Thumper down tube

[Robbiejames]

Hello, I have a new still that was purchased from Amazon. I put it together and found that when the vapors leave the pot and enter into the thumper the down pipe(from the lid to the bottom) inside the thumper is not a part of the still. Which defeats the purpose of the thumper so I need to know what materials I can use to make one. The nipple inside the thumper lid is 1/2” outside diameter. I went to a local hardware store and the only thing they had to fit it was PEX, brass and galvanized pipe. Any help would be great. Thank you in advance.

[Deplorable]

A picture is work a thousand words. but if its what I imagine, a copper pipe and a 1/2F to 1/2M fitting?

[DRHillier]

Hello, I have a new still that was purchased from Amazon. I put it together and found that when the vapors leave the pot and enter into the thumper the down pipe(from the lid to the bottom) inside the thumper is not a part of the still. Which defeats the purpose of the thumper so I need to know what materials I can use to make one. The nipple inside the thumper lid is 1/2” outside diameter. I went to a local hardware store and the only thing they had to fit it was PEX, brass and galvanized pipe. Any help would be great. Thank you in advance.

I bought one from Amazon as well with the same problem. Mine is a vevor 9.8 gallon still. I didn't bother with trying to fix my "thumper" because it is WAY to small to be effective. You're much better off reading about designs and building your own. Use the search feature on the forum and you'll find plans. I'm no expert, but from what I've read you want your thumper to be around half the size of your boiler. I've also read that others use one a quarter of the size of your boiler. All i know is mine was the size of a small soup pot maybe a quart and a half. The lines that came for hooking the boiler to the thumper, and the thumper to the condenser were very thin "stainless" flex lines. They felt very cheap and since they came from China i did not trust that they were safe to be used. Safe as in possibly springing a leak and causing a fire, as well as safe as in not containing substances that could be harmful if ingested. I've never used them and I don't plan to. Hope this helps.

[DRHillier]

Just read your welcome center post. You might consider a bigger boiler and using your 2.5 gallon still as a thumper. The lid already seals, so you're halfway there.

[Saltbush Bill]

I put it together and found that when the vapors leave the pot and enter into the thumper the down pipe(from the lid to the bottom) inside the thumper is not a part of the still.

That's because those cheap stills are built by people who have no understanding of distilling, as it is, its not a Thumper, its a Slobber Box.
Did the sales pitch for the still ever say that it was a thumper?

[Robbiejames]

The first is the lid with nothing to take the vapor to the bottom of the thumper, second is with brass fittings, third is the pex attached, and the last what the still looks like. It is a 9.6 gallon pot.

I tried 1/2” copper fitting but it was too big. The brass fitting I found is 1/4” to 1/8” at least that is what it is packaged as at the store. And they did not have any copper fittings smaller than 1/2”. I’m so confused on this cause when I measure with a tape measure, outside threads are 1/2” and inside diameter is 3/8”.

I am leaning more towards the PEX because I know it is used to run hot water in newer homes and can withstand heat up to 200 degrees.

[Robbiejames]

I put it together and found that when the vapors leave the pot and enter into the thumper the down pipe(from the lid to the bottom) inside the thumper is not a part of the still.

That's because those cheap stills are built by people who have no understanding of distilling, as it is, its not a Thumper, its a Slobber Box.
Did the sales pitch for the still ever say that it was a thumper?

Yeah it said thumper lol

[Robbiejames]

Just read your welcome center post. You might consider a bigger boiler and using your 2.5 gallon still as a thumper. The lid already seals, so you're halfway there.

Yeah, I will look into that for sure.

[Robbiejames]

Hello, I have a new still that was purchased from Amazon. I put it together and found that when the vapors leave the pot and enter into the thumper the down pipe(from the lid to the bottom) inside the thumper is not a part of the still. Which defeats the purpose of the thumper so I need to know what materials I can use to make one. The nipple inside the thumper lid is 1/2” outside diameter. I went to a local hardware store and the only thing they had to fit it was PEX, brass and galvanized pipe. Any help would be great. Thank you in advance.

