Still dragon torpedo blatant rip off

[Swedish Pride]

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery so dont go ape on me Larry.

I always liked the look of the still dragon Torpedo, but being a cheap cun.... ehm.... fella I thought I'd save myself a few bob and try to cobble one together myself
I'll be about 20€ all in for mine, main cost is ferrule and condenser coil, if I throw on a sightglass that will prob bump it an other 10 or 20 euro pending on size.

Here is what the professional stuff looks like. https://www.stilldragon.eu/en/torpedos/ ... do-sg.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

SD torpedo.png

This is what I'll base mine on

Bowl.png

Mine was intended to be 2"-6"-1.5" as opposed to the 2"-4"-2" that the SD torpedo is, but after chatting to EG he said 1.5" will not be able to keep 6" flooded, more on that later.
I'm also going for perf plates as opposed to caps as less work sounds better to me.

Also I've had no sheet of copper so I'm making a plate from 3 split pipes.

so this is what I'm working with.

Photo0322.jpg

so after an initial brainfart, did a flat lock seem to join the pipes , i did a lap joint and got it okish, stock a 3/4 downcommer on it and made a cap for the downcommer

Photo0335.jpg

Holes are 2.5 mm on a 10mm pattern, was going with 1.5mm on 5 mm pattern but could not get the drill to take the 1.5mm bit....

and soldered on the 2" for the keg connection and drilled it out

Photo0345.jpg

The plate will be put betewwn the two bowls and the whole shebang will be soldered together.

Now as the 1.5 is to small to keep 6" flooded I have two options.

Make an other torpedo with a coil in it to act like a RC or
make one with 3" pipe that I've since acquired.

[hellbilly007]

This reminds of MR's "I Robot" still, http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 50&t=25727. Except, I think, he used packing instead of plates. It's been a long time since I've read that thread.

SP, so far so good man. Are you going to add a sightglass?

[LWTCS]

....

[MoonBreath]

Here's mine...With concentric reducers.

IMG_20160721_155630-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.jpg

Getyasome.

[Swedish Pride]

This reminds of MR's "I Robot" still, http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 50&t=25727. Except, I think, he used packing instead of plates. It's been a long time since I've read that thread.

SP, so far so good man. Are you going to add a sightglass?

Yeah, I was re-reading that one today as well, just wanted to be sure that you can run 6" on a keg, I think the answer is yes, but prob not a full column

I may get a sightglass for it, have a fir bit of 3" to play with, would make a nice and big one, just want to ensure I manage to get her all sealed up before I go down that route.

[hellbilly007]

No experience with a 6" column. Perhaps it may average out to being a 4", (6+2)÷2.

[Hound Dog]

just wanted to be sure that you can run 6" on a keg, I think the answer is yes, but prob not a full column .

I just did a maiden voyage with a 6 inch x 4 plate column on a 20 gallon boiler loaded with low wines. It stayed loaded.

[rgreen2002]

Looking good SP..

What exactly does a torpedo do? I ran a search and found very little (my fav was someone trying to heat a still with a "torpedo" shop heater... interesting)...

[Swedish Pride]

just wanted to be sure that you can run 6" on a keg, I think the answer is yes, but prob not a full column .

I just did a maiden voyage with a 6 inch x 4 plate column on a 20 gallon boiler loaded with low wines. It stayed loaded.

yeah I saw your build alright, did you try to run it just with a wash, as I understand it you still strip and then run, to be able to run without stripping fist is the main reason behind this experiment.
Also good to know that a 3" RC is enough to keep the plates flooded.

[Swedish Pride]

Looking good SP..

What exactly does a torpedo do? I ran a search and found very little (my fav was someone trying to heat a still with a "torpedo" shop heater... interesting)...

Basically lets you run a column without having a column, one unit on it's own is like running a one plate normal coluumn, If you have a two together it's like a two plater with the extra unknown element of what the 2" crimp in the middle does, or unknown to me that is. I'm sure Larry knows.

Main reason for building one is that the bowls are next to nothing so I can get a "column" for next to nothing if big if there, I can get it working.
If I get this one working I'll add another on top and have a 2 plater in a way, that should be plenty for me.. for now.

[Hound Dog]

just wanted to be sure that you can run 6" on a keg, I think the answer is yes, but prob not a full column .

I just did a maiden voyage with a 6 inch x 4 plate column on a 20 gallon boiler loaded with low wines. It stayed loaded.

yeah I saw your build alright, did you try to run it just with a wash, as I understand it you still strip and then run, to be able to run without stripping fist is the main reason behind this experiment.
Also good to know that a 3" RC is enough to keep the plates flooded.

Just starting with this. I don't know if just a wash would produce enough for the size.

[Swedish Pride]

only one way to find out I suppose
Weather allowing of course, Have to do all my fab work outside, rainy or windy weather puts a halt to the fab process :/

[Yummyrum]

Bloody hell Swedish Pride you are a keen bugger
I'm blown away by your dedication to piecing all that copper to make a plate .
Kinda makes me want to send you some .... Til I think of postal rates
Good luck with the build ....looks good so far

[Swedish Pride]

I've actually got some old copper guttering since I started, but will see if I can make the original "plate"work anyways just for the hell of it.
If nothing else I get to practice soldering and cursing

[raketemensch]

Following with interest, this looks pretty cool.

[rgreen2002]

Basically lets you run a column without having a column, one unit on it's own is like running a one plate normal coluumn, If you have a two together it's like a two plater with the extra unknown element of what the 2" crimp in the middle does, or unknown to me that is. I'm sure Larry knows.

