Slight angle on the neck, problem?

[Roki]

Hey guys!

After about 8 months of gathering materials and a lot of contemplation I think I'm done with my first pot still!

The last part for me was the easy flange which was probably the hardest part lol. Anyway, I noticed that after I connected the keg to the copper neck with a triclamp (with a cartboard and ptfe tape in between) the neck comes out with a slight tilt when secured.

I will be doing the vinegar run in the next few weeks, where of course I will check for any vapor leaks. Provided there aren't any, do you guys see any problem with this?

For the record I think the problem is that the keg's mouth isn't totally straight I think, I put a straight cut piece of 2" pipe on top of it and it still had the same tilting issue. Or maybe it's something I haven't noticed yet, anyway here are the visual references.

[Saltbush Bill]

Looks to me like the opening on the Keg is bent to one side, can you get a piece of steel pipe or rod in there and swing on it enough to straighten in a bit.

[shadylane]

Maybe try loosening the tri-clamp and rotate the column.
If the boiler and column are crooked, Like mine.
Ya might find a combination where they cancel each other.

[SaltyStaves]

If its always going to be a pot still and you have no plans to use a column, then its a non-issue. In fact it may even be beneficial if it breaks up laminar flow of the vapour and promotes more copper contact.

The only concern would be downward stress that may require a bit of support, but that is only a concern if your soldering is a little weak or your condenser is ridiculously heavy.

[Boozewaves]

an easy solution is to tilt the keg until the column is straight . I have 2 dedicated rusty spanners for when I do a reflux run , they go under the keg skirt on one side . for a pot still it should not matter though

[Jstroke]

It won’t matter at all if it doesn’t leak, except those kind of details tend to catch my eye and drive me batsh..

If you haven’t gone full electric and drilled and welded your keg, I would just run as is and wait patiently for another cheap keg to make itself available.

[Bushman]

+1 on what has been said. In my still I cut a 4” hole for a larger column and the hardest part was welding the ferrule level on the keg due to the design of the keg and the different thicknesses. If it’s only going to be a pot still no worries but with a reflux you would have problems.

[Roki]

@everyone

Thank you so much for your replies! I suppose the reason it would be a problem if it was used as a column is because you would need to ensure the maximum area possible within the column for the reflux to happen as smoothly as possible, am I wrong?

Looks to me like the opening on the Keg is bent to one side, can you get a piece of steel pipe or rod in there and swing on it enough to straighten in a bit.

You hit the nail on the coffin. I wasn't sure 100% if it was the keg's opening because I was mostly insecure about my flange, and was really too lazy last night closely inspect the keg's mouth (mind you, the keg has been sitting in my room for the last 8 months and I never thought about the opening not being straight). But now I took a good look and it is definitely that, here are some pictures.

Do you reckon hitting the tallest side with a rod would bring it down that much to make it even?

The only concern would be downward stress that may require a bit of support, but that is only a concern if your soldering is a little weak or your condenser is ridiculously heavy.

Hopefully on that issue I am fine, I tested the strength by holding the structure sideways by the copper neck for a few seconds and held just fine. Given that this is my first ever soldering work I can never be too sure, do you have any other recommendations to test the strength?

[Setsumi]

@everyone

Thank you so much for your replies! I suppose the reason it would be a problem if it was used as a column is because you would need to ensure the maximum area possible within the column for the reflux to happen as smoothly as possible, am I wrong?

Looks to me like the opening on the Keg is bent to one side, can you get a piece of steel pipe or rod in there and swing on it enough to straighten in a bit.

You hit the nail on the coffin. I wasn't sure 100% if it was the keg's opening because I was mostly insecure about my flange, and was really too lazy last night closely inspect the keg's mouth (mind you, the keg has been sitting in my room for the last 8 months and I never thought about the opening not being straight). But now I took a good look and it is definitely that, here are some pictures.

Do you reckon hitting the tallest side with a rod would bring it down that much to make it even?

The only concern would be downward stress that may require a bit of support, but that is only a concern if your soldering is a little weak or your condenser is ridiculously heavy.

Hopefully on that issue I am fine, I tested the strength by holding the structure sideways by the copper neck for a few seconds and held just fine. Given that this is my first ever soldering work I can never be too sure, do you have any other recommendations to test the strength?

stainless steel is tough, i very much doubt you will be able to fix it without mechanical (hydrolic) pressure. as said just wedge the keg..... and read up some on posting images directly to HD, it is not that difficult.

[cob]

Here https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 52&t=15837

[River Rat]

Do you reckon hitting the tallest side with a rod would bring it down that much to make it even?

I think what Salty was suggesting is to find a piece of pipe that will fit down inside the ID of the keg flange, secure the keg somehow, and use the pipe like a big pry bar to bend it back straight. Stainless is tough and it would take some muscle to do that.
Nothing on top of the keg looks bent in the pics.... as if the coupler was welded onto the keg off-center during production, and then somehow passed quality checks.

[Chucker]

Tweaking it to straighten it up or living with it are probably the best options, assuming it’s far enough off to really bother with.
If this is the original spear in the top of the keg it may not be too tough to coax a bit but you don’t want to mess it up in the process. The stainless of kegs is pretty thin if you can get the flex to stay. It may not be readily available to you but clamping on a mating ferrule with a length of tubing or pipe will keep you from messing up the id with a piece of pipe stuck through.
If it’s a larger fitting welded through it could be a bit harder. Sometimes you fit them straight and the welding creates some uneven stresses that pull things out of level; these don’t like to pull back.
The last one I did was with a 6” ferrule and I extruded the opening so that the ferrule was fit as a butt weld connection. The pulled neck limited warpage and it was just all around a much cleaner result. It was worth the extra effort.
Best of luck!