Onion build for £50

[Yummyrum]

Zinc Chloride is the stuff in it that does the Magic .

[Oroku saki]

Quote “ Phosphoric Acid, recommended by the British Stainless Steel Association, allows wetting of the metal surfaces where Zinc Chloride and Rosin based fluxes would be ineffective.“

[Yummyrum]

Interesting , I’ve only ever used Zinc Chloride based Fluxes and never had problems soldering Stainless or copper with them .

[Oroku saki]

Ye I’m sure it does work on some stainless steels but I also know that there are hundreds if not thousands of grades of stainless out there so the standard zinc chloride doesn’t do the job On some and will on others, I’ll try some 75% phosphoric acid and See if that works and let you all know how it went, I’ve also just ordered some stuff called A8 liquid flux for stainless so I’ll have it done either way. The copper pitcher/vase or whatever you want to call it should be here today so I’ll take some better pics with something to scale it by for you all to see before and after I start taking it apart and cleaning it up ready for some ferrules.

[Windy City]

I built one for one of my stills.
I brazed everything together, easy peazy and super strong

[Windy City]

This is the one I built.

6" inlet 2" outlet 3" site glass (to help keep an eye out for pukes)
There is a spinning CIP at the rear of the ball.
If I remember right the ball is 20"
I brazed everything with Harris Stay-Silv 15%.
It is very easy to work with, just make sure you have a big enough torch.
I do a lot of this brazing with propane and a Turbo Torch T-6 head.

Hope this helps and maybe get some ideas, Now get burning I want to see this thing.

[Irishgnome]

Damn Windy!
Great Work!

[The Baker]

That is beautiful.

Geoff

[Oroku saki]

That is a beautiful rig you got there Windy City, is that an 8” column then? so your going from 6” to 20” then to 2” I’m guessing? and I’ll be going from 4” to to 12” then to 2”, do you think I’d be better suited going down to 1” after the onion? Or keep the pressure down by going to 2” and keeping it that as I’m going to put a 2” shotgun condenser on it with either 4 x 15mm inner tubes or 6 x 10mm @ 500mm long (the calculator says 400mm so I’m adding to accommodate bigger elements later on if I wish to. I like the way you’ve hard “wired” all your water lines for your condenser/dephlegmator. I might do the same to mine as I can’t stand having hoses everywhere but it also means that there’s less flexibility as far as movement goes. Well let me know what you think? And great work, I hope some day to have such a beauty myself, I’ve got plenty of triclamp fittings/spools etc but this year I really want to go back to basics and get rid of the column and go back to doing stripping runs and then spirit runs with the low wines, hence the pot still config. I’m going for, saying that I may add a thumper or gin baskets in the future. I have also thought about adding a mesh gasket at the bottom of the onion so I could fill it with botanicals for some steam distillation in the future too. Anyway more than enough inspiration for the mean time. Thanks

[Windy City]

Thanks for the compliments.
I enjoy the build probably as much as actually running it but neither as much as I enjoy sipping on the fruits of my labor
I would probably stick with a two inch outlet so you could easily use triclamp fittings (the smallest copper triclamp ferrules I have found are 2”)
You said you are getting away from a column to go back to a traditional pot. Have you thought about keeping your column but setting it up as a side column.
If you look at the pic I posted, I could run as a pot or run through the side column. It just depends on how I set my three way valves.
Those parts you have found should make a very cool onion head. Can’t wait to see it.

Good luck
Windy

[Windy City]

What is the diameter above the upper bubble on the pitcher right where the fluted spout attaches?

[Yummyrum]

Ye I’m sure it does work on some stainless steels but I also know that there are hundreds if not thousands of grades of stainless out there so the standard zinc chloride doesn’t do the job On some and will on others,

Perhaps , but seeing we should be only using 304 or 316 grades in our stills , then there is no problem . It works on those grades just fine .

My point is that there is no point spending a motza on exotic fluxes that will do every type of SS if there is only two that we need worry about .