I bought one from Amazon as well with the same problem. Mine is a vevor 9.8 gallon still. I didn't bother with trying to fix my "thumper" because it is WAY to small to be effective. You're much better off reading about designs and building your own. Use the search feature on the forum and you'll find plans. I'm no expert, but from what I've read you want your thumper to be around half the size of your boiler. I've also read that others use one a quarter of the size of your boiler. All i know is mine was the size of a small soup pot maybe a quart and a half. The lines that came for hooking the boiler to the thumper, and the thumper to the condenser were very thin "stainless" flex lines. They felt very cheap and since they came from China i did not trust that they were safe to be used. Safe as in possibly springing a leak and causing a fire, as well as safe as in not containing substances that could be harmful if ingested. I've never used them and I don't plan to. Hope this helps.

I was thinking the same, lol. I don’t plan on using them either. I may just send this kit back and build one

[DRHillier]

Under no circumstance use pex where alcohol vapors can contact. It's fine for hot water, but alcohol vapor will cause pex to leech into your product. Not to mention the other chemicals that come from distillation. Acetone being one of them. You can poison yourself. Plastics are a big no no on this forum. I know you're new here, and I'm not gonna give you any shit. But others certainly will. Lol you've got the same still I have and the only usable part was the boiler. You can send it back, but honestly I'd run it for experience (without the pex) and build one yourself. You'll be much happier with it than anything you can buy from a website. You'll learn how much of a POS the condenser is, and those are easy to build with some copper tubing and a 5 gallon bucket. Once you have that, build your own thumper and you'll be good to go. You can run without the thumper as well, you just have to run your batch twice. You'll half to buy a 1/2"x 1/2" female coupler to hook the boiler to the condenser since both pipes are male

[Robbiejames]

Under no circumstance use pex where alcohol vapors can contact. It's fine for hot water, but alcohol vapor will cause pex to leech into your product. Not to mention the other chemicals that come from distillation. Acetone being one of them. You can poison yourself. Plastics are a big no no on this forum. I know you're new here, and I'm not gonna give you any shit. But others certainly will. Lol you've got the same still I have and the only usable part was the boiler. You can send it back, but honestly I'd run it for experience (without the pex) and build one yourself. You'll be much happier with it than anything you can buy from a website. You'll learn how much of a POS the condenser is, and those are easy to build with some copper tubing and a 5 gallon bucket. Once you have that, build your own thumper and you'll be good to go. You can run without the thumper as well, you just have to run your batch twice. You'll half to buy a 1/2"x 1/2" female coupler to hook the boiler to the condenser since both pipes are male

Ok, so hell no on the pex, lol. I will just not run the thumper and do like you said run it twice. And use it as a learning tool I guess lol. I appreciate the input and warning too

[Twisted Brick]

I was thinking the same, lol. I don’t plan on using them either. I may just send this kit back and build one

Ya got my vote on returning it and building a more complete, competent still. There's plenty of fine examples here on HD.

[DRHillier]

There's a definite learning curve. Turns out what you and I considered a still is really not. There's so many different types that are a better tool for whatever you want to make. I'm working on a "bokakob" reflux still right now. Depending on who you ask, you'll get lots of different opinions on what is best. I've been reading and reading this forum since August and all the designs sound great. But I finally settled on the boka, and I've concentrated my efforts on that one. The traditional style that you have is good for keeping flavors in the alcohol, (pot still) but for a higher alcohol content you want a column still. The purer the alcohol though, the more neutral the flavor. You can add flavors with various methods afterwards. Look in the tried and true recipes for some good ideas on recipes, and the build section to learn about different styles of stills. If you return your vevor, do yourself a favor and read all you can before getting another one. You can spend a small fortune buying one, or you can build something great for a fraction of the cost. I kept mine to occupy myself while building another.

[elbono]

I'm a noob too. I started with a similar Amazon bought Chinese still last year. I don't think they are as horrible as many here do but now that I built my own the only use I have for the Amazon stuff is to use the boiler as a mash pot.

Try forcing a piece of 3/8 soft copper tubing in the bottom of that fitting. Since the tubing isn't perfectly round it took some persistence but it worked for me. I'm sure it leaks a bit but it definitely is good enough to get some thumper effect. I'll dig out that piece and send you a pic later.

The main issue I had was the silicone seals, besides the safety issues you'll find out about here they're just to fidgety for me. Too loose it leaks, too tight it leaks. I used flour/water paste on the corrugated tubing joints and Teflon orings elsewhere.

