Condenser Controlled Columns

[Thebigbrewbowski]

Well I can attest the powder coated is unworkable.

I tried scraping, heating with a heat gun and also wire wheel but nothing worked, the grooves are too inaccessible. I then tried burning it and it burns easy enough but what was left was blackened ashy nastiness and not something you would want pristine spirits meant for consumption to come anywhere close to.

I sucked it up and bought a pre made condenser from aliexpress. Just can't get uncoated csst in Canada and all US retailers I tried dont do international shipping. Too bad for them. At $86 CAD I just cant be bothered trying to track this stuff down then bending and adding fittings.

[Deplorable]

Well I can attest the powder coated is unworkable.

I tried scraping, heating with a heat gun and also wire wheel but nothing worked, the grooves are too inaccessible. I then tried burning it and it burns easy enough but what was left was blackened ashy nastiness and not something you would want pristine spirits meant for consumption to come anywhere close to.

I sucked it up and bought a pre made condenser from aliexpress. Just can't get uncoated csst in Canada and all US retailers I tried dont do international shipping. Too bad for them. At $86 CAD I just cant be bothered trying to track this stuff down then bending and adding fittings.

Ive yet to find a source locally myself. I think im going to twist up a copper one after filling it with parafin wax and crimping the ends. The videos I've watched on YouTube make this seem like the easiest to get the packing back out.

[Thebigbrewbowski]

I haven't heard of using paraffin but one of the millwrights at work said hes used sand before for bending copper pipe. I know about the salt or water method too and I could painstakingly twist my own but I dont mind paying a little more for what I got. Its stainless steel and is going to look awesome in the sight glass. I probably should have went with copper but the stainless will be more durable although not as efficient as copper I doubt it will make a noticeable difference.

[acfixer69]

I wish you the best of luck with the wax. Salt will work. Water if you seal everything and solder shut. I bet oil fill will work too but it comes down to how well you close off the ends. Keep in mind a bit of flatting is not a problem with the water flow. A kink is and a few kinks game over. All the talk on 'you got to have a needle valve to do a proper metering of the cooling" is crap is the flow is restricted.

[Deplorable]

The appeal of the was is that you can easily remove it by simply putting the coil in a pan in the grill and heat it until the wax flows out.
Getting the wax in is easy as well. Put the end of the preheated copper in a pot of melted wax, and apply a vacuum to the other end. Crimp that end when the wax fills the tubing. Then crimp the other end and let cool before coiling it. It seems much easier that fiddling with sand or salt to fill it after straightened.

[Smog]

Just can't get uncoated csst in Canada and all US retailers I tried dont do international shipping.

I just received 2x 60" from Amazon.ca

Search for this :. (20-3132-60B)

[Berserk]

I built a CCVM head during the holidays to fit on my 1.3m 2" lava rock packed column. I've used it with a CM head before with varying degrees of success.

Yesterday I tried the CCVM out on a light rum reflux run and holy shit! It started out 95% so I raised the coil bit by bit to try and get a bit lower purity to pull some flavour through but it wouldn't budge. It just held 95% throughout the run, even with the coil clearly above the off-take, until the tails hit (sidenote: those were the foulest tails I've ever encountered! They stunk up the entire place!).

Some rum flavours did pull through in the end, so I'm happy. I could also run it on full power (2500W on a 2") through the entire run without any flooding, even in full reflux. It's a good design, even better than I anticipated.

[kimbodious]

Hey Berserk, how big is the offtake in relation to the column? If the offtake is the same size of the offtake you’ll get a minimum 1:1 reflux ratio, but if the offtake is smaller the minimum reflux ratio will be higher.

[zed255]

Here's a question regarding the CCVM:
Using an equal tee, how far away does any restriction need to be before it's effect is negligible, assuming that is even possible? Can you actually get to a 1:1 reflux ratio, and how would you know? I only ask as I ultimately reduce down to a 1/2" tube in my liebig PC, but that is over two linear feet away from the actual tee outlet. My current arrangement is:

Ascending path
Keg boiler
3" x 3' spool
3" x 1' spool
3" sight glass
3" equal tee
3" x 6" condenser shell extension
3" double coil w/ cold finger RC

Descending path
3" equal tee, top port capped (thermometer port)
3" x 2' spool, brings my outlet down to a reasonable level
3"-2" concentric reducer
2" elbow
2" to 1/2" reducer
36" 3/4" over 1/2" liebig PC

Just curious about the experiences of other CCVM users.

[Berserk]

Hey Berserk, how big is the offtake in relation to the column? If the offtake is the same size of the offtake you’ll get a minimum 1:1 reflux ratio, but if the offtake is smaller the minimum reflux ratio will be higher.

It's a 2" tee with a 2"->1.5" reducer on which a 22mm OD (3/4"?) elbow leads to my 14mm (~1/2") ID liebig.

If we go by the smallest diameter I'd have a reflux ratio of 1:11, but that feels waayy too high because the production speed was definitely higher than what 1/12 power produces. I'd do a WAG and say I probably had somewhere between 1:4-1:3 reflux rate, ish.

