The MixMaster

[BigSwede]

How bought doing the first run in pot mode then moving to reflux to see the difference. So, now the boiler.......... What are your plans on that? I assume electric because of what you had said in a controller thread instead of gas?

I bought a 13G milk can boiler when I decided "this was for me." Wish I hadn't done that now, for all the obvious reasons, but it's a nice piece of hardware, even if I am on a list.

At least it has a 3" fitting so I can upgrade later to a 3" or 4" column with no fuss.

And I like your idea of going pot still initially to get a feel for the traditional way of doing things, making cuts, and learning the craft from the basics.

@Sungy, thanks man! When I first began machining, the tools and tooling were as overwhelming as this art (distillation) is to a new guy, but it's just a matter of practice and use. I have huge scrap boxes full of failed parts and projects. Those don't get their pics taken and put on the internet.

Just remembered today, got to fit this thing for a thermometer or temp probe.

[BigSwede]

Solder day... she's done. All copper for this modular hybrid build, with the exception of the packed column, cooling water, and some basic tube stuff to the output is soldered up and ready to go.

I added a thermometer port (PT100 RTD probe) to the horizontal slide tube:

And then wired it up for soldering. The only thing I needed to wire was this thermo port. Solder was 4% silver. As usual, it looks like a baked turd after soldering.

Immersed in 20% phosphoric acid pickle, the copper is cleaned a bit but the excess solder splatter doesn't go away. Elbow grease with a dremel, some wet-dry paper, and scotch brite pads does the trick. There's no secret to making nice looking joints beyond using less solder than one might think, and a bit of clean-up afterward.

I did some mods to the slide valve. I added a scallop (bottom of pic) so that when the valve begins to enter the vapor stream, it'll draw to the product condenser immediately. I also had to slot the valve for the thermometer port. Of course, when I cut that slot, the valve popped open a good 0.020" and would no longer fit. I put a stainless hose clamp on it, tightened her down, and heated the slide valve in that area with a torch. This annealed the spring out of the valve, and it fit nice after that.

[BigSwede]

Time to put her together in the final configuration. Remember, this was designed primarily as a VM valve, but can do LM with a LM head like a Bok slant plate above it, or it can do pot still with the valve fully closed... all vapor is routed to the big product condenser.

The slide valve rod guides and the control rod were installed and tightened with the valve in place. Here it is 1/2 open.

And the thermo port was tested to be sure it's free of interference with the slide valve. I use PT100 RTD probes for accuracy and compactness. I may need two temp readouts, one for LM and the other for VM duties. In this pic, it's upside down. In use, the cable will hang downward.

For fun, I added the LM head I had built previously, and the baby shotgun reflux condenser on top of that, as it would be if in actual use.

When you peek through the site glass, you can see the "tent" of the Two-cups LM head modification

Yeah it's a little busy with all the clamps. I may invest in the more compact clamps that use a screw and worm to close, like a hose clamp. It's going to be even busier when all the water plumbing is in place. I think I'm going to add a pair of water in and water out manifolds near the base of the column, and route the water up to the two condensers using two ball valves so I can shut water off as needed. I don't want vinyl tube hanging off the column; hopefully, it'll have solid copper tubes from the top of the column to the manifolds lower down.

I have complete confidence in the VM and pot still aspects of this build. The LM part is somewhat experimental, but the math says it'll work OK, similar to a slant plate Bok. One of the things I like is that I can run the still without this mix valve... it'll be LM. Get rid of the LM part, it's VM and pot still. I've got some big copper coming to route the output into my 14" shotgun. Still need to do everything downstream from that, bu otherwise, it's done!

Thanks again for the comments and suggestions. As soon as I get my power box fixed, and the water plumbing done, I'll be ready for a cleaning run and a first ferment.

[YHB]

AWESOME!!!

[BigSwede]

YHB you were the inspiration, many thanks. I REALLY like this concept. And I also saved beaucoup $$ not having to worry about a big SS VM valve.

The build bug bit me hard. Now I'm thinking about PrairieP's "Fu Man" build and I can't get the notion out of my head of having as a base a big bubble plate or two, before the packed column and this assembly. I'd really, REALLY like to keep it all compact, with a total height above boiler of 48" or less.

[IrishEnigma]

Beautiful work Swede. Wish I had the skills you do!

[still_stirrin]

Beautiful work Swede. Wish I had the skills you do!

+1.

Talk about Cu porn . . .

[heartcut]

That's friggin' awesome. Thanks.

[MitchyBourbon]

Hey BigSwede,

Excellent work, very cool design.

I see you put your thermo in (what I will call) the takeoff port. Can you tell me why you chose that location as opposed to the column just bellow the adjustable valve? A while back in a post about condenser controlled vm stills I had suggested placing the thermo in the takeoff port as you have done but no one agreed.

[BigSwede]

Hey BigSwede,

Excellent work, very cool design.

I see you put your thermo in (what I will call) the takeoff port. Can you tell me why you chose that location as opposed to the column just bellow the adjustable valve? A while back in a post about condenser controlled vm stills I had suggested placing the thermo in the takeoff port as you have done but no one agreed.

