Is this a thumper or something else?

[ctyler]

Hi everyone,
I got this 3 pot still as a present and am a little confused on the pot that looks like it would be a thumper.
This pot has a hole in the top and the bottom right in middle. There is no pipe inside like a thumper either.
The instructions that came with this show a normal thumper in the pics. I'm trying to figure out what this
is and how you use it and what angles etc.. to run the corregated pipe to it from the primary boiler.

Here are a couple pics of this.

[shadylane]

Judging the size based on the back-ground
I'd say that's a tiny still or thumper or something else

[Kareltje]

The pictures are not clear to me!

[ctyler]

The side pic shows the in/out connections top and bottom, you just barely see the brass threads.
The other pic is looking inside the pot and the top of the lid with brass fitting.

[ctyler]

All the thumpers I see on these 3 pot stills have both brass fittings in the lid and one of those fittings has a drop pipe.
So this one has me puzzled, no pipes, no bubblers, no plates.

My first thought was the new guy messed up making this thumper.
My second thought was make a bubbler for it.
My third thought was to ask someone who knows more than I do

[Kareltje]

Still is not really clear to me, but it looks like a can on three feet with a tight lid on it and both a hole in the bottom and in the lid. I made such a thing and use it as a gin box or an extra tray. But of course you can make use of it as you like.

[ctyler]

Here is a pic of a 3 pot still that looks identical to mine except on mine the thumper has legs and connections are top and bottom.

[cede]

Looks strange with the legs and fittings.
More like a gin basket but where is the screen or the basket to hold the berries ?
For a thumper, it's also missing the bubbler and a piece of pipe to raise the level.

Well, I don't know.
Let's call it a pot with two holes !

[jon1163]

That's the worm bucket, I'm guessing without the worm. I had that same still that you had shown in your photos except the more basic one the condenser has three legs and it sits right on top of the boiler.

[ctyler]

Thanks to some explanation by Kareltje, that filled in a couple holes in my understanding, it would appear I can use this a couple ways.
Having this pot lower than the boiler it will work like a thumper as it will hold some liquid in the pipe and pot.
Having this high and letting fluid drain back to the boiler acts more like a gin pot.

Thinking I will make a bubbler for it out of 1/2" copper tee, couple 90's etc... and use it like
a thumper pot.

[Kareltje]

Thanks to some explanation by Kareltje, that filled in a couple holes in my understanding, it would appear I can use this a couple ways.
Having this pot lower than the boiler it will work like a thumper as it will hold some liquid in the pipe and pot.
Having this high and letting fluid drain back to the boiler acts more like a gin pot.

Thinking I will make a bubbler for it out of 1/2" copper tee, couple 90's etc... and use it like
a thumper pot.

Ho, ho.
I am not sure we understood each other well. And I do not want to get you in peril!
The point is not only the height of the pot in comparisan to the boiler. The point is the throughput of vapour and fluid or vapour and botanicals.
In the ginbox the vapour moves from the opening in the bottom of the vessel to the opening in the lid of the vessel.
In the thumper the vapour moves from the opening in the lid to the bottom of the vessel and than from the surface of the fluid in the thumper to the opening at the top. This means that the bottom of the thumper is closed!

[ctyler]

I understood what your were saying and can appreciate the concern. Perhaps I could have explained better in my post.
What I plan to do with the bubbler,even though its fed from the bottom of the can, ends up being the
same physics as a top down pipe. Much easier to see than to explain.

The thumper will sit on top/above of the primary boiler with no restriction to drain back down on the connecting pipe.
No liquid trapped in the pipe below the bottom of the pot.
All the Tee does is give me two drop pipes inside the pot.
The drop pipe sits in the same amount of liquid as if it was a top down pipe.
This ends up with the same force of liquid in the pot.
Doesn't matter bottom or top fed as the end result is more/less top fed as the pipe has to go up then down.
The reasoning behind the tee and two drops is to drill holes so the bubbles are smaller, more like a plate.
Hopefully that made sense.

Now I am pretty sure this cheap chinese pot still will leak way before it ever gets to 5 PSI
but I plan to put a safety popoff valve on it anyway.

I never would have bought this unit but it was gift and will play around with it for a while.
I'd a bought at least a 10 gallon reflux still with a few plates I could swap in/out.

[ctyler]

Basically what you end up with is this, an inline thumper....see pic borrowed from thumper thread.

[ctyler]

Should have posted that first...lol
Pic really is worth a 1000 words.

[Kareltje]

Basically what you end up with is this, an inline thumper....see pic borrowed from thumper thread.

Ah!
I recently discovered that design and it stuck in my head. Nice!
As I said before: all parts can be used somewhere, be it not allways in the original place.

[Metman121]

Its an "infuser" to put botanicals in and the vapour flows through and picks up flavours, etc.. Its not a thumper, but EASILY can be made into one. Take a piece of 1/2" copper pipe about 11/2"- 2" long, solder on a couple of elbows to create an upside down "J: shaped piece of pipe. Then solder it on to the bottom center of the infuser (will have to remove from the pot, once solderd on, reassemble and looking into the infuser pot, you should have an upside down shaped piece of copper pipe with it's opening about 11/2" off the bottom surface of the stainless steel pot. Now, assemble your still, etc.. This contraption will be placed between the main pot still and the "exhaust' from the lid will go to the condenser coil. To use, as a "Thumper" precharge it with last run shots/mash/alcohol so that the liquid level is about 1/4-1/2" above the upside-down opening of the inverted elbow. Seal up your lids, etc and start running your shine! It will take awhile for your thumper to come up to temperature.. You will hear to gurgle and go 'thump' when its working.. Your distillate will come out in drops and trickles from your condenser/worm box.

I have the exact setup and this is how I made my thumper from the infuser contraption.