is 5' condenser to much?

[inspeedway]

after reading usage's thread on huff'n puff'n i think my condenser
is to long! 5 feet 3/4" with 4' 4" of 1" jacket, even with a dribble of
cooling water going and burner low-low to get it to drip out the
product end i get a surge (stream) every 15 seconds or so then
drip drip drip!! its straight with 8" plus drop from input to output
so it cant be pooling up and then coming out! can it"? i've run it
4 times now -2with water and vinegar and cork bowl gasket and
2 with water and flour dough- the flour was better i think!!
i got ants in me pants and 5 gal ujsm ready -so soon as i get it
cleaned and fire blanket wrapped around the boiler i am gonna
run my first time today drip or stream - if it still has the
surging in it ya'all is gonna have to come up with some sugestions!
(answers) thanks to you people!! heres a pic!!

[img][img]http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc42 ... C-005F.jpg[/img][/img]

[BW Redneck]

It might not be too much (I don't know. I run a worm-style), but it's definitely a bit of overkill. I hear condensers being about 40" long working pretty well.

[Dnderhead]

Waite and see what it does with wash it will run different and no not to big ,if if it still does it, stuff a little scrubby in it "loosely"

[rad14701]

There may be several reasons why you are experiencing surge... The most likely cause would be shock cooling reaching back into the boiler causing more cool air to dump any vapors back into the wash... It then takes a few seconds to build up a head of steam again...

It may not be the size of your condenser, but the amount of flow though it that is causing surge... Try reducing the coolant flow rate first and also try stuffing a small amount of SS or copper scrubber into the outlet of the condenser... This should help reduce shock cooling... You really only need enough coolant flow to avoid vaporized alcohol from exiting the condenser... You can use a mirror to check this...

If those don't cure the surge then you could try reducing the heat just a bit...

And, lastly, you may need to increase your column length a bit and maybe add some scrubber material in there too... This would only be required if all other efforts fail...

After-thought, upon re-reading... Is the coolant entering the bottom of the condenser and exiting out the top...???

[new_moonshiner]

I would add a bit of copper mesh rolled up in the end . and up the cooling water a bit should be fine .. as far as being too much condenser that depends on how much power youre going to input.. it will knock down the alcohol vapors easier than just running water through it ..looks fine to me.

[inspeedway]

yes i had it in the bottom(against flow) then yesterday i switched
the flow -didnt seem to make any difference!! i just cleaned the
inside (pulled my wine brush through it) i eye balled it into a flood lite
and it had like a sand grain laying on the bottom side so i pulled some
emery cloth thru it (3 times) then the brush then a cloth and sprayed
hot water thru it and cloth again- its clean as a whistle now-maybe?
just maybe that was the problem- i hope you people wasnt as nervous
as i am when u did your first ever run(if u remember it) i've been
waiting a lot of years for this moment and afraid i'll screw it up!!
thanks to you people!! i am almost there!!!! will let ya'all know

[CoopsOz]

yes i had it in the bottom

Sorry, couldn't help myself and yes, I was very nervous on my first run. It's not a bad thing though, at least your gonna have your eye on everything. I'm sometimes a wee bit apathetic these days, I have to give myself an upper cut and tell myself to concentrate.

[rad14701]

Hey, there's nothing to be nervous about... If things don't seem to be going right, just take everything you have collected, as well as the remaining wash, dump it all back together and try again on another day... Most wash is pretty forgiving that way...

If your still is blowing chunks then that could be another indicator... You never mentioned what kind of wash you are running - whether it is strained mash or sugar wash... Such details might be helpful... Or have these all been dry runs with water, which is going to react differently than actual wash... Kinda sounded that way but I figured I'd ask... Marbles or coins in the bottom of your boiler might help keep things calm too...

[Old_Blue]

waiting a lot of years for this moment and afraid i'll screw it up!!

Go for it, just do it safe.

If it's true you learn from your mistakes, I've got a PHD in ignorance.

[Dnderhead]

Do a wash with alcohol in it it will run different, run slow ,run just anuf
cooling to knock down vapors I'm shore it will work, do not be afraid,
just do safe most mistakes can be corrected like running again or adding
in another wash , water vapors are hard to knock down

[Ricky]

thats a good looking still! reminds me of mine! put the copper scrubber in in the end "loosely" and it will help alot. with a real run you wont have to run it as hard as a cleaning run and that will reduce your surging even more. should work nicely. about 110 proof on the highside to start for your low wines and about 150 proof on the doubling run if yours runs like mine. thats with a 10% wash to start and 50% on the doubling run. good luck to you.