If the boiler has 4 clamps get some binder clips, it takes 8 points or more to get the boiler to seal well.

You can build a simple copper pot still head for less than $200, maybe $150. World's above the Chinese/Amazon still. A problem for me was minimum quantities, 10' of 2" copper = $150, most places won't sell less than 20'. 1 lb of Stay Brite 8 = $75. PM me if you want to buy some of my leftovers, I'll sell parts for what I paid plus actual shipping cost. I use a beer keg for the boiler, got it from a friendly barkeep for his deposit cost ($50)

My advice is get rid of the silicone and use the Chinese still while you learn and build your own. You'll really appreciate the new one when you get it built;-)

[elbono]

This piece of tubing was just loose in the package when I got the Amazon still so figured it needed to go there.

I could solder it to get a better seal, but at this point that's like changing a flat tire on a car with a blown engine.

[Robbiejames]

I was thinking the same, lol. I don’t plan on using them either. I may just send this kit back and build one

Ya got my vote on returning it and building a more complete, competent still. There's plenty of fine examples here on HD.

I am gonna think about it for a few days and returning it may be best

[Robbiejames]

There's a definite learning curve. Turns out what you and I considered a still is really not. There's so many different types that are a better tool for whatever you want to make. I'm working on a "bokakob" reflux still right now. Depending on who you ask, you'll get lots of different opinions on what is best. I've been reading and reading this forum since August and all the designs sound great. But I finally settled on the boka, and I've concentrated my efforts on that one. The traditional style that you have is good for keeping flavors in the alcohol, (pot still) but for a higher alcohol content you want a column still. The purer the alcohol though, the more neutral the flavor. You can add flavors with various methods afterwards. Look in the tried and true recipes for some good ideas on recipes, and the build section to learn about different styles of stills. If you return your vevor, do yourself a favor and read all you can before getting another one. You can spend a small fortune buying one, or you can build something great for a fraction of the cost. I kept mine to occupy myself while building another.

I will research more now that I am on here and have access to you all. I’m sure it will take a while for me to figure things out but I look forward to it

[Robbiejames]

I'm a noob too. I started with a similar Amazon bought Chinese still last year. I don't think they are as horrible as many here do but now that I built my own the only use I have for the Amazon stuff is to use the boiler as a mash pot.

Try forcing a piece of 3/8 soft copper tubing in the bottom of that fitting. Since the tubing isn't perfectly round it took some persistence but it worked for me. I'm sure it leaks a bit but it definitely is good enough to get some thumper effect. I'll dig out that piece and send you a pic later.

The main issue I had was the silicone seals, besides the safety issues you'll find out about here they're just to fidgety for me. Too loose it leaks, too tight it leaks. I used flour/water paste on the corrugated tubing joints and Teflon orings elsewhere.

If the boiler has 4 clamps get some binder clips, it takes 8 points or more to get the boiler to seal well.

You can build a simple copper pot still head for less than $200, maybe $150. World's above the Chinese/Amazon still. A problem for me was minimum quantities, 10' of 2" copper = $150, most places won't sell less than 20'. 1 lb of Stay Brite 8 = $75. PM me if you want to buy some of my leftovers, I'll sell parts for what I paid plus actual shipping cost. I use a beer keg for the boiler, got it from a friendly barkeep for his deposit cost ($50)

My advice is get rid of the silicone and use the Chinese still while you learn and build your own. You'll really appreciate the new one when you get it built;-)

I never thought to run a piece of 3/8” copper into it but that may work for me too. I’m really on the fence on sending back or keeping for a learning curve but you may have sold me on keeping it and then building my own. I have up to $1000 I can spend on building one. Once I figure out what I need I will send you a message

[Robbiejames]

16409604717210.jpg
This piece of tubing was just loose in the package when I got the Amazon still so figured it needed to go there.

I could solder it to get a better seal, but at this point that's like changing a flat tire on a car with a blown engine.

Mine has that same piece but I thought it was to extend the outlet from the worm like in this pic

[elbono]

It will take you a while to build one and you need to get some fermenting experience too. Practically speaking my Amazon still was a waste of money but my impatience made it worthwhile. If you decide to use it, get rid of the silicone and don't believe the thermometer that came with it.

