Condenser

[bentvalve]

I have what I think is a shotgun condenser. I can't put the pic cause it's too big. Anyway it has a bunch of pipes in it.
I was told to run the water from bottom, flow thru top. Well, my first run was horrible. I ran it today with just water. I noticed that the out hose was scorching hot. I felt condenser, it was cold.. I checked the output hose and water was cold.
I think I have steam filling my out hose instead of condenser.

Any ideas ?

[still_stirrin]

I have what I think is a shotgun condenser. I can't put the pic cause it's too big. Anyway it has a bunch of pipes in it.
I was told to run the water from bottom, flow thru top. Well, my first run was horrible. I ran it today with just water. I noticed that the out hose was scorching hot. I felt condenser, it was cold.. I checked the output hose and water was cold.
I think I have steam filling my out hose instead of condenser.

Any ideas ?

You're confusing...
Is the coolant water out of the shell at the top (closest to the vapor inlet)?

Is the water discharge hot, or cold?

How fast is your water flow?

If you blow into the vapor inlet, and hold your hand over the product outlet, does the condenser hold pressure?
ss

[still_stirrin]

A shotgun is a multi-tube (tube in shell) heat exchanger where the coolant flows in the shell (jacket) around the vapor tubes. The vapor will enter via a collection plenum (header) and the condensed vapor will flow out of the bottom collector.

Does yours look like that?

[still_stirrin]

...I think I have steam filling my out hose instead of condenser....

Which "hose" are you talking about here? There should be no alcohol vapors in any hoses!

[bentvalve]

On condenser water Inlet on bottom, outlet on top.
I'm losing alcohol steam thru outlet and it is heating my hose up.(don't know why)
I checked recirculated water and it's cool, not hot like the hose.
I think the guy missed something when he built it.
Don

[bentvalve]

I did blow thru the tube and it went into the thumper.so, I'm gonna say yes to that.
As far as pic goes I don't know how to resize pics. If u send me a email I can attack all pic I have to that..
Don

[Yummyrum]

bentvalve

Hope this helps . Also when you do your real Run with alcohol best you get rid of the plastic hose as they tend to dissolve with the alcohol running through them .

[Hound Dog]

As far as pic goes I don't know how to resize pics.

Do you have a computer? A real one, not a piece of fruit or a phone? If so right click the picture file , choose open with, choose Paint. Look up top in Paint at the "resize" button. Make the largest size less than 800 and save it. Simple.

[cranky]

There are several suggestions about how to do pictures in your other thread here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 16&t=58440
At this point it seems pictures are going to be necessary to figure out your issues.

[still_stirrin]

I did blow thru the tube and it went into the thumper.so, I'm gonna say yes to that....

And you confirm that none of your breath came out of either of the water hoses?

This test, by the way, is to verify that there is no leakage between the vapor tubes and the coolant system within the condenser. That is, no way you could be getting vapor into the coolant hoses, as you originally described (at least as cryptical as you described your conditions).
ss

[bentvalve]

This is condenser it's about 10-12 gallon.

[bentvalve]

That is the can its in..10-12 gall

[bentvalve]

Yes, I do need to do that test. But,a leak can be the only reason the top hose is hot and if I have a leak that would explain my issue. I think.. Especially if the wAter is not coming out hot..

[Monkeyman88]

Can you get a better pic of the insides? Can't see the top of it. And of the water inlet and outlet

[shadylane]

Hook the garden hose up to it and see if water comes out the wrong holes

[Halfbaked]

I am not sure but if I were to guess I would say that the condencer (part with the tube) should be soldered In the 5 gal copper can top and bottom. I would think that there should be an inlet and an outlet for water to get to the tubes. If the round circles don't fit tight against the 5 gal jug then my thoughts won't hold water. I would ask the person that build it for you to show you how it works. Maybe he just forgot to solder it.???????? If he solders on it again you are gonna have to re clean everything again. If It works like I am thinking it should knock down any thing you throw at it.

[still_stirrin]

If that's not a shotgun...it certainly has the makings of a SUPER heat exchanger...definitely a tube in shell module.