[inspeedway]

i run it yesterday!!!!!
, ,
thanks for the confidence vote and yes it was easier to get the
drips - and it worked i've got it all wrote down and put on pc so
i can copy and paste it here - if its not too long???
need you folks to tell me if i got close!!
its gonna be hard to learn the cuts-
thank you very much

[inspeedway]

4.5- gal - 17- liter ujsm
just racked off to the corn to glass carboy is why 4.5 gal.
took some corn off top and replaced it with new (1 pound)
and added 1 gal of water-which i took 1/2 gal back out
so back-set would fit in fermenter
let sit 2 days with air lock and no action
start sg was 1.062
finish was .098
heres how my first worked out for me (neeewwwbie)
15.5 gal (keg) lp gas -turkey cooker with pot head still
design-oregon digital temp guage with probe located
right where vapor goes to condenser(after 90 on top)

collected a little in 8 jars so i could keep track

temp stabilized at 188f-86.6c at a real fast drip
flame was almost off and temp stayed there,

1st jar;=7oz--207ml,
methonol went after 2-oz 59-ml smell,feel from my
sprint car racing days-went ahead and collected
the safe side anyway,

2ond jar= 6oz--177ml,
smell would take your breath away if ya put ur nose
in the jar! that was yesterday after airing out all night
it wont take all your breath away -just half -after my
wine taste observation i think it burnt me gums right
out from under me false teeth!!
burns hot blue flame in table spoon!!!

3rd jar= 9oz--266ml
smell not as strong
the burn ya up not so bad when taste-had shine like this
still burns blue flame on tabls

4th jar=15oz--443.5ml
smell is alot better-to me the air coming out with
product smells like corn bread cooking(wife says
smells like doritoes)
taste is better sorta sweet after taste
still burns blue in tabls
bubbles seem a little bigger and heavier

5th jar=16oz--473ml
smell is alot lot better -like smell is going away!
taste is ok
still burns blue in tabls
lots of bubbles some bigger!!

6th jar=14oz--414ml
smell is so-so think its getting the cardboard
smell that some talk about,
taste is ok burn or bite is almost gone
it did burn but when flame went out it left a drop-lett
of liquid in the tabls,
still some bubbles(hardly none) but go away fast

7th jar=5oz--148ml
jock strap smell was stronger(i know cause i use
to smell mine in my gym bag before school to
see if mom had washed'em)
taste was almost nil prbably cause i done
tasted 2jar thru 6jar--lol
wont burn at all
no bubbles at all

8th jar=10oz--296ml temp was 202f-94.4c then
203f-95c
had to turn heat up a bunch to get to 204f-95.5c
so i shut it down!!!!!
today i put this in with the 7th jar -same thing!!

after shut down i poured the rest out of the boiler
into a 5 gal stainless pot and mixed 7 pds of
surgar in- put pot in a cold water bath till temp
come down to 80f 26.6c and poured it back in
with the corn in 6 gal primary fermenter and 40mins
later the air lock was knocking on heavens top
continuesly!!! -still is right now- never had me wine
do that good.

total out put;
82oz-2424.7ml- including jar 1(foreshots) 7 oz
all this goes back in the next run
right???except foreshots!!
does all this chit sound pretty close ??
thank you folks for helping me get this far!!!!!

ohh!! all was clear and clean not a bit of
clouding-thank goodness i aint got that
problem others here have talked about!!!!

[BW Redneck]

Sounds like you're doing purty good. I like to collect a bit more, until about 96-98*C because I like a pretty strong flavor. But, you're learning, so I'd call what you have satisfactory for your first strip run. Your preferences will come with experience.

[inspeedway]

thanks redneck need about 20 more runs under me belt
heres a pic
[img][img]http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc42 ... C-805F.jpg[/img][/img]

[Dnderhead]

If were me id save 3-4-5 or what ever you like put rest in next run
all but four shots you git to know what to look four you will make cuts
better with out all those jars .

[inspeedway]

dunderhead its amazing! ure right !!!
went down stairs today to smell and taste them today and thats
the 3 i narrowed it down to--3-4-5 then to 4 and 5-- 5 had
pert;n near no smell at all and was smooth and still warm
your tummy good! i took 2 oz out of 5 and put 2oz out of 4
back in 5 and kept 16 oz to put away as my first ever!! put
all the rest in the 2 qt jars to put back in next run !! i almost
followed uj's reciepe to a "t" but i had to have some thing to
show me friends that i can do this! (given enough time)
thanks dunderhead

[Dnderhead]

It makes me feel warm allover