run of my little still (water run).
Steam under pressure coming out around the lid (firmly tightened down and sealed with soft dough).
Oh, dear, that is strange....
Then what must have been the remains of a bug blasted out of the half-inch tube.

New protocol, put a little bit of porous washcloth in each end of the condenser when it is finished with for the day. And blow through it before assembly.

Geoff
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Truckinbutch
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Re: Blown cap

Post by Truckinbutch »

The Baker wrote:First run of my little still (water run).
Steam under pressure coming out around the lid (firmly tightened down and sealed with soft dough).
Oh, dear, that is strange....
Then what must have been the remains of a bug blasted out of the half-inch tube.

New protocol, put a little bit of porous washcloth in each end of the condenser when it is finished with for the day. And blow through it before assembly.

Geoff
Good advice for all . Don't take much of a bug to ruin what should have been a good day .
If you ain't the lead dog in the team , the scenery never changes . Ga Flatwoods made my avatar and I want to thank him for that .
Don't drink water , fish fornicate in it .
Bavis54
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Re: Blown cap

Post by Bavis54 »

Thank you shineon- wasn't really keen at first of posting another mistake of mine on here- but then I thought that maybe someone could benefit from it- I really wanted to get a lot of flavor in so I wanted thumper full as possible, each can is only 12 fl ounces and thumper will hold 8 gal full/ i usually put 5 gal in it- I just didn't account for all the ice chunks thawing to create so much volume of juice once I added a jar of tails. I've filled it too high before and it puked over in condenser but that was mid run- I was talking on phone to some nut head from va who also makes wikkeee while I set up rig and jus didn't pay close attention. The signs were there- the leaks should've gave it away but I jus didn't listen to the tiny smart part of my brain . What distillate I did get later was fantastic. If u mix the thump charge really strong, like I did this time- it'll carry over great . I still have 35 gal wash to strip and do final spirit run. I wanted to try multiple distillations to see how much diff it makes and see how much flavor I can get in it. At first I wasn't gonna charge thumper with apple pie on strip runs-but I thought maybe in long run it'd give it more flavor. Anyway we will see- the peach is taking her time to finish fermenting . But looks like all 5 barrels gna finish at same time, so when it does dry- gna be fukn nuts . I gonna set up so I can run at night during the week.
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Shine0n
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Re: Blown cap

Post by Shine0n »

Hell I'll just load my 2 keg and head down there and help for a small fee :D
I'll even bring my own propane. Lol
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Kareltje
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Re: Blown cap

Post by Kareltje »

Maybe I get things wrong because English is not my first language, but why did your thumper blow off?
If you have filled it with too much fluid, I can imagine it to puke. And when I fill my thumper with a lot of grain sediment I am afraid the outlet might get clogged. But apple juice should just puke, not blow off.
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shadylane
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Re: Blown cap

Post by shadylane »

Bavis54 wrote:Kept noticing that had bad leaks at fittings. Paste jus wouldn't fix them, then I noticed cap had leak. Now I keep three cinder blocks on cap- but before I could say o fuck the fukn cap raised up and steam n shit blew everywhere
Just a thought
And you already figured it out :lol:
A pasted on cap can't hold back much pressure.
And a thumper full of gooey stuff, takes pressure to blow steam bubbles up through.
Maybe a glob of frozen fruit juice plugged up the outlet of the thumper :shock:
That could have very bad consequences, good thing the cap blew before everything went BOOM
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thecroweater
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Re: Blown cap

Post by thecroweater »

Had a puke block a condenser years back, took me a while to work out the obvious and shut it down. Once the penny dropped I shut it and got the Sam hell out a Dodge. Not a moment to loose neither, my old still house was a tumbling down 10ft x 10 wood workshop and there would a been no ex aping what happened next. Valuable lesson lucky not to late for the learning. Ya notice a problem don't fuck arse about trying to sort it out just shut it down. As is I narrowly avoided being badly scolded but a bit longer on the flame could have been a great deal worse. This hobby is only as dangerous as ya let it be, be safe.
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Benjamin Franklin
Bavis54
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Re: Blown cap

Post by Bavis54 »

I agree totally croweater, this was one hundred percent my fault- not equipment failure- just a fuck up by me- there were two things that fucked me up- I put half thawed chunks of apple juice concentrate in thumper , and added couple jars of tails from previous run. I figured it'd thaw quickly before boiler ever got up to temp. Well it did but it also was too much liquid and it filled the thumper up to over where outlet post goes to condensor. It takes a little pressure for the steam from boiler to heat and boil the thumper liquid. Once thumper charge gets hot and boils the pressure is much less. Anyway in my case the liquid in thumper was so high from the start that there was no head room- the level was Above where the 3/4 outlet post goes in 2 inches from top. I know this bc after I changed my shorts and cleaned up mess- I used measure stick and checked it. Was blown away the level was that high. The boiler got hot, boiled and instead of thumper boiling like normal I kept getting leaks at my slip joints. Normally a dab of paste does the trick but these were pressurized leaks. I should've shut down then -I knew better but I get excited every single run to see that first drop n I thought maybe I just had a full boiler n this was cause for a bit of extra psi- anyway I had two seconds notice- a hiss from the cap just before the cap raised up ( with three cinder blocks on it mind you) and steam, n shit went fukn everywhere. The second I saw cap raise up I ran like hell. And in an instant it was over. Pressure gone- . I shut off heat off n started the clean up. Then finished run after finding problem. I drained a gallon out of thumper n poof- no more problem. Croweater is right- friends don't be scared by my stoopid fukn mistake. Jus learn from it- this is a rewarding hobby and only as dangerous as we let it be. This hobby is one of first things I've taken real pride and enjoyment in since getting back from Middle East .
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Shine0n
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Re: Blown cap

Post by Shine0n »

I love the look of the old school copper pots but I'm glad I use a keg. Now I'm thinking of putting a pressure relief valve on it since everything is union or tri clamp. I do look at my output quite a bit but all it takes is a second of not paying attention and shit can happen.

My old thumper was 7.5 gal stock pot with 2-1" holes drill and I used paste to seal off the pipes. I've had the inlet pipe rise because of pressure but not completely popped the top. Plus that thing would rock and roll, shake and shimmy.

The damn thing scared the shit out of me when heating up the first time, sounded like someone inside with a ballpeen hammer trying to get out. The old wooden barrel never made that noise in 15 years. Lol

Sorry the off topic

Kids play safe and when you think man I've done this a hundred times, complacency may get ya killed bubba.

Once again bavis glad you're still around, now about that peach brandy.........
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