Thanks Mitchy. Below the valve in the column would be easier, but I could think of no way to keep the distillate rain from the reflux condenser off of it.

I guess I missed your thread... In my mind, the takeoff pipe location for VM is the ONLY place it can be, right? You want to measure the vapor temperature of that which you are about to condense and collect.

I guess you could put it in the column below the valve if you put a little Bok-like slant plate umbrella over it, but that's a lot of work. What am I missing?

[BigSwede]

FINALLY getting ready to wrap this build up. I got sidetracked (in a good way) into SPP winding and making an SPP machine, which should be done in a few days, hopefully able to wind and munch SPP pieces for hours at a time. The cutter was 20X the work of the winder part. Anyway, the MixMaster build was sidetracked for the need to obtain a healthy number of copper adapters for the condenser plumbing, and the eBay guy was worthless.

I've put a lot of fun work into this, and am going to hard plumb (copper) the condenser circuits starting with intake and exhaust water manifolds somewhere near the base of the column. The entire rig is heavy, especially when full of water, and I've been scratching my head on how to connect and support the condenser lines, manifolds, as well as supporting the big product shotgun.

Looked at "pipe hangers" first, and picked up a couple to test. The ones I got were garbage, didn't even tighten properly. I kept looking, googling "pipe clamp" and all sorts of variations. Finally used the search term "O-Clamp" and found this, among others:



"Global Truss Mini 360, Light Duty Clamp Aluminum Finish"

This style of clamp is used to hang DJ and stage lighting and A-V stuff for clubs and theaters, of all things. It's perfect, and can find other uses in still construction. The clamp has a wide adjustment range. Note the bolt in the little recess. This bolt can of course connect to anything else, like a rod, a plate, whatever, or it can be replaced with a longer rod. I'm picturing one on the column, one on the 2" condenser, with a support rod between the two. And then on the rod, you can attach other things, like valves, condenser lines, etc.

Not bad at $8 each. I've got a dozen 3/8" x 1/4" MPT adapters to solder up, lots of plumbing to do for cooling water, and then I'll be ready to go.

I wanted to pass this on, I think this obscure hardware might help guys in other areas.

[Halfbaked]

It's been way to long for the Big Sweede blessing us with copper porn. After my last fiasco with copper I appreciate the artist and talents even more.

[TheMechwarrior]

Simply stunning!

Would love to commission some work some time, your quality and attention to detail is just phenomenal.

Cheers,

Mech.

[firewater69]

Very nice work Swede, i am always in awe of your craftsmanship. Since your two cups lm head, i heave followed your builds. Great work brother!

[humbledore]

I was away for a while and missed this thread. Amazing. Big Swede there are some people so far ahead that most of us will never catch up. As far as this build you are one of them. Well done.

[BigSwede]

Thanks guys, I KNOW I've waffled massively, and I apologize. It WILL be done by early February. I have both a 2" column and a 3" column ready to go, it'll neck down to 2", so I can swap them. As mentioned elsewhere, I got caught up with the SPP machine, THEN right after, a light aircraft rebuild, which anyone who has done one can tell you, consumes vast time and $$. Literally every moment I'm not at "real" work or doing chores, it's the airplane.

The interesting and very cool part is that in the year it's taken, the hobby itself has made strides! A 2" slant bok was up there in state of the reflux art last year, and the usual suggestion for a noob build. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd like a bit more speed. So I'm trying to incorporate some of the new knowledge w/packing, heat input, column dia, etc.

I've put a lot into this rig, and I want to hard-plumb the coolant lines and have it look nice, and it's going to take some fun but lengthy work to do properly. Not even going to think about a ferment until it's leak tested, cleaned, and then a sac run with cheap vodka or wine.

[HookLine]

Damn that is fine work.

[bellybuster]

Wholly crap BS!!! How come I've never seen this thread? I for sure would have clicked on a thread with the title mix master.

Any way.... Not bad work, you're starting to get ok at it. One of these days you'll get it.......

What a beautiful piece of work my man, you are a true craftsman.

[HookLine]

Wholly crap BS!!! How come I've never seen this thread? I for sure would have clicked on a thread with the title mix master.

Same here. Best just to click on any thread by Odin, from now on.

[SassyFrass]

That is a beautiful piece of functional art BigSwede. Beautiful.

[BigSwede]

...Aaaaaand the good news is, she's 99% done.

If I wanted plastic cooling lines, it'd be running already, but I do want hard copper. I had to build a 3" column for it, so the 2" is scrapped. Got a 3" OD 32" tall column, with a neat little 3" to 2" adapter I made from a single 2" copper ferrule and a strip of copper wrapped into a circle to fill the void. Rivets around the rim, since that adapter has to support a serious load.

I need to make a coolant manifold, add the ball valves. I'm thinking seriously about having the two condenser outputs draining "in air" like a fountain into a collection cup, which then goes back to the coolant supply. Nothing weird, something subtle and compact. I like the notion, you can visually verify flow with ease. I forget which build thread had this, but thanks to whoever thought of it, it's an interesting idea.

