CCST gas line contamination?

[squigglefunk]

does anyone else feel that using the "CCST gas line" type plumbing for your product condenser might contribute to smearing and possibly some of the oily gunk at the tail end getting caught up in all the bumps and cracks to then sit there and wait to be washed out in the next run, adding bad flavors where you might not want them.

[bluefish_dist]

Reflux condenser, no. They are quite clean after a run. Even then, they would get cleaned out by the heads of the next run. The column packing would hold more of the previous run than the reflux condenser.

I would not use it for a product condenser. As it could cause issues with vapor flowing inside. Far better to use normal tubing. Besides the hard thing to construct is a RC, not a PC. A normal Liebig works well for a pc and they are easy to make.

[Demy]

Any part (and packaging) should be cleaned well especially after stripping, in this way queue burrs are practically absent.That being said, the shape of those pipes is not suitable for a product condenser, the corrugated form traps a lot of stuff, better a smooth tube.

[tiramisu]

After you run vinegar and a sacrificial alcohol run it is clean as a whistle.
And when new mine had no gunk on it in the first place.

[SeeSeeVeeEmm]

Dad300 has made PCs from CSST for years as have others and have had zero problems. I’m not sure where people are making up this whole “traps things” baloney but it’s nonsense and there’s zero hard evidence it does that at all

[Dancing4dan]

After a run the copper packing can smell of tails and stink up the place for a day or so. To remedy this on the LM/VM combination still I pour heads down through the top of the still after a run. I use an air lock to give me clear indication of any vapour bypassing the reflux condenser. After a run I pull out the air lock and funnel about 250 ml of for shots and early heads back in at the top with the still in reflux mode and it cleans any crap out of the reflux condenser and the copper packing as well. All drains back into the boiler and gets dumped.

Next run heads get refluxed and cleans some more.

Liebig condensers get cleaned with a wad of cotton rag and a para cord pull through if I hit a mess of tails.

[cob]

Dad300 has made PCs from CSST for years as have others and have had zero problems. I’m not sure where people are making up this whole “traps things” baloney but it’s nonsense and there’s zero hard evidence it does that at all

Care to post some links to product condensers made with CCST. I've only seen one that I can recall,

and it was posted half an hour ago. 3/3/22 6:38 PM. I've seen many reflux condensers made with

CCST (even use one) but I would like to see links to any other PC's with CCST. the one posted today

has yet to be tested AFAIK. viewtopic.php?f=87&t=86430 post some links.

[SeeSeeVeeEmm]

Dad300 has made PCs from CSST for years as have others and have had zero problems. I’m not sure where people are making up this whole “traps things” baloney but it’s nonsense and there’s zero hard evidence it does that at all

Care to post some links to product condensers made with CCST. I've only seen one that I can recall,

and it was posted half an hour ago. 3/3/22 6:38 PM. I've seen many reflux condensers made with

CCST (even use one) but I would like to see links to any other PC's with CCST. the one posted today

has yet to be tested AFAIK. viewtopic.php?f=87&t=86430 post some links.

I don’t care to actually, search thru Dad300s posts to see his version. There’s many on the site but like everything else you have to put in some work to find it, and simply asking won’t get you very far on this site.

[SeeSeeVeeEmm]

Dad300 has made PCs from CSST for years as have others and have had zero problems. I’m not sure where people are making up this whole “traps things” baloney but it’s nonsense and there’s zero hard evidence it does that at all

Care to post some links to product condensers made with CCST. I've only seen one that I can recall,

and it was posted half an hour ago. 3/3/22 6:38 PM. I've seen many reflux condensers made with

CCST (even use one) but I would like to see links to any other PC's with CCST. the one posted today

has yet to be tested AFAIK. viewtopic.php?f=87&t=86430 post some links.

I mean dude did you u even TRY to find it on your own? The second page of the original CCVM thread shows how dad made his CSST Product condenser…

[cob]

I mean dude did you u even TRY to find it on your own? The second page of the original CCVM thread shows how dad made his CSST Product condenser…

One in 2013 and one in 2022, That's 2 who built all the others, and where are they?

You made a big claim. do you run a CSST PC?

[SeeSeeVeeEmm]

I mean dude did you u even TRY to find it on your own? The second page of the original CCVM thread shows how dad made his CSST Product condenser…

One in 2013 and one in 2022, That's 2 who built all the others, and where are they?

You made a big claim. do you run a CSST PC?

Search. Not gonna say it again. Bye.

