Popular modular CCVM, I did one too

Vapor, Liquid or Cooling Management. Flutes, plates, etc.

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subbrew
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Popular modular CCVM, I did one too

Post by subbrew »

Not that there are not enough pictures out there but perhaps someone can learn my my errors

Started with the 15.5 gal keg. I actually built two, one I cut out the top and brazed in a 6 in triclamp ferrule. This one will be used on wood or gas flame. The second one I cut the hole in the bottom for the 6 in ferrule and left the original 2 inch hole on top to be able to add a drain valve. This of course will be electric. Since I don't have TIG equipment I decided on silver brazing for the ferrule attachment. As the hole was cut with an air cut off tool and then an angle grinder and file to take it out to final dimensions it was not exact. Because of this I decided I would get better gaps if the hole were the diameter of the inside of the ferrule and I brazed the ferrule sitting on top rather than sliding in the hole. This worked Ok but as I worked my way around the heat caused for some warping which caused some larger gaps and my level ferrule now has a slight tilt which may be noticeable if I put on a tall column. If I try it again I will try tacking the ferrule on opposite sides and then working around.

To test for leaks, of which there were several, I put chalk string chalk around the inside of the ferrule and then on the outside I used my air gun to shoot air at the ferrule keg union. Any areas of the joint that were not tight allowed the air to blow the chalk off that area on the inside.

Tip here: if you find leaks, assuming your brazing has the ferrule structurally soundly attached, don't risk melting out your existing braze to fix the leaks. Now is a good time to use silver solder to flow into any small leaks as it is low enough temp that the existing braze stays well below melting temp.

Next up was the shotgun condenser. I did better at taking pictures here. It is a 2 inch shell with 4 half inch inner tubes. Let me say right now, it is well worth your time to contact Twisted and buy some precut disks with perfect holes. I probably have at least 10 to 12 hours in flattening copper, cutting disks, rounding disks and cutting holes, all to have some very imperfect disks.

Using tin snips and a dremel cut off wheel I cut 6 disks, about 1/8 inch oversized from a sheet of copper I had made by annealing and flattening a section of two inch copper pipe. I then drilled a hole in the center of the disks, stacked them on a bolt and chucked them in my drill press to try and round them out. At first I thought I would just use a file to cut them down but copper is soft and all it did was fill my file. I then tried a grinding stone which sort of worked but very slow, once again copper is soft enough it smeared rather than grind. 80 grit sand paper didn't work too bad but also needed changed out often. I finally tried a wood file and that was not too bad. Only about 2 hours of grinding and checking once I found the correct tool.
making disks.jpg
For the holes in the disks I used a step bit. Worked well except for the one that slipped in the vice on the drill and it took out the middle.
condenser parts.jpg
finally I put it all together using Harris liquid flux and Harris staybrite 8 silver solder. I did the inlet end flush and soldered it first. The exit end I let the tubes protrude about half an inch. It I were to do it again I would do the exit end first. The reason being that some of my holes were not a snug fit so a little difficult to fill in to seal. Whichever end that is done first you can put in the worst fitting tube first and get clear around it. Put in the next, get most of the way around it, and so on so all but the last tube has decent access. On the flush fitting end, I could have used a tapered rod and flared the ends of the tubes a bit to give a snug fit which would have easier to get a tight solder even without that great of access to the inner sides of the pipe.
condenser internal.jpg
The rest was mostly ordering parts. The riser is 3 inch copper, 12 inches long, to which I soldered ferrules. I also have a section of 3 inch copper, 3 ft long that I will add once I get my CCVM condenser built and am ready to try reflux. But below is pot version I have at this point.

pot still.jpg
Waiting on delivery of a few parts to finish off the end so it runs into a jar nicely. But hoping to soon be ready to strip the 55 or 60 gal of cider I pressed this year.
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Yummyrum
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Re: Popular modular CCVM, I did one too

Post by Yummyrum »

Looks like a good setup subbrew .

Just curious about those baffles . Most I’ve seen have a largish notch on alternate sides . Not sure from the pics , but are you relying on drilled holes through baffles for water flow ?
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Re: Popular modular CCVM, I did one too

Post by subbrew »

Yes, there are 5 drilled holes and a bit of seepage around the tubes on some holes. I did a test run with water and it was more than enough, I need to get a valve and cut back the water flow a bit to get a decent gradient.
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Re: Popular modular CCVM, I did one too

Post by Yummyrum »

subbrew wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:50 pm I did a test run with water and it was more than enough, I need to get a valve and cut back the water flow a bit to get a decent gradient.
Well thats the main thing :thumbup: . Good job .
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