I'll get some pics up in a bit.

[YHB]

I also have hard piping, a manifold and an open cup for collection, really easy to adjust and to see the impact.

I have one feed to the VM product condenser which is in series with the LM product cooler, you will not want both exchangers at the same time. Another dedicated line to the reflux condenser. The last take off is to a back-wash line at the top of the column, worth its weight in gold.

[BigSwede]

The last take off is to a back-wash line at the top of the column, worth its weight in gold.

Could you elaborate on this YHB? What's it do? Thanks

[YHB]

It is simply a line that goes from the manifold to the top of the column. At the end of the run I open the drain valve to the boiler and then open this valve as well. It rinses out the reflux coil, packing and boiler. It is not earth shattering technology but at the end of a long run it saves me messing around with steps and jugs of water or hoses.

[BigSwede]

It is simply a line that goes from the manifold to the top of the column. At the end of the run I open the drain valve to the boiler and then open this valve as well. It rinses out the reflux coil, packing and boiler. It is not earth shattering technology but at the end of a long run it saves me messing around with steps and jugs of water or hoses.

OK, that is just brilliant. Instead of draining and dragging a system out to a garden hose, you can use the coolant system to give it a quick rinse, at a minimum. Nice!

[still_stirrin]

It is simply a line that goes from the manifold to the top of the column. At the end of the run I open the drain valve to the boiler and then open this valve as well. It rinses out the reflux coil, packing and boiler. It is not earth shattering technology but at the end of a long run it saves me messing around with steps and jugs of water or hoses.

OK, that is just brilliant. Instead of draining and dragging a system out to a garden hose, you can use the coolant system to give it a quick rinse, at a minimum. Nice!

+1.

I gotta' add that one too!
Thanks guys.
ss

[BigSwede]

+1.

I gotta' add that one too!
Thanks guys.
ss

This MixMaster rig is a knock-off of one of YHB's designs... have to say, he's a smart guy, very inventive. Keep it up!

It's weird, I don't think of myself as an unimaginative idiot, but both the design, and the simple tip he recommended here, stuff like this just doesn't enter my mind. I think in a very conventional way, I guess.

For the "cleanup line", I'm picturing a neat little flexible hose off of the coolant manifold, with a pretty brass valve on the end, with a push button or some other easily activated device, to get water to flow. Like a baby garden hose. When done, spray water down the reflux condenser, hose out the product arm, heck it could even be a miniature fire extinguisher if some leak somewhere catches flame.

[still_stirrin]

Yup. And the next thing is an integral spray ball inside the boiler to mechanically clean up that mess (before parking).
ss

[BigSwede]

I halfway promised it'd be done this month, one year from when I joined HD! Very close. Here's some progress shots. This is the first time it's actually been together, and this is using the new 3" column I fabricated... the 2" column is set aside. The hope is, with 3" packed w/SPP and a wide-open vapor path, it'll have throughput. I have 5500 watts in a 13 gallon milk can boiler.

Overall view on the boiler. Total height not bad at all, the sight glass is at my eye level, I'm a 6' guy

The business area. On top the 3" column. For those who've read through this whole thing, it's a complex rig. Immediately above the 3" column end is the stainless slide valve, that is primarily VM, but it also can shut down flow to the reflux condenser, with all vapor flowing strongly to the arm and into the product condenser... pure pot still. Anywhere in between, the valve perfectly routes whatever percentage vapor I want to either the product arm, or the reflux condenser.

Optionally above the valve is this small Bok "2 cups" LM head. It can be used to compress fores with the valve closed at 100%. Once the fores/heads/nasties are bled, the slide valve is slowly opened for VM operation. If desired, the LM head can be removed. Love tri-clamps. You can see the transition from 3" to 2" - tried to keep it compact and neat. The rivets aren't for show, they add immense strength.

One of the harder components was this long-sweep 2" ell. I didn't want a huge standard solder job there, so I cut the ell down and added ez-flanges, using SQUARE copper for the rim, for those who remember the thread on that. The product condenser is a 7 tube shotgun, with a surge suppressor end.

The adjustment for the valve is an old handle from a coffee mill! I like it.

With the parts together, I am laying out the hard copper cooling and routing temp probe cables. More to come.

Edit: These parts were individually bagged in little garbage bags, in a box. They were as shiny when they came out, as when I stored them. Conclusion - if you like to keep copper shiny, put a garbage bag over it and cinch in tight with string. Keeps oxygen out.

[BigSwede]

Now, let's play the "WTF is THAT?" game.

The parts...

Got a 1/2" outer tube, a 3/8" inner tube that is fitted into a threaded copper bushing. Upper right is a solid copper cap. Lower right, another threaded bushing.

The inner tube + bushing is installed in the larger tube, and a hole is drilled. The top of the inner tube is an inch below the end of the outer tube, which is then capped...

And, the other threaded bushing is installed over the hole at the base.

The final assembly soldered together.

It's NOT a condenser, although it looks like a liebig cut in half and capped. Hint #1 - it's an important part of the cooling system. NOT any sort of parrot. Any guesses?