No access to 2" copper.

[JohnnyBGoode]

Hey all!
The pot still I use right now has a modified 2 inch female coupler that reduces to a 3/4 inch elbow all screwing into a piece of threaded stainless pipe welded to the top of my 5 gallon sanke (the setup was built by a friend long before I knew of this site and knew of tri-clamps.) With that being said, this is a bad little still and has served me well over 4 years!
Now I'm working on my second, and larger, pot still (15.5 gal keg) and I'm looking to get a little bit of feedback from those more experienced than I. I initially wanted to try making a short column (<12 inches) but to my surprise, nowhere local carries 2 inch copper pipe, so that got me thinking. Why not use a ferrule that reduces to a smaller diameter? Then I found this guy, http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-4-DN20-Sanita ... 3f1eac7722" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow, and it looks like I could be able to just screw on a female 3/4 in copper coupling and go from there, pretty much doing the same thing that my other setup does (go from 2 inch to 3/4 inch) and carry over to my 3/8 inch coil.
I figure this should be fine since I'm not going to be worrying about a column for now and it isn't going to be permanent so I can switch heads whenever I need to.
What do you guys think?


Pictures of my current setup can be found on this thread.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 36&t=10511

[bellybuster]

I'd be upgrading that 3/8 coil to at least 1/2". A leibig is an upgrade as well.

[JohnnyBGoode]

Oh yes, a leibig will be built before summer has ended I'm sure. I have access to the sizes of copper needed for that so that's not a problem.

[myles]

OK you do realise that the reason for using 2" copper on the pot still is mostly because it slows down the vapour speed, compared to using the same power input with a smaller dia riser. This makes life easier for your condenser, or lets you use more power dependent on your point of view.

So if you can't get 2" but can get 3/4", then you can achieve a compromise by using a multi tube riser. Just adapt the same principles that are used in a shotgun condenser.

Into a copper plate the same size as a tri clamp blanking disc (64mm in my area although there are variations) fit 3 x 3/4 inch tubes. You can fit 3 x 3/4" tubes through a 2" tri clamp.

Its not as good as a 2" tube but it is better than a single 3/4" tube.

[RonH3154]

I could not sourece 2" cooper locally either. I bought mine from Grainger and had it shipped to my home. While I might could have found cheaper I was familiar with and comfortable with the quality of the products they supply.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/MUELLE ... Pid=search" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

I also looked at a lot of it on Ebay but decided not to go that route.

[JohnnyBGoode]

Ron, I've looked at Grainger a few times but didn't know anything about them. Thanks for the info.
And I like the idea of using a multi-tube riser as a last resort, and it really seems quite doable. Thanks for that myles!

[myles]

Ron, I've looked at Grainger a few times but didn't know anything about them. Thanks for the info.
And I like the idea of using a multi-tube riser as a last resort, and it really seems quite doable. Thanks for that myles!

There is another alternative off course. Where are you? I am sure someone within postal distance would be happy to build you a simple riser onto which you can add your own condenser.

Your worm is a little bit short but you can compensate for that by increasing the coolant flow rate. Taken to an extreme, the most compact version of a worm is a Graham condenser. The smaller the coolant volume the faster the coolant flow rate needs to be.

Personally I don't like to use ice directly in the worm bucket. You should put cold water in the bottom and take hot out the top to maintain a thermal gradient.

[JohnnyBGoode]

You should put cold water in the bottom and take hot out the top to maintain a thermal gradient.

I've gone away from using the ice, thanks to users on this site. I've since started using water hoses to use with the bucket, one draining the hot water into the swimming pool. So much stress was relieved by doing that and I'm getting better yields and an overall better tasting product.