Seating bubble plate in sight glass

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Rumblepants
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Seating bubble plate in sight glass

Post by Rumblepants »

Hi

I have a 3" sight glass tower that I am trying to seat a bubble plate in. I can't get it to stop leaking out from under the glass.

Admittedly I bought a bubble plate and caps that I though I could seat the plate either on top of the bottom seal between the glass and the metal.

Do I need to buy a gasket built for holding the plate in place? Or is there some trick I'm missing?

I've tried wrapping the plate in teflon tape and the bottom of the glass, tightening the clamp down with a spanner. I've tried seating the plate below the bottom gasket or above it.

Still I have a small trickle coming out one side of the tower.

Any advice welcome :)

Cheers
Rumble
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LWTCS
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Re: Seating bubble plate in sight glass

Post by LWTCS »

Without a pic can't 100% confirm, but yes, need a gasket that allows for proper seating.
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TwoSheds
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Re: Seating bubble plate in sight glass

Post by TwoSheds »

I had to cut back the inside of the gaskets on mine. 3" Oak Stills bubble plates.

I think I have some leaking around the edges but it doesn't seem to impact performance. Just keep the vapor speed up.
Rumblepants
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Re: Seating bubble plate in sight glass

Post by Rumblepants »

I was thinking about making a gasket from a silicone baking tray. Does the plate need to fit inside the gasket? Or should it be sandwiched inbetween two gaskets?
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RC Al
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Re: Seating bubble plate in sight glass

Post by RC Al »

His still is individual sight glasses stacked up.
Silicon is a nono here, Ptfe is the gasket material of choice.

You would be best off putting the plates in the triclamp joins, hog out the inside of the gasket so the plate will just fit, and it will grip from the sides when compressed.
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TwoSheds
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Re: Seating bubble plate in sight glass

Post by TwoSheds »

RC Al wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 3:31 pm You would be best off putting the plates in the triclamp joins, hog out the inside of the gasket so the plate will just fit, and it will grip from the sides when compressed.
I was thinking about doing that and still may, just not sure what tool to use. Don’t want to go Dremel freehand. Not sure a woodworking router would chew stainless steel efficiently (though this would be my preference with the right bit.)

I’ve drilled stainless but other than that all my machining is for woodworking.
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Fletching
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Re: Seating bubble plate in sight glass

Post by Fletching »

RC Al wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 3:31 pm His still is individual sight glasses stacked up.
Silicon is a nono here, Ptfe is the gasket material of choice.

You would be best off putting the plates in the triclamp joins, hog out the inside of the gasket so the plate will just fit, and it will grip from the sides when compressed.
That’s a good idea. One could probably take those harder PTFE gaskets and do a few rounds to the inside of them with a dremel and get the job done pretty easily.

Or heck, even just playing with sizing on an everlasting gasket until you get the right inside diameter for the plate to fit in. And that might even do a better job at gripping the plate right when compressed.
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TwoSheds
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Re: Seating bubble plate in sight glass

Post by TwoSheds »

Fletching wrote: Mon Dec 06, 2021 8:43 pm One could probably take those harder PTFE gaskets and do a few rounds to the inside of them with a dremel and get the job done pretty easily.
I've thought about this too, but PTFE dust is about the LAST thing I'd ever want to breathe. Airborne everlasting micro-plastic nightmare!
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Re: Seating bubble plate in sight glass

Post by ThomasBrewer »

Can you take a photo of the plate and the where you're sitting it with the gasket?

If you're using the normal flat gasket that came with the sight glass, the easiest fix might just be to tighten the cap nuts to provide more sealing pressure. Back off the jamb nuts under one flange end, then tighten the cap nuts finger tight to establish a baseline compression. Then place a dime under the flange and bring the jam nut up until it meets the dime and leaves a controlled (dime-thickness) space between the flange and jamb nut at each bolt. Then use a spanner to tighten opposite cap nuts gradually around the periphery until seated (alternate, don't tighten each all the way the first go).

It can also be beneficial to trim the diameter of the plate so that it's slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the glass cylinder, put the plate down on the flange, then place the sealing gasket and glass on top. As the glass presses down, it definitely seals against the flange. You may have a small leak going to the lower plate, but you wont have distillate exiting the system.
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Re: Seating bubble plate in sight glass

Post by Bryan1 »

just cut up some cardboard the size of the gasket you want then wrap it with one or two full rolls of pfte tape, then sit the glass on the centre and centre the top one then evenly tighten up. This will form a new seal and the next time you strip it you will find the seal has a nice indent. When it's time to put it all together again just wrap a few turns of the pfte tape and it will be just like a new seal.

After doingthis several times the gasket seal will get thicker and you will find less pressure is needed to seal
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