Main reason for building one is that the bowls are next to nothing so I can get a "column" for next to nothing if big if there, I can get it working.
If I get this one working I'll add another on top and have a 2 plater in a way, that should be plenty for me.. for now.

Thanks SP... That is kind of what I was thinking....you're getting a plate out of the deal. Never thought of the cost savings angle....you sly dog!

[MoonBreath]

Beins you are using bowls instead of concentric reducers, you are really creating a thin gauge stainless bubble ball, not a torpedo ....Also, SD torpedoes utilize bubble cap plates, not perforated.
As far as the cost saving, I'd consider clamps, ferrules, gaskets, materials, time involved in drilling, fitting, soldering, materials, gas money for material and pieces pickup, postal cost if any,drill bits, electricity, the actually test runs, etc ..Then you still don't have a sight glass or a torpedo ..
Ifn your time and labor isn't worth anything, then I understand..Hopefully you'll not have to cut it all apart and tweak something, or you'll have so much time and effort involved, you could've bought two new ones, thicker gauge to boot,complete with sights.
Ifn it doesn't work to your expectations, well then I guess you'll never have a real torpedo, unless you buy one ...Then you'll really be in the hole.
The concentric reducers is what makes it unique, unavailable in copper, not cost effective enough to make from scratch ..With not much actual resale value if you ever decide to ..
One torpedo equals 1/2 distillation.
Some things are made better and more cost and time efficient to buy imo.
Watchn with interest while using the 'real McCoy'.

[LWTCS]

Bubble Ball and Torpedo is really the same sort of appliance.

The original intent started out as sort of a "micro thumper".

We soon discovered that a Bubble Ball or Torpedo installed directly under a packed column would help the column run more effectively.

The genesis for the research/experimentation at the time stems from the Humper Thumper project.

Minime is a major reserch contributor that in my opinion, validated the assertion that a bubble ball contributed more than just a single plate.

There is a more comprehensive thread on another forum.

[Swedish Pride]

Good points Moon .

I'm in no way expecting this to be the real McCoy as you put it, it started out as an experiment to see what I could create for a tenner.
I suppose it's still very much an experiment, It's just coming along better that I thought it would have considering the materials I'm working with and my caveman fabrication skills.

I wouldn't go as far as saying time and labor is not worth anything to me, but I have 1 hours free time most evenings where i can play around so prefer that to pay money that we don't really have for soemthign I don't really need. If I had money to spend I'd get a 4" pipe and build a full column.

of course you get better quality stuff if you pay a professional to do it, but I find it quite rewarding to cobble stuff together, even when it looks like shit, I just enjoy the frustrating process

At the end of the day I'm just having fun with it, if it works it's a bonus.

posting with larry - thanks for that background, was not aware that minime was part of the contributing team, have to go over and look at his posts

[LWTCS]

No worries about the real McCoy here.
The ball got rolling because of friends giving each other feed back and then ultimately customers supplying feedback to help fuel improvements.

Have as much fun with it as you please. Distillation in it's simplest form is only evaporation.

Cheers

[Kegg_jam]

I can vouch for the thin gauge bowls being sort of a pain in the ass.

I have two versions that I made loosely based on prairies FU-Man and MashRookies Robot with a little Humper Thumper thrown in.

Yeah, it's a real bastardized bubble ball but it works.

Bottom line is it won't support the column by itself.

[Swedish Pride]

I can understand how a column on top would not be ideal, I was not going to put a column on top of it, just two torpedos, RC and then down to PC.

Do you still use them or have you move on to better suited things?

[Kegg_jam]

Oh hell yeah I still use it.

Started out as experimental but turned out to be very useful in many ways. One of which is catching pukes before they get out of hand.

Here are some picks of my bastardized bubble bowl.

(Not intending to high jack)

[Swedish Pride]

that's a cool look.
2" in and out?

No worry about hijack on my behalf, appreciate the input, pictures makes it better

[Hound Dog]

Good job with using the "y" beneath the ball as a fill port. I have often wondered why people don't do that with thier columns. A regular fill port is convenient because it allows you to look in but that works well in a pinch.

[Kegg_jam]

Yes, 2" in and out.

The 'Y' fitting was also a blatant rip off. I just couldn't remember who I stole it from till now

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=58580" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[MoonBreath]

I like that ...The side by side clamps probably have an excellent holding force, bolts with wingnuts may provide the bite enough to hold a smaller diameter column.

[Swedish Pride]

Soldered the whole shebang up today, some positives, one massive negative.

So i managed to get her together without desolderign the plate, yay me!
I'm also impressed with how sturdy the whole torpedo is , I'm sure I could putt a fair bit of weight on it without it collapsing on me.
Downside is that it leaks like a sieve, in fact I've seen sieves leaking less.

The combination of uneven plate and thin SS meant that I overheaded the SS fairly easily where it was not flush.
Where is worked the best was where I had the biggest piecees of copper protruding to act like a heat sink, sealed well there.

might get a vise grips so I can clamp the pieces together real well, issue remains with overheating the ss thought only now I have the added element of trying to clean the ss properly so it will take solder again.

[yakattack]

Stainless can be a p.I.t.a. to solder. I did my original two elements without much issue. The 3 inch furrel for the grain guard . (3.5?) Took about 5 hours to do. Kept finding small seam leaks. I'll say this. A grinder with a flap disk for sanding ( they make them for ss too) made short work of cleaning it up when needed.

Yak.

Ps where's the pics.

[Hound Dog]

If you have small leaks (that you can access) and the silver solder is holding, hit it with regular soft solder using liquid flux. The liquid will get in there and clean the small gaps and the soft solder will melt and hold well to the silver without it all melting down.