Salt, water, or nothing???

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Tue May 06, 2014 9:28 am

Hello I just bought some 1/4 (6mm) copper tubing coil and will be making a double coil for a 2" reflux about 5 foot tall questions is will I need salt or water or nothing at all to make the coil I've seen people doing it with nothing in the tube is this okay or will it kink up I have a 5/8 (15mm) bar for the inner coil and I guessing something like paper or card board can be used to make the second coil back over. Please help a noon out

Post by **T-Pee** » Tue May 06, 2014 9:31 am

Take a bit of a read and make a choice with what you think would work best for you: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=87

tp

Bob Loblaw · Post by **Bob Loblaw** » Tue May 06, 2014 9:40 am

From what I have seen, it depends on the type of tubing you have. If it's the cheap Home Depot ice-maker supply line, it's going to crush when you look at it. If it's the heavier tubing designed for AC systems, you can probably wind with no filler.

For the cheap tubing, I suggest filling with water and freezing it. Ice.

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Tue May 06, 2014 10:07 am

Silly question but the ice expansion, will it crack the tubing or is this not a problem?

kaziel · Post by **kaziel** » Tue May 06, 2014 11:04 am

If you will bring it to below zero slow it will have time to expand via openings of tube. If you have more tube then you need try it (winding) with nothing first. I'm a guy that has two left hands and I went empty tube and it was good to go on first time. I'm trying to get every one to wind coils from 304 SS flexi tubes (you can find coil like that in topic in my signature) it's much easier then cooper and it's a least as efficient as cooper one. Fell the cooper and go slow.

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Tue May 06, 2014 3:05 pm

I tried it with nothing in the tubing and it instantly kinked

I have it in the freezer with water and closed ends I'm scared the wall thickness is .030"

bayouman · Post by **bayouman** » Tue May 06, 2014 3:20 pm

the SS flex tube works great, i'd suggest going that, way easy

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Tue May 06, 2014 3:26 pm

what diameter SS tube and how long should it be for a 5 foot column

Post by **firewater69** » Tue May 06, 2014 3:36 pm

I wrapped a double coil, 0.250 o.d. x 0.028 wall. i bent the first coil around a steel rod 0.937 diameter then wound it back over itself. after that i grab the outer coil and twist backwards to seperate them a little. it fits a 2" column without touching the sides. i used nothing inside the coil.

IMG_20140506_183311.jpg

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Tue May 06, 2014 3:43 pm

As soon as any Bend begins is starts to kink I don't understand why this is happening

Post by **firewater69** » Tue May 06, 2014 3:50 pm

Didn't you say you were trying to bend around a 5/8" rod? That wont work well for you, find something closer to 1.00".

Hound Dog · Post by **Hound Dog** » Tue May 06, 2014 4:25 pm

Kazeil, great coil! I have to check out your setup a bit closer, looks nice. You say you used 3/8"? That would be best but is a little harder to find than 1/2". I used Gastite brand gas line that has a removable yellow cover over the stainless pipe. It is very thin walled and easy to work with. Mine is in a 3" but could probably fit in a 2". You can also just loop it down and up and twist it. It does not have to be a coil shape it just needs to circulate water to cool the vapor. The stainless flows great, does not kink and you can make your condenser in less than a half hour, five minutes with the twist design.

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Tue May 06, 2014 4:28 pm

Okay I will look around when I bend it it starts to flatten out is this normal

Post by **firewater69** » Tue May 06, 2014 4:32 pm

A little flattening is not a dealbreaker, but as long as its not kinked it'll work fine.

ga flatwoods · Post by **ga flatwoods** » Tue May 06, 2014 4:34 pm

MoonWhisky wrote:Okay I will look around when I bend it it starts to flatten out is this normal

It would probably help if you were to take off the hockey mask! Bend and flatten the ends after filling with water and yes freezing helps.
Ga Flatwoods

much better looking avatar.

Post by **firewater69** » Tue May 06, 2014 4:42 pm

Love the avatar Flatwoods! I haven't thought about that in years.

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Tue May 06, 2014 5:44 pm

Okay finally after some hair pullin I manage to start the bend without kinks

I started with a 1" metal pipe

I used card board from a beer box I had in the shop to have a little gap in between the two coils

Here's it is done and of course it slightly kinks at the end but I can still blow threw it without force. I have it soaking in water so the card board will apart. I might boil it for a hour if it will help. I submerged the pipe in water and ran water threw it till no air bubbles came out used pliers underwater to pinch the tube shut then hammered it in some to give it a little more water pressure then stuck it in the freezer for about a hour. I thought I was going to run out so I started spacing it then realized I had more than enough so I started to wind it tighter. I now have one made with the awesome help from you guy THANKS! but of course I'm not happy with it so I'll be making a new one in the near future

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Tue May 06, 2014 5:48 pm

Hoping that should fit nicely tho

Post by **firewater69** » Tue May 06, 2014 6:06 pm

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Tue May 06, 2014 6:48 pm

What diameter SS flex hose is used for a 2" column

Bob Loblaw · Post by **Bob Loblaw** » Tue May 06, 2014 8:49 pm

MoonWhisky wrote:What diameter SS flex hose is used for a 2" column

3/8" works best. It's cheaper than copper too...

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Wed May 07, 2014 4:59 am

Where do you buy the SS flex hose from I'm only seeing fuel line for like cars.. I need something more for a dishwasher right? Would home depot/Lowe's have it? Or is it a online thing?

kaziel · Post by **kaziel** » Wed May 07, 2014 5:28 am

I bought mine in Solar power system store (solar water heating) online, but that's in Poland.

Hound Dog · Post by **Hound Dog** » Wed May 07, 2014 2:40 pm

MoonWhisky wrote:Where do you buy the SS flex hose from I'm only seeing fuel line for like cars.. I need something more for a dishwasher right? Would home depot/Lowe's have it? Or is it a online thing?

You are looking for gas line as in natural gas, not gasoline. It is gas pipe. Go to plumbingsupply.com and check out gas flex connectors for appliances. They have ones in all sizes with connectors on the ends. I used straight up gas piping by the brand name of Gastite. It is used to run gas in houses in this area.

DAD300 · Post by **DAD300** » Wed May 07, 2014 3:51 pm

SS Flex Gas Pipe (corrugated SS Pipe) used for the appliance to wall connection, solar hot water heaters, Ace Hardware, Home Depot, Lowes, Ebay...

Bob Loblaw · Post by **Bob Loblaw** » Wed May 07, 2014 4:09 pm

Amazon. most common brand is Dormont

http://www.amazon.com/New-DORMONT-10-31 ... t+gas+flex" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

MoonWhisky · Post by **MoonWhisky** » Wed May 07, 2014 9:22 pm

Thank you everybody for the helpful input!
I made a new coil tonight and much happier with this I kinda added a custom cold finger... More like a "NUB"

Home Distiller

Salt, water, or nothing???

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