Built my Liebig, But was wondering If I can Increase cooling

[CanadianBacon]

So I built my Liebig for my 15.5 gallon pot still, It is a 1/2 inch with 3/4 inch over it, 4 feet with 3 feet of jacket. I had some people say 1 inch would be better but then read the differnce would be very small. I heard of people packing there liebigs ( inside the 1/2 inch ) with stuff like twisted cooper or copper mesh and was lookng for advice on it to improve cooling of it, I have heard some people say adding twisted cooper has reduced efficency but it was hard for them to judge. I also heard about people puting kinks in it.

Any options or should i just leave it at 1/2 - 3/4

[Windy City]

If you place 100% cooper mesh inside your 1/2" line VERY LOOSELY it will increase the heat transfer rate of your condenser.
You generally want the mesh in the bottom 2/3rds of your condenser.

Hope this helps
Windy City

[CanadianBacon]

If you place 100% cooper mesh inside your 1/2" line VERY LOOSELY it will increase the heat transfer rate of your condenser.
You generally want the mesh in the bottom 2/3rds of your condenser.

Hope this helps
Windy City

This dose help, Will it cause smearing tho?

[googe]

I tried both and think the 1" over half was better but not enough to justify expense etc. Mine have mostly been your size and perform well, don't see the need for adding anything like spiral or scrubbers unless your running on tap water and want to conserve it.

[CanadianBacon]

I tried both and think the 1" over half was better but not enough to justify expense etc. Mine have mostly been your size and perform well, don't see the need for adding anything like spiral or scrubbers unless your running on tap water and want to conserve it.

I will get running on tap water but I don't really care about conserving it since i'm renting and I wont be running 10-13 gallons a day lol.. I see one run ever week at the VERY most once I go back to school.

[InglisHill]

As in high school?

How old are you mate?

[CanadianBacon]

As in high school?

How old are you mate?

Haha no, im 25. I'm in my last year in university and working doing night auditing right now. I'm actually at work right now, I have been reading on this forum for the last 6 hours haha.

[S-Cackalacky]

There's a calculator on the "Parent" site that can give you some idea of how efficient your liebig will be. You just plug in your numbers and it will return the optimum length you need. The 36" of cooling area you have sounds good and putting the copper packing in, if you need it, will also help.

[Halfbaked]

My liebig is 3/4 over 1/2. 2A few reasons I would not want the 1 in over 1/2 is it is gonna weigh more because of the extra copper and extra water inside and you can move the same amount of water faster and use more water. Keep it like you have it. Id say 36 inches knock down anything you throw at it.

[CanadianBacon]

My liebig is 3/4 over 1/2. 2A few reasons I would not want the 1 in over 1/2 is it is gonna weigh more because of the extra copper and extra water inside and you can move the same amount of water faster and use more water. Keep it like you have it. Id say 36 inches knock down anything you throw at it.

I was reading RAD recommending the exact same, I have got allot of locals telling me the heat transfer wont be enough but I went with what most people said here.

Can you tell me why and what that yellow/orange and black stuff is inside the pipes after I weld and if it is safe for our purpose? Pretty sure is burnt flux so i'm more worried about safety of it. Stuff doesn't wash out at all.

[rad14701]

My liebig is 3/4 over 1/2. 2A few reasons I would not want the 1 in over 1/2 is it is gonna weigh more because of the extra copper and extra water inside and you can move the same amount of water faster and use more water. Keep it like you have it. Id say 36 inches knock down anything you throw at it.

I was reading RAD recommending the exact same, I have got allot of locals telling me the heat transfer wont be enough but I went with what most people said here.

Can you tell me why and what that yellow/orange and black stuff is inside the pipes after I weld and if it is safe for our purpose? Pretty sure is burnt flux so i'm more worried about safety of it. Stuff doesn't wash out at all.

That discoloration and/or buildup could be oxidation of the remnants of the manufacturing process... You didn't thoroughly clean the copper inside and out before putting heat to copper, did you...??? I don't thoroughly clean until after all construction is completed... What doesn't come out easily should be removed during the prescribed cleaning runs...