[Oroku saki]

Ye true, I just want any flux that is as good as stay clean in the U.K. for a good price lol.

[Oroku saki]

So she finally arrived today! Here’s a couple of pics before I take it apart for cleaning,

[Oroku saki]

[Windy City]

Looks very cool
Are you going to mount directly to the keg or are you going to have a riser between the keg and onion?
It would look awesome with a 4" riser going up a couple of feet between the keg and onion.
Are you going to adapt to 2" above the second (smaller) ball?
Keep up the pics....Love this stuff

[Oroku saki]

Ye It’s actually got a 2” section inside the spout part after the smaller ball, don’t know whether it’s best to go down to 1 or 1.5” but then I’m going to have a 2” shotgun so might be better to stick with 2” all the way through? was thinking of trying it with and without a riser and ye can’t wait to see them all polished up with ferrules on Bud

[Irishgnome]

I would probably stick with a two inch outlet so you could easily use triclamp fittings (the smallest copper triclamp ferrules I have found are 2”)

Windy,
I have ordered 1.5" from this site a few times: https://www.brewershardware.com/Sanitar ... es-Copper/
Not a massive jump from 2", but might help someone looking to source smaller.
Cheers
Irish

[Windy City]

I would probably stick with a two inch outlet so you could easily use triclamp fittings (the smallest copper triclamp ferrules I have found are 2”)

Windy,
I have ordered 1.5" from this site a few times: https://www.brewershardware.com/Sanitar ... es-Copper/
Not a massive jump from 2", but might help someone looking to source smaller.
Cheers
Irish

Thats really good to know. I haven't seen those before at Brewers hardware.
That might work out real nice for this onion project.
I may need to order some for my brewery set up that is my next home project.
Thanks for the lead.

[Yummyrum]

Whoo , that thing is massive . Should look awesome . It’s almost so big it might actually do something too .

[Oroku saki]

Hi guys, I’ve already ordered a bunch of ferrules so that’s not a problem, they are dirt cheap on eBay and I have a lathe and can make some copper ones if the SS plays up when it comes to soldering (but I don’t think I’ll have an issue), I’m thinking of either going from 2” (that’s on the keg already) to 4” using a triclamp reducer, but as I need an access port anyway I may replace the top 2” port for a 4” ferrule or do you guys think it’s best to add a separate 4” port to one side and keep the 2” that’s already there? So then it would be the boiler going to 2” at the top then a reducer going up to 4” then either a riser or just straight to the 4” ferrule on the bottom of the onion. At the top of the onion I’ll go 2” and keep it 2” all the way through to the 2” shotgun condenser. I’d rather put a 4” at the top of the boiler but the only problem I see here is that once the column/onion is attached I won’t have access to my boiler for filling up etc.
I’d like to know what you guys think in the meantime while I’m waiting on the flux and ferrules I’ve ordered. When I get up in the morning I’ll be stripping the pitcher down for desoldering and cleaning. Will keep you updated

[Oroku saki]

Ye yummy rum, I thought that might put it into perspective, I can see that the first pic doesn’t do it justice lol

[Oroku saki]

Also you do get smaller triclamp ferrules down to 1.5” then the ferrule stays the same size and only the bore gets smaller. Any smaller I would use the KF ferrules they can be used for smaller sizes no problem. I hope this helps Windy City

[Windy City]

I like the idea of two 4” openings on top of the keg, one for the column and one for filling/cleaning.
Check out this boiler build for some ideas.
https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... lished+keg

[Oroku saki]

Ye I did consider flipping the keg, but because I don’t have a dedicated power point that is 30A or something so I will have to keep the elements under 3000w even 3500w is pushing it on 240V as that would be around 14.5A and it’s a 15A breaker. So I was thinking I could just set my burner under the keg to get it up to temp then cut that off and leave the 3000 watts do the run on its own? If I did a flip keg boiler I couldn’t do this so would incur extra costs putting in a dedicated power supply etc. What do you think ?