But....I don't like it...it is not designed for the service for which you need it for. The shell, if it is indeed hydraulically sealed from the vapor heads/plenums, doesn't do any directional channeling of the water through the shell. That makes it much less efficient than it could be.

And the vapor tubes look like they're too small, possibly only 1/4" ID. I would never make a shotgun with the vapor tubes smaller than 3/8" ID because of the capillary flow restrictions. Too small of internal diameter causes a pressure build up on the inlet side of the condenser.

Actually, that heat exchanger is designed for hot liquid to flow through the small tubes with another liquid to be circulated through the shell volume, transferring heat from the inside to the outside liquid flows. It looks more like a liquid to liquid HEX, not for the service we're trying to use it for.

Tip....it will serve you better to design and build a heat exchanger for the duty you need than to try to utilize something designed for a different use all together.
ss

[Monkeyman88]

And the vapor tubes look like they're too small, possibly only 1/4" ID.

Looks more like 1/2 - 3/4" to me. That things damn near the size of a keg.

[Yummyrum]

Bent valve , you have a pic of inside the condenser and one from outside .

How did you see inside it ? ... was this pic taken when it was being made ? I'm seriously hoping so because if you can open it now and see this , then that's a real worry .

Is this one of the coolant connections ?

Condenser 2.jpg (15.96 KiB) Viewed 2695 times

Seriously , it looks like a very nice nice of kit ....I hope it isn't a very nice looking Piece of shit ....But I think so long as its not soldered up with Lead solder that its probably quite redeamable as a real treasure

[still_stirrin]

...How did you see inside it ? ... was this pic taken when it was being made ?....

Here: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 7#p7361925

[Yummyrum]

...How did you see inside it ? ... was this pic taken when it was being made ?....

Here: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 7#p7361925

But I'm wondering when the pic was taken .

Was Bentvalve around when his mate made it and clicked off the pick , Did his mate click off the pic when he made it and gave the pic to Bentvalve .....or is Bentvalve some how opening his condense now and clicking off a pic of a seriously not completed condenser ....thats where my mind is at SS

[still_stirrin]

I'm just trying to help answer these questions...

I have what I think is a shotgun condenser....it has a bunch of pipes in it....I was told to run the water from bottom, flow thru top.

Well... I ran it today with just water. I noticed that the out hose was scorching hot. I felt condenser, it was cold.. I checked the output hose and water was cold....Any ideas ?

And I don't believe this "thing" is designed properly, at least not designed for a hobby-scale potstill. It seems to be a massive waste of copper for this service....I'm just sayin'
ss

[shadylane]

You got to admit, some body did a fine job soldering the tubes to the end plate.

[muscashine]

As far as pic goes I don't know how to resize pics.

Do you have a computer? A real one, not a piece of fruit or a phone? If so right click the picture file , choose open with, choose Paint. Look up top in Paint at the "resize" button. Make the largest size less than 800 and save it. Simple.

Macs make resizing just as easy. Double click on the picture file, then when the preview window opens, click Tools and Resize. Type in the width you want and click ok. Then click the close button and hit "save changes" when asked.

I miss the old windows XP "power tools" - right click any image and hit "resize" and make a selection. Took all of about 5 seconds.

[raketemensch]

There's also a great free Mac app called Image Optim that you can just drag your images onto, and it strips all of the location data.

Somehow i always remember to do that, but don't notice that there are license plates in the background...

Also, when resizing, I believe you want to set whichever size is bigger down to 800.

[Plaincrazy]

Ok, the suspense is killing me here, do we get to see the rest of this thing Bentvalve?
I can't figure out how these pictures go together, how do all those tubes come together at the outlet if its not soldered?
Does the can actually hold 10-12 gal of cooling water?? I'm confused

[muscashine]

There's also a great free Mac app called Image Optim that you can just drag your images onto, and it strips all of the location data.

Somehow i always remember to do that, but don't notice that there are license plates in the background...

Also, when resizing, I believe you want to set whichever size is bigger down to 800.

Some web sites strip metadata from pictures as part of the upload process. It would be nice if this forum was set up that way, especially for people that don't know.