The cooling worm

[Alphadog]

How level does the worm need to be while the steam is being cooled? Does it need to be perfectly level or can it be off a little bit? I'm curious if the liquid gets bottled up inside the worm will it push itself down or will it be a dangerous closed system. Thanks in advance!

[toast860]

i noticed with my worm that it pretty much has to be perfect otherwise it huffs and splurges. the liebig is a much easier route to take then the worm. i spent 100 bucks finding that lesson out for myself. and it was the wrong size

[bellybuster]

if I could have 10 cents back from all those $100 lessons over the years.

[rad14701]

A steady downward slope is essential for proper worm functionality... Any high or low spots can cause huffing or surging and this can throw the entire boiler in and out of equilibrium, potentially changing the flavor profile...

[toast860]

still new but if i could get half y money back i could build a much bigger setup

[Alphadog]

Okay, but is it dangerous by being closed?

[toast860]

not if its just product init. the pressure wouldpush it out. i would stick with a liebig unless u have money to just experment with ..

[zdwiel]

Funny you ask this so recently, I just came here looking to ask the same question.

I did my first run last night and ran into a few problems due to an unlevel worm. It sputtered a bit, but once it got going, that became less of an issue. The biggest problem the backup caused was additional pressure, forcing me to patch my flour paste seal a couple places and put a bunch of weight on the lid to keep the seal good. I'm a little worried that because of this pools in the local low spots in the worm, the heads got mixed into the hearts some. I'll definitely be fixing this before I do it again. I think next time I'm gonna make a little frame to tie the copper pipe to to hold it in place. How do most people deal with this?

[newbietoo]

I also have the same problem. But i think im goin to change my whole column and worm. And jus go with the liebig. Im just worried about makin it to short

[Kelbor]

From a person who has been banging his head against this for a long time...let me give a few pieces of advice..

I have built three different coils and two worm buckets so far and am still not completely satisfied.
-use a larger bucket. My current set up is in a six gallon plastic bucket (was easiest to seal of my two buckets) but wish I had more depth.
-wind the appropriate length coil (I have a 15 foot 5/8 coil which is plenty) my other two coils are 20 footers. Too much coil for my bucket size.
-get a deep bucket...I keep ending up with portions of coil above the rim of my bucket.
-Use an appropriate jig/Form for winding your coil. Tried to free form the first one (ouch). Second (or third?) time I finnnaly used a five gallon corni-keg (for soda syrup originally) I had around and it was perfect.
-while still wrapped on the keg I soldered .5 inch spacers between the coils (to keep my slope uniform...which was a problem with my second coil). Problem is that on this attempt I tried to use all my supplies (coil comes in twenty foot sections...) and in order to fit the coil in the bucket I only used .5 inch spacers. Should have gone with more slope and less total length as it is really difficult to maintain a even slope with only half inch spacers.
- while the coil is still on the corny-keg I measured and attached 'feet' to it to keep it off the bottom of the bucket and to keep the whole rig perfectly vertical (to insure a even slope the entire length of the coil)

I currently have a coil, unused, in a sweet copper bucket I got off craigslist with .5 inch spacers and all the fittings (quick connect hose bibs are the shit) THAT IS NOT SLOPING THE WHOLE WAY DOWN. Aaaaarhg! Im back to using my first coil because it is the 'closest'.

If I was to do it again, which I will, I am thinking Leigberg. Ha.

[Kelbor]

Also, make sure to follow the advice of using salt to fill the coil completely...plug one end with a carved down wine cork. fill. twist, shake, bang, thump. shake. fill. bang. thwack. jiggle. shake.....and repeat.

Work with a sure hand and only bend it once if possible....it will become real hard real quick and I shudder to think about emptying the salt, annealing, and refilling. PITA!

Good luck!

[CabinetGuy]

I'm new to this and have only run a handful of batches through my pot, but I use a worm with no problems. I took some PT 1x and drilled 5 or 6 holes through them, fed the tubing in a spiral and then epoxied the 1x into a construction cooler I had. Everything runs downhill and is great because it's insulated, so I don't use much ice at all and is easy to drain while I'm running, in case I need to add more ice/water.

[TOAD]

I built a worm bucket from a large aluminum stock pot (7gal?) and 25ft of 1/2in L. In retrospect this was a little overkill but the spirits came out at the same temp as the water going in and the water use was little more than a trickle. But it was a bear to setup and a pain to store. So i built a 5ft liebig 3/4 outer 1/2 inner with a spiral in the waters path. Just ran my second run with it and im already thinking about building another worm bucket. Something big and old school like a half wood barrel with a 3/4 (or if i could find it, 1in) coil screwed to the inside wall. Point being, i jut dont "feel" like im moonshinen' with SS pots and liebigs. I dont know, just feels wrong somehow. ...wait what was the question?

Before someone else sais it. Cabinetguy: ice bad. Cool water good

[juniperlover]

This reminds me of an issue I've been experiencing with my condenser. When I'm running my pot still, the output alternates between a slow stream, dripping, and the occasional lapse in flow. Is this an issue with leveling out my condenser bucket? Or something else entirely?

[TOAD]

If that slow to a stop is followed by a surge, then, Eyup, you gots a low spot somewhere