Condenser

[catfishkid]

I run a 5 gallon pot still with a 1 gallon thumper.I use a 5 gallon bucket with 15' of coiled copper for my worm.I fill the bucket with ice to cool the vapors and I notice sometimes I have trouble keeping it cool enough.I have to constantly make sure the bucket is full of ice or vapor will come out instead of product.I guess my question is I was thinking of buying a nice 13 gallon still.It has the dual head on it with the 24 inch condenser.I am having a hard time believing these condensors work with just cold water running through them when I have some trouble from my big condenser.Any thoughts would be appreciated before I make my final decision on what still to purchase.

[texassquid]

What are you using to heat your still? How fast are you trying to run? I tried the ice thing when I first started and had a huffing issue. Now I just add cool water to the bottom of the bucket that holds my worm and I draw the hot water off the top.

[DAD300]

And what dia is your coiled copper worm? If the worm is too large you may have to add some resistance to the coil to make sure the vapor comes into contact with the copper.

Easiest is to put a wad of cotton in the bottom...next is a wad of SS Scrubbie in the coil.

See the white cotton gauze at the end? Creates a little pressure and makes vapor contact tube.

[The KYChemist]

There was no mention made of this, but do you recirculate your water? Or, do you have a 5 gallon flake stand, fill that, and then that's it? Adding a reservoir, and a small pump, may help alleviate a lot of your problems.

[Prairiepiss]

To answer your question. Yes those stills work.

If you are having that much of problems with yours. Your doing something wrong. Including using ice.

[pfshine]

No mention of water just ice. Yes 2' of a water jacket should be fine depending on what type of condenser it is and how hard you run the still.

[Prairiepiss]

No mention of water just ice. Yes 2' of a water jacket should be fine depending on what type of condenser it is and how hard you run the still.

I didn't even notice that. LOL. There's the problem. Use cool water get rid of the ice.

[Sniper911]

I run a 5 gallon pot still with a 1 gallon thumper.I use a 5 gallon bucket with 15' of coiled copper for my worm.I fill the bucket with ice to cool the vapors and I notice sometimes I have trouble keeping it cool enough.I have to constantly make sure the bucket is full of ice or vapor will come out instead of product.I guess my question is I was thinking of buying a nice 13 gallon still.It has the dual head on it with the 24 inch condenser.I am having a hard time believing these condensors work with just cold water running through them when I have some trouble from my big condenser.Any thoughts would be appreciated before I make my final decision on what still to purchase.

Unless you just want a bigger set up... It sounds like what you have should be sufficient (other than your thumper being a bit small), and using ice....The heat from your condenser (worm) is causing cavitation in the ice around your coil, completely defeating the cooling process. There should be a gradual cooling within the worm... warmer at the top and getting cooler as the vapor descends the worm. Lose the ice and just use cool water. Replenishing with cool water from the bottom up as needed.

[Morning Wood Bourbon]

I've been filling my condenser stand with cold water and swapping out gatorade bottles filled with frozen water as needed to keep water cold enough, works great. Just pop them back in freezer and use over and over.

[googe]

Works great compared to what?.

[Morning Wood Bourbon]

Compared to the problems he's having...thought he was asking for ideas? WTF is your problem?

[catfishkid]

thanks for the input...I tried running cold water only which I had circulating and got nothing but vapor to come out as it was not cooling enough.Another problem I seem to have is once it gets hot enough and product does start to flow if I turn the heat down at all it stops flowing almost immediately I have to keep the heat up to get it to flow.I have realized very fast that this is an addicting habit lol and was thinking about purchasing a nice still but I think I will tinker around with this one for awhile first considering I made this one. The main thing that has me puzzled is I can do a run with it and have no problems then a month later set it up again and have all sorts of trouble.

[T-Pee]

WTF is your problem?

Rule #2!

tp

[googe]

Compared to the problems he's having...thought he was asking for ideas? WTF is your problem?

My problem as you state it is good advice given previously from very experienced members that know about using ice in coolent water and the effects it has, and others leading him down another path. Its been proven ice messes with condensers, if I get a slight coolent water difference when running my plated column it acts like a spaz, resulting in a poor end product, which most here don't want, if you want that, its up to you. I simply asked what you were comparing it to, have you used just water with a recirculating pump?, does the ice work well with different stills you've run, ect ect. Catfishkid, what sniper said makes perfect sense .

[Hound Dog]

+1 on Sniper and Googe. My worm gets steaming hot on top, can't even hold my hand in the water but if you feel down the side of the Brute trash can I use for the barrel, it will be cool a few inches down. I have a 20 gallon Brute can for a worm bucket on a 19 gallon boiler. I have to periodically add some cool water during a run as it will eventually heat up. In retrospect I probably should have gone with the 32.

[Prairiepiss]

thanks for the input...I tried running cold water only which I had circulating and got nothing but vapor to come out as it was not cooling enough.Another problem I seem to have is once it gets hot enough and product does start to flow if I turn the heat down at all it stops flowing almost immediately I have to keep the heat up to get it to flow.I have realized very fast that this is an addicting habit lol and was thinking about purchasing a nice still but I think I will tinker around with this one for awhile first considering I made this one. The main thing that has me puzzled is I can do a run with it and have no problems then a month later set it up again and have all sorts of trouble.

What are you using for heat?

Maybe if you could post a pic if your setup. It would be more helpful.

A worm of the size you said. Should be able to knock down the vapors. Without the use of ice.

[HappyHeiferBrewing]

I'm not as advanced as most here, so correct me if I am incorrect about this. It sounds like the higher temp to get a takeoff is not allowing a proper equalization in the pot and thumper causing higher temperatures to flow in to the worm. Also is your worm tightly wound or separated adequately? What size copper are you using? Have you tried running the still without the thumper? Do you have a leak somewhere that is causing vapor to escape somewhere else that is forcing you to use higher temps to get vapor in to the worm?

[bellybuster]

the temp required to get takeoff is moot. It is dictated by the ABV of the wash itself. Just like boiling plain water, no matter how hard you try you cannot make it past 212 degrees (at sea level)