Dangerous glass condenser

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Alchemist75
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Dangerous glass condenser

Post by Alchemist75 »

I know most here never use glass but if you're using glass or considering it read this:
I recently ordered a new glass liebig on Amazon. It's a Deschem 24/40 400 mm jacket length design (only model like it available from this manufacturer). It arrived in good condition and looked like a real beast when I took it out of the package. Nice, heavy duty thick walled glass. I set it up to do a couple test runs with water and boy was I suprised. The goddamned thing hardly condensed the vapors at all at a very low power input. I checked the glass joints to ensure a good seal, even wrapped it with ptfe to make sure it wasn't leaking but still no improvement. Even tried a turbulator in both ends and it only made things worse. The thing can't condense vapors at all, condensate is hot and it blows hot steam. My suspicion is that the glass wall of the vapor tube is too thick. Thing was dirt cheap and I guess that should have been a red flag. I've gotten some great deals on lab equipment on Amazon without any major complaints but I have to say I was a little blown away with the bum quality of this item. I've never encountered a condenser that failed the way this one did. Don't buy it.....and consider not using glass at all unless you're going to be conducting experimental stuff or working with chemicals, coppers cheaper.
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Dewy
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by Dewy »

I use a glass setup for very small things like a cognac style and I couldn't get a liebig to work but the gram works like a charm
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still_stirrin
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by still_stirrin »

Warning...

Glass is in the what NOT TO USE forum for a reason. We don’t condone it because we practice safe ‘stillin’ here.

Just repeating it for you here.
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Alchemist75
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by Alchemist75 »

Yep yep. Problem with this particular condenser is that it's not even fit for standard lab work either. Just a plain old crap design.
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Samyguy
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

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time to send negative feed back
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Alchemist75
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by Alchemist75 »

I totally did. They refunded me pretty quickly. I bought a different one but what I ordered and what I got were two different things. I ordered a West condenser but i was delivered yet another crappy liebig almost identical to the first one. West condensers are generally better in terms of function but ordering stuff on Amazon can be hit and miss. If it came out of China you may or may not get good quality....poorly blown glass.
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Alchemist75
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by Alchemist75 »

The problem, I think, with standard liebig condensers has to do with jacket diameter and lack of adequate water circulation around the vapor path. Using basic liebigs I've observed bubbles forming around the vapor tube suggesting that the water is heating up but not circulating well enough to carry away heat. West condensers have narrow jackets which limits the water path significantly and forces better/faster circulation. My idea that a narrow jacket works better has some ground to stand on I believe. The nice thing about using glass is that you can see what's happening. Not an endorsement for running shine on glass but having used it I get a certain degree of insight into some of the subtle factors in how the whole process happens.
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NZChris
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by NZChris »

The thermal conductivity of glass is very low compared to copper and stainless steel so I'm not surprised it didn't work for you.

The water doesn't naturally circulate around the jacket, you have to induce that by introducing it on a tangent, but if the Liebig isn't vertical, that won't work either because, when the water heats, convection takes over and interferes with the circulation.
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by antialiased »

Just as an aside, normal (well constructed) glass liebig condensers work fine for lab use but, at least for ethanol, you need ice cold water flowing through it at a decent flow rate. Also, you want length. Last time I used one was a 40cm and distilled over ~2 L of azeotropic ethanol but it took roughly 10kg of ice and way too many hours in the lab. But, I'll second/third that these are meant for lab use, definitely not a good choice for the home distillation of ETOH. Copper would be horrible in a lab, but is great for the home distiller (of ethanol).
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Why would anyone even want to make or use a glass liebig , when with a few easily sourced materials and an hour of your time you could build a much better one of the size of your choice from copper ?
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Alchemist75
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by Alchemist75 »

Not everything I do involves making booze nor even distillation. I've used glass to produce liquor but I've since took to using copper and steel for that purpose. Copper and steel are not fit for the distillation of all things. Bear in mind, I work quite a bit with herbs as well as chemicals. Making booze grew out of that as a side thing. Hell, even the distillation of essential oils and hydrosols are best executed on glass, the possibility of chemical reactions especially with copper is a potential concern.
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NZChris
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by NZChris »

A large glass Liebig should be an easy build as long as you didn't want a glass outer jacket. I could knock one up tomorrow with 3' of 1/2" ID I happen to have but, and without using a calculator, I doubt it could knock down all of the vapor from anything but the 6-8 hour distillation, mini Carter Head, Bombay Sapphire style gins I do.
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Alchemist75
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by Alchemist75 »

Oh I've made glass liebigs, complete with downward angled necks even. There's a place where I live that sells glass tubing at a reasonable price. Good epoxy, maybe a little rubber cement, pvc for a jacket and brass hose nipples. They work great as long as you don't mind having to use stoppers to mount them to boilers or such. White silicone is a good choice or you can even use PTFE tape to literally create a stopper. The liebig I was complaining about was ground glass and was intended to be used with all glass set ups. The problem ultimately was resolved by going with a coiled reflux condenser and a sharply angled ground glass joint. I don't endorse the use of glass for making booze of course. Safety issues and cost are both marks against it. I know there are folks here who do it just the same so I'd sooner tell them what NOT to buy if they insist on doing it rather than turn a blind eye. West condensers are what you really need, they work a treat, better than liebigs when using glass. Maybe my understanding of why they work so well isn't correct but it seems logical. Amazon is not your best bet for such things, no telling what they're going to send you in some cases.
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Alchemist75
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Re: Dangerous glass condenser

Post by Alchemist75 »

I've considered building a West style condenser out of copper for my booze rig. I do need to replace my old dephlegmator soon, I may do a West condenser with an array of through condensers built into it....I should really get on that today actually.
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