[Oroku saki]

I suppose as long as there’s a 2” port on the side for filling having the 4” on top for the column/onion would be fine as it would only be for cleaning purposes. Talking of that, I made a neat little tool for cleaning my old still boiler as that only had a 1.75” opening on top and a smaller one for my demijohns. It consisted of a rod with a length of hose attached in a T configuration at the bottom of the rod, I then cable tied stainless scouring pads to the ends and incrementally along the hose. So when chucked it in a drill I could fold the two arms of the T back and shove it in where they would then open back out to touch the walls. A quick spin with the drill and hey presto clean as a whistle. So cleaning might not be an issue. The other reason I wanted to have a 4” port at the top was so I could get my arm in there so I could use my hydraulic hole cutter. That thing is super useful as it shears a hole through sheet like butter and slightly under sizes the hole so I can put the furrule in the the hole and use the hydraulic cutter to pop it through the rest of the way which is almost water tight as is. It makes the job a lot easier and a much better fit than hole saws can

[Windy City]

Ye I did consider flipping the keg, but because I don’t have a dedicated power point that is 30A or something so I will have to keep the elements under 3000w even 3500w is pushing it on 240V as that would be around 14.5A and it’s a 15A breaker. So I was thinking I could just set my burner under the keg to get it up to temp then cut that off and leave the 3000 watts do the run on its own? If I did a flip keg boiler I couldn’t do this so would incur extra costs putting in a dedicated power supply etc. What do you think ?

A dedicated properly sized circuit is worth its weight in gold (ok maybe not that much )
I switched from gas to electric quite a few years ago and have never looked back.
You should also be weary of using flame under a keg that has a element. The heat from the flame will roll up the sides of the keg and could melt your electric connections.

[Oroku saki]

Hi guys, I’ve been worked off my feet this last week so haven’t had time to tinker and am still waiting on parts (ferrules etc.). But I did start taking it it apart for cleaning and desoldering, lucky enough I didn’t need to cut the top as it was just stuck on so I took it off and then started thinking maybe instead of putting a large ferrule at the bottom I could modify the neck and attach it to the bottom where I could attach a 2” Ferrule to attach to the keg? Can anyone tell me what the purpose of the riser under the onion is apart from giving enough room for the condenser and space for foaming etc? Would like to hear your input. I understand what your saying windy but checked out my burner and the flames don’t lap the sides and stay nicely under the keg when on. Will drop an update soon as the ferrules arrive and here’s some pics it now I got the spout off for reference

[The Baker]

oroku-saki said, 'the flames don’t lap the sides and stay nicely under the keg when on. …'

You could put a 'ring' or 'ledge' sticking out a couple of inches or three around the boiler to sort of capture excess heat and re-direct it outward.
Maybe.
Simple.
Simpler to do than explain!

Geoff

[Ushibaosensei]

Haha, snap! I came across a similar copper jug in a charity shop a few years ago and have been using it for rum and whisky with great outcomes. I've just finished adding a ferrule to it and waiting for more parts. Question is, which way up would you install it, pointy end up or pointy end down or doesn't it really matter? I've been using it pointy end up, cos it looks better!

I'm upgrading my old system. I've got a 30litre burco boiler setup with 2.5kw concealed element running on a home built scr regulator box, which has worked like a dream for years now with near perfect adjustment. The only thing was is that I had old silicone seals and a brass bulkhead on the lid, with alternative methods of sealing it all up. I'm in the process of attaching 2" copper ferrules for triclamps etc. I'm also going modular. I've got 2 condenser tops, which are interchangeable, so will be able to attach an upright condenser top for stripping runs straight on top of the pot lid and the other which is a lyne arm type is going to be permanently attached to the output of a thumper made from a 9litre corny keg for my rum and whisky . I'm considering adding a second thumper, but we'll see how the 1st one runs. Just waiting for a new still lid from China and a couple of parts and I'll post an update.