[Aitch1969]

Re the flexible has pipe for RC been struggling to find it but then this morning found this

6mm Flexi Bundy Pilot Gas Pipe Stainless Steel

Available on ebay in various lengths up to 900mm with straight pipe already in the ends and its inexpensive

[tomtom]

Hi, out of interest. What kinda take off speeds are people getting from the 3" versions, I have 3" ss pipe and was gonna built a boka, but now I see a ccvm and not sure which way to go,
Long term project
Thanks

[Yummyrum]

Tomtom
The type of reflux head will not change the takeoff speed .
If you had the same packed column and used a CM , LM( Boka) or a CCVM , they would all produce the same AVB product at the same speed .
The type of Packing and column length and power will dictate speed and AVB .
Ask 10 people with 10 variations in packing and you will get 10 different answers.

The choice between head style is more to do with ease of construction and operation .

[zed255]

Tomtom, hard to beat the simplicity of the CCVM. I had been running a Nixon-Stone offset LM and would take off that at a max of about 2lph, but being an LM I needed to gradually reduce take-off manually to maintain a consistent product. The CCVM was producing about 2.4lph at the start of hearts and did not need to be touched until the onset of tails. The output slows towards the end of the run automagically.

[tomtom]

Zed
I also run a nixon stone 1.5", have it ten years
Downloaded John stones book, and got hooked,
Just looking to shorten the long spirit runs

[zed255]

Well, my limited experience is that the rum via CCVM was much faster. I did a very full all feints run and from first drops to power off was about 8h, that same volume run with the N-S LM, run conservatively would have taken 16h. The basically automatic control of the reflux ratio makes it a winner for me. With the LM you are making educated guesses on how fast to remove product to get a consistent reflux ratio.

[Sailman]

I don't remember seeing an answer to my question in this thread and have not found it doing a search. I just completed 220 in sections for my ccvm build and my plan is to pack the column with copper mesh. To pack 40 inch column 2 In L type copper approximately how much copper mesh would I need? I found places online where I can order 100 foot rolls. I just won't have enough so I won't have to reorder.

[Deplorable]

The mesh I use comes 5" wide. Each roll is about 10 feet long. It takes 7 rolls to fill my 35" column from the bottom clamp to the top clamp.
Your usage is going to vary depending on the gage of copper used to make the mesh, width, and how tight you roll it.

[fzbwfk9r]

when I first saw this, I understood the process immediately, and realized how simple this was and how good an idea for a first time reflux builder.
And having the ability to convert to simple pot still if you want is truly a bonus!

I have started to disassemble my 2" pot head to reconfigure to CCVM

a big THANK YOU to those who broke trail for me!

[Bobbydigital84]

FS brought up the SS Flex condenser coils and while I’ve shown them many times, I’ll do a tutorial eventually. Cheaper than copper, easier to wind, impossible to ruin…I suggest the cooling coefficient is as good or better than copper due to the increased surface area.

I am so stumped trying to build a PC out of a keg spear. I understand the basics but i really need a diagram or picture to help me understand. What are your thoughts on using a dimroth as a PC for a 2” keg pot still? I suppose the part that’s hard for me to picture is how to join the jacket to the spear.

[greggn]

I am so stumped trying to build a PC out of a keg spear. I understand the basics but i really need a diagram or picture to help me understand. What are your thoughts on using a dimroth as a PC for a 2” keg pot still? I suppose the part that’s hard for me to picture is how to join the jacket to the spear.

See DAD300's post on pg 2 of this thread.

Keg Spears get thrown away all the time...here's a product condenser made from one.

Keg Spear (1" o.d.), added Recessless triclamp flange, with a twisted 1/2" x 60" SS Flex Pipe pushed through it!

I also seem to recall that it was also DAD300 who built a PVC-jacketed liebig using epoxy to seal the jacket over the spear. In this case the use of plastics is acceptable since it's never touched by the product. A quick search failed to find that post, though.

[higgins]

...

I am so stumped trying to build a PC out of a keg spear. I understand the basics but i really need a diagram or picture to help me understand. What are your thoughts on using a dimroth as a PC for a 2” keg pot still? I suppose the part that’s hard for me to picture is how to join the jacket to the spear.

Note that DAD300's keg spear condenser is a Reflux Condenser, not a Product Condenser.
edit: I was mistaken.

[greggn]

Note that DAD300's keg spear condenser is a Reflux Condenser, not a Product Condenser.

A keg spear is not used in his RC design ... it is in his PC design. Scroll halfway down on Pg 2 of this same thread.

[Bobbydigital84]

I am so stumped trying to build a PC out of a keg spear. I understand the basics but i really need a diagram or picture to help me understand. What are your thoughts on using a dimroth as a PC for a 2” keg pot still? I suppose the part that’s hard for me to picture is how to join the jacket to the spear.

See DAD300's post on pg 2 of this thread.

Keg Spears get thrown away all the time...here's a product condenser made from one.

Keg Spear (1" o.d.), added Recessless triclamp flange, with a twisted 1/2" x 60" SS Flex Pipe pushed through it!

I also seem to recall that it was also DAD300 who built a PVC-jacketed liebig using epoxy to seal the jacket over the spear. In this case the use of plastics is acceptable since it's never touched by the product. A quick search failed to find that post, though.

I struggled to find that also. But i definitely missed those pictures and they were right where you said, apologies and thank you! Extremely helpful

[higgins]

My bad.
I guess I read reflux condenser since the topic is condenser controlled columns.