[Oatmeal]

My opinion us informed. I made one because because I want to mess around with vm's and reflux ratios. The configuration is based wholly on the parts/expediancy axis. It will likely be several months before it gets tested, and several years of refining my distilling before I could discern if it was a source of smearing - I'll check in with some results when I have some.

Beyond dad300's use, inspiration came from Cruzn4aBrewzn's ccvm build

Cheers!

[squigglefunk]

Dad300 has made PCs from CSST for years as have others and have had zero problems. I’m not sure where people are making up this whole “traps things” baloney but it’s nonsense and there’s zero hard evidence it does that at all

some people like cupcakes exclusively, while myself, I say: "There is naught nor ought there be nothing so exalted on the face of god's grey
Earth as that prince of foods... the muffin!"

[squigglefunk]

My opinion us informed. I made one because because I want to mess around with vm's and reflux ratios. The configuration is based wholly on the parts/expediancy axis. It will likely be several months before it gets tested, and several years of refining my distilling before I could discern if it was a source of smearing - I'll check in with some results when I have some.

Beyond dad300's use, inspiration came from Cruzn4aBrewzn's ccvm build

Cheers!

my own experiments find that my runs are better separated all the way through after going from CCST PC to a straight tube liebig.

[Barnstorm]

I mean dude did you u even TRY to find it on your own? The second page of the original CCVM thread shows how dad made his CSST Product condenser…

One in 2013 and one in 2022, That's 2 who built all the others, and where are they?

You made a big claim. do you run a CSST PC?

Here's mine posted back in January.

viewtopic.php?f=87&t=85950

[cob]

The conversations about CSST smearing were in the context of using the CSST in a liebig condenser, and condensing

the vapor inside the CSST which would possibly smear even perfectly vertical. I have corrugated copper that has less

pronounced ribbing than CSST and it can't be tilted more than 20* from vertical or it starts pooling at the ribs.

CSST vapor outside dad300 style your call. CSST vapor inside a liebig center tube may smear even if vertical.

So Squigglefunk vapor inside or outside?

[SeeSeeVeeEmm]

The conversations about CSST smearing were in the context of using the CSST in a liebig condenser, and condensing

the vapor inside the CSST which would possibly smear even perfectly vertical. I have corrugated copper that has less

pronounced ribbing than CSST and it can't be tilted more than 20* from vertical or it starts pooling at the ribs.

CSST vapor outside dad300 style your call. CSST vapor inside a liebig center tube may smear even if vertical.

So Squigglefunk vapor inside or outside?

Interesting, I see no mention of a Liebig in the original post. Or any of yours in this thread for that matter.

[NormandieStill]

Interesting, I see no mention of a Liebig in the original post. Or any of yours in this thread for that matter.

You've got some sarcasm stuck to you there!

I suspect that cob was talking about product condensers rather than liebigs. Although I suppose you could make a liebig from CSST but it's more likely to be used to make a dimroth PC.

[cob]

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=86421&start=60#p7702643

[zapata]

I have made several CSST product condensers with absolutely zero problem. There is no inherent difference between a reflux condenser and product condenser other than it's location and function. Remember a LM still doesn't even necessarily have separate RC and PCs. The design will dictate if pooling or smearing is possible. A graham will pool, a dimroth will not. As cob mentions a liebig with CSST inner probably will pool and smear, although I will pedantically claim this isn't a liebig at all but rather an Allihn condenser which are known to have the problem when used at an angle. I haven't done it but you could have CSST as the shell for a liebig no problem.

CSST could also be used in shell and tube condensers like the crossflow.

To specifically address the OP

possibly some of the oily gunk at the tail end getting caught up in all the bumps and cracks to then sit there and wait to be washed out in the next run

No, not inherently. Everything else being equal, all condensers will have the same surface area for oily gunky tails to stick to. As long as there is no pooling just the gunk stuck to the surface will be equal on designs. Admittedly not all things are necessarily equal because a more efficient condenser may be less surface area, but no hobby stills are designed to that level of efficiency. You either wash this stuff out between runs, or let the heads take care if it like the Scotts. In fact I suspect that if it weren't for tails a lot of Scotch would not make a heads cut at all.

[squigglefunk]

So Squigglefunk vapor inside or outside?

I mean either way... using the CCST with vapor flowing inside it, like a worm condenser ... I see a lot of places for pooling/smearing....

and if you have it twisted up inside a tube for a product condenser and the vapor is condensing into liquid and is running down it seems there could still cause a lot more nooks and crannies for stuff to get trapped and accumulate? I just see a straight tube as less polluting.

I don't see as much of an issue for a reflux condenser.