Condenser Coil-First Attempt

[MaltyRod]

Well okay, here is my first attempt at making a cooling coil, After the first ten inches or so with flat spots and kinks I decided to not ignore the little advice about using salt. so I stretched out the length filled it with salt... after many trips along the length tapping and shaking and making sure there were no air gaps. I started winding the inner coil around a piece of 3/4 inch copper tubing made a bend at the bottom and then came back up winding around a piece of 1-1/2 inch brass drain pipe (under sink downspout variety). And then after about 10 minutes of shaking salt out with a final blow through to assure it was clear this is what I ended up with....

[MaltyRod]

For perspective the Length of the Inside and outside coil is 7 inches, the entire length is just under 10 inches. The Diameter of the inside coil is about 1-1/4 and the Diameter of the Outside coil is just under 2 inches. it slides right into the top of my 2" copper column tube nicely.

MaltyRod

[Hawke]

Looks like it should do the job. Good job.

[Socrates]

Just curious (and btw, good work, looks great) - you stated your first try ended with kinks/flat spots - were you using refrigerator tubing (annealed/soft), or something else?

[rad14701]

Looks good... One suggestion... If you don't reverse the direction of the outer coil you can eliminate the long loop at the bottom on a double coil... Food for thought when making the next one... Oh, yeah, you'll be making a next one - trust me...

[MaltyRod]

Socrates, yes refrigerator coil 1/4" OD fairly soft stuff, yet about half way through winding the outer coil it didn't feel so soft anymore lol

[big worm]

looks good congrats

[eternalfrost]

i agree that doing the loop halfway through isnt necessary...

just keep going the same direction but back towards the t for the second layer (the same clockwise direction but the angle will be switched since you are traveling back up. i.e. you will get 'crosses')

also no need to leave gaps between the coils.

my first condenser looked almost exactly like that, but my second one used those suggestions. it saves ALOT of space which means you can handle more heat for faster stripping runs or else use less tube and use that space to get more column height and purer product

[MaltyRod]

Thank you for the ideas and suggestions. After I get done with my build I'll use this one and see how well it works.

Another Condenser Question: I have all the parts to make a killer Liebig Condenser that can come off of my 4 foot 2" column. Will this be an added bonus to my reflux still. or would I be just as well off with Bokakob's slanted plate 1/4 tube idea?

[rad14701]

Thank you for the ideas and suggestions. After I get done with my build I'll use this one and see how well it works.

Another Condenser Question: I have all the parts to make a killer Liebig Condenser that can come off of my 4 foot 2" column. Will this be an added bonus to my reflux still. or would I be just as well off with Bokakob's slanted plate 1/4 tube idea?

You'll definitely want a liebig for the take-off tube... The product will be HOT...!!!

[eternalfrost]

i have a slant plate boka and it works great. i started with a condenser much like yours and no liebig just a long piece of 1/4 coming back down to counter height. it worked fine on my stovetop model.

but i upgraded to an electric keg boiler and the condenser couldnt handle the extra heat at all so i made the beefier one i described. also needed to add the liebig to cool the output since it was steaming hot otherwise.

i dont need the liebig on spirit runs since i run it so much slower but when going full out on stripping runs i deffinatly need it

i would deffinatly recommend it. it woks well if you mount it vertically a few inches from the main column with a few pieces of 1/4" soldered in as support