Tubing size for my condenser

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islandgreen1971
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Tubing size for my condenser

Post by islandgreen1971 »

I have a 10 gallon Tradional Copper Still with a 3 gal. Copper thumper and my condenser has about 11 ft. Of 3/8 tubing and is about 14'' water jacet pond pumped cooled with a 50 gal. Resevoir. Inlet pipes from the boiler to the outlet pipes the thumper are 1/2 inch. This setup has produced good spirits but thumper fills 2/3+ over a run.Should I put 1/2 inch in my condenser? I think the vapor velocity @ the reducer of 1/2 to 3/8 going in to my condenser is backflowing into my thumper. I think this would speed up my distilling time too? I read in the parent sitd and is vague.Any help on this is greatly appreciated.Just trying to make it efficent and the best I can.
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still_stirrin
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Re: Tubing size for my condenser

Post by still_stirrin »

Your observation and design improvement sounds quite reasonable and appropriate. The slower take off due to the flow restriction in the worm causes more condensation in your thumper. Larger diameter, and possibly longer length worm may solve this concern for you.
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still_stirrin
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Re: Tubing size for my condenser

Post by still_stirrin »

Insulating the thumper would help it retain heat too.
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My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
islandgreen1971
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Re: Tubing size for my condenser

Post by islandgreen1971 »

What are the benefits of insulating your thumper???
rad14701
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Re: Tubing size for my condenser

Post by rad14701 »

islandgreen1971 wrote:What are the benefits of insulating your thumper???
If not right-sized, or running in the cold, the thumper could overfill due to excessive cooling that can't be overcome by the boiler... Insulating will allow the thumper to retain the parasitic heat provided by the boiler, allowing it to run more efficiently...
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