[CanadianBacon]

My liebig is 3/4 over 1/2. 2A few reasons I would not want the 1 in over 1/2 is it is gonna weigh more because of the extra copper and extra water inside and you can move the same amount of water faster and use more water. Keep it like you have it. Id say 36 inches knock down anything you throw at it.

I was reading RAD recommending the exact same, I have got allot of locals telling me the heat transfer wont be enough but I went with what most people said here.

Can you tell me why and what that yellow/orange and black stuff is inside the pipes after I weld and if it is safe for our purpose? Pretty sure is burnt flux so i'm more worried about safety of it. Stuff doesn't wash out at all.

That discoloration and/or buildup could be oxidation of the remnants of the manufacturing process... You didn't thoroughly clean the copper inside and out before putting heat to copper, did you...??? I don't thoroughly clean until after all construction is completed... What doesn't come out easily should be removed during the prescribed cleaning runs...

I use sandpaper then water to rinse off whats easy to get.

[InglisHill]

What do you use to get rid of the stuff that is not easy to get?

[Truckinbutch]

What do you use to get rid of the stuff that is not easy to get?

Do proper cleaning runs and look again . If all the cleaning didn't take it off it won't likely come off into your likker .

[CanadianBacon]

What do you use to get rid of the stuff that is not easy to get?

Do proper cleaning runs and look again . If all the cleaning didn't take it off it won't likely come off into your likker .

I wonder if cleaning it out with oven cleaner, then scrubbing and rinsing well before starting your cleaning runs would work.

I'm my head ill always remember the yellowing inside my pipes

[Truckinbutch]

Can any of you squeamish folks point out anything fundamentaly wrong with the prescribed cleaning procedures posted on this site by folks much more experienced than I am ?

[CanadianBacon]

Can any of you squeamish folks point out anything fundamentaly wrong with the prescribed cleaning procedures posted on this site by folks much more experienced than I am ?

I doubt theirs anything wrong with them but cleaning your parts well after soldering seems important to me. I mean, you spend so much time working on it why not clean it up good, so you don''t have to leave it all nasty full of oxidization and flux for the cleaning runs.

I finished off a liebig today and I can't stand to leave it covered in flux in the corner of my basement. Mind you I have OCD and even shower the exact same way/routine every day since I was 10, I miss one thing I have to take another shower.

[Hound Dog]

You won't over clean it for the initial cleaning. Clean the heck out of it. Once you start using it though you have to let the brown patina build up inside. Don't try to scrub it out, just rinse it and call it good. After all you are sterilizing it each time by steam cleaning it with alcohol vapor. It'll get the nastiest out.

[S-Cackalacky]

I think that one thing that's too often overlooked is an initial manual cleaning before the cleaning runs. I used a cotton tee shirt swab with two strings tied to it - one to pull it through and the other to pull it back through in the other direction. I soaked the swab with denatured alcohol, but I probably could have used vinegar or even soapy water. After the cleaning runs, I felt pretty confident that the plumbing was clean. Next build, I'll probably do the same, or something similar.

[shadylane]

I use a gun cleaning wire brush. And dish soap to clean the inside.
I cork one end of the liebig and fill it with backset to soak.
Then do it again with heads.

The best way to increase the cooling on a liebig is more cooling surface area.
The second best is increase the water flow.
A bigger diameter cooling jacket does neither of these.

[SoMo]

The scrubbies in the distillate output put in loosely does help a lot, I was able to cut cooling water use by more than half using it. The gun kit, or a scrubbie on a stick is a good cleaning tool, pre required cleaning runs.

[CanadianBacon]

These are really helpfull tips. I ended up polishing my copper tower very nice using scotch pads followed by star san with only 50% water, looks like new now, i washed the inside with hot water from shower head and soap. Next step wire brush with some star san or viniger, maybe both. I moved to soldering with staybrite and it was much cleaner to use. My still head turned out really good looking, glad i made it myself now, i followed the head builds off hillbilly stills but used a tall 3 foot colunm. Made my still for less then 1/4 what it would have costed me.