The condenser definitely is low on capacity but it forced me to run slowly enough to get some good spirit runs. My first spirit run on the new one smelled like sweaty feet becase I ran as fast as the new condenser would let me.

I plan on putting a list together for the classified section here when I decide I'm done playing with copper and torches but until then I have 2" copper and Stay Brite 8 I'll part with. Anyone is welcome to PM me if they want less than min quantities of either.

You can put together a pot still and a nice column for way less than $1000.

[Robbiejames]

It will take you a while to build one and you need to get some fermenting experience too. Practically speaking my Amazon still was a waste of money but my impatience made it worthwhile. If you decide to use it, get rid of the silicone and don't believe the thermometer that came with it.

The condenser definitely is low on capacity but it forced me to run slowly enough to get some good spirit runs. My first spirit run on the new one smelled like sweaty feet becase I ran as fast as the new condenser would let me.

I plan on putting a list together for the classified section here when I decide I'm done playing with copper and torches but until then I have 2" copper and Stay Brite 8 I'll part with. Anyone is welcome to PM me if they want less than min quantities of either.

You can put together a pot still and a nice column for way less than $1000.

I plan to try a simple corn mash in the next week or two. I think I will keep this still just to play with and that way I will have something to compare to when I build a better one. Lol.

[Deplorable]

+1 on the cost of building a great still.
Even if you start with a quality milk can boiler for US$375, and build a copper still head off of that, you can build a really good modular rig for under a grand before you go electric. converting to electric will cost you another 2 to 4 hundred.

[Robbiejames]

+1 on the cost of building a great still.
Even if you start with a quality milk can boiler for US$375, and build a copper still head off of that, you can build a really good modular rig for under a grand before you go electric. converting to electric will cost you another 2 to 4 hundred.

I had real clue how much money I would need so I saved a couple bucks as many times as I could cause I knew at some point I would want to go bigger and better lol

[cob]

Now that you have more quality information.

Do yourself a real favor and return the amazon junk!

[Robbiejames]

Now that you have more quality information.

Do yourself a real favor and return the amazon junk!

Yeah I contacted them today lol

[dwayneh62]

I'm in total agreement ... DIY is best. I'm also in agreement, that the Vevor unit is suited pretty well to just figure out the basics, and help you decide if this is distilling thing is even for you. That said, this simple mod to add the missing down tube worked for me ... 5/16" x 1/4" compression fitting.

[acfixer69]

I'm in total agreement ... DIY is best. I'm also in agreement, that the Vevor unit is suited pretty well to just figure out the basics, and help you decide if this is distilling thing is even for you. That said, this simple mod to add the missing down tube worked for me ... 5/16" x 1/4" compression fitting.

That 1/4" tubing is too small to run a still. The 3/8" tubing is far safer. That said it's still lipstick on a pig.

[Chauncey]

I wouldn't use brass where vapor is present. You can pickle it to get rid of surface lead but i don't think it's even on our approved materials list.

[Yummyrum]

I wouldn't use brass where vapor is present. You can pickle it to get rid of surface lead but i don't think it's even on our approved materials list.

I’m with you Chauncey .My personal preference is to not use it even though the so called lead free stuff is meant to be OK .

I have never been a fan of pickling brass . Chemically removing a few atoms of lead from the surface of it doesn’t sit well with me . I prefer to Tin the insides of brass fittings with lead free solder . Coating the surface with something a bit thicker makes me feel a bit happier .

But yes , brass isn’t on our approved list. Lead free brass fittings are generally accepted as the exposure area is low .

The thing is , we really have no idea how lead free these stills from China are . … if at all .

One thing for sure , the nasty little silicone seals they stick in there to seal the CSST to the brass is a real concern . Firstly , its Silicone , but what concerns me more is that it has a tiny 1/4” hole in it that I would expect gets even smaller when tightened and flattens.

Really don’t like these stills . A lot of potential but a lot of nasty .

I fully get why a newby might get one to dip their toes into distilling .
Short term to get a feel , great , but no way I would recommend using one for any sort of grain distillation due to the serious risk of blockage , and potential long term exposure to potential lead and synthetics