Site glass and bubble plates

[M35BOB]

So I posted this yesterday but apparently I did not intro myself properly, so I am trying again after posting a welcome note.
I recently went o a garage sale and found 2 4 inch site glass, one with a bubble plate. I've never used a bubble plate before, but for the price I could not say no. Purchased these 2 for $35.
So my question(s) are as follows. (See Photo)
Will this set up have any Ill effects on my still and the process. Negative or positive. Will this set up work and if so will it improve my end product.
If I use this how much liquid, and what liquid should I add.
Besides looking kind of cool is this worth using with my still, which is a 10 gallon STILZ set up with thump.
For $35 I figured I cant go wrong. I added the copper coil in the first site glass.
Any ideas, incite, or criticism is taken in stride.

[Yummyrum]

You could make and hang all kinds of copper trinkets in there if you like , but pretty as they may be , it isn’t gonna make any difference to your booze .

Now , iff’n that copper coil actually had external connections and you could feed water through it , you could be starting to get somewhere .

Place that coil above the plates not under it . Cap off that take off port you got shown there and takeoff instead above the coil .
That would make some difference .

[M35BOB]

Well that's what I needed to know. TY

[Saltbush Bill]

I think you need to look around at some of the plated and perforated plate column builds that are here on the forum.
That will give you a better idea of what is needed to make a plated column preform correctly.

[Copperhead road]

I think you need to look around at some of the plated and perforated plate column builds that are here on the forum.
That will give you a better idea of what is needed to make a plated column preform correct.

Bang on Salty!

[Salt Must Flow]

This is an example of a common orientation of those parts. The condenser coil creates reflux which feeds the plates below. Only part of the rising vapor condenses as reflux, the rest of the vapor rises through the coil and enters your product condenser. The water flow rate through the coil determines how much reflux you get.

Bubble Plate.jpg

[Yummyrum]

Thanks for the diagram SMF . Thats what I was trying to explain in my post .

M35BOB , ment to say that what you paid for those modules was a steal

[Saltbush Bill]

Your also going to get different opinions on plate numbers,
My opinion is that anything under 3 plates is a waste of time as well as being fiddly to run.

[M35BOB]

So thanks for all the replies. I figured that my addition was nothing more then "Looks Cool, but does nothing". I was thinking pretty much the same as the diagram. I am going to look into some changes to be able to add these on. The copper coil was added just since I saw a post where someone put pieces of copper into the site glass. I did the coil instead of cutting up pieces, but clearly not doing anything regardless unless hooked to water for cooling. I am going to think of a way to duplicate the diagram, with these 4 inchers. I don't know about the water cooled coil. Might just add another bubble plate and use 2, with the new configuration. When I purchased these I figured $35, no brainer I'll take them, if for no other reason to sell them. The seller had no idea what these were and the value involved. Again thanks for the replies. Going to the drawing board no to figure out ho to duplicate the diagram using these. For no back to basics....(For Now). I've got to figure out how to plug take off port (easy), and create a way to add to the top glass.

[Corn Cracker]

Get another plate and a stainless sanitary tri clamp tee to put on top of it, rework that copper spool to slide down inside the top of the tee and youll have a ccvm with 2 plates. That will produce a lighter, cleaner spirit than a standard pot still but wont strip as much of the oils and flavors as 4 or more plates or a packed riser would

[Copperhead road]

Your also going to get different opinions on plate numbers,
My opinion is that anything under 3 plates is a waste of time as well as being fiddly to run.

I think that’s the difference between bubble caps and perforated plates, as you know Salty my bubbler has 5 perforated plate’s.
I’ve tried all the configurations imaginable and can never seem to make three or less plates run stable.

The guys running bubble cap plates can get away with running two or three plates…

I have no experience with bubble caps, but love my perforated plates.

However, some of my A-grade American style whiskey I always remove all the plates and turn my bubbler into a gigantic pot still. I love the convenience of having a parrot with the still collecting up at waist height.

[Username]

I think that’s the difference between bubble caps and perforated plates

Absolutely, I run still dragon pro plates, it's a 3 plater, can easily run 0,1,2 or 3 plates, difference being the abv off the spout.

OP I would advise getting stuck into reading rather than trying to figure it out for yourself

[higgins]

I run a homemade 4" flute with copper perf plates (build link in sig). 3 plates gives me over 90% ABV, 2 gives me around 85%. I rarely use the 3rd plate any more, and I still alternate my bourbons and ryes between the plated column and a pot still.

[Salt Must Flow]

If you were to make that coil an active dephlegmator, it would probably be more practical to port your water lines like shown below rather than how I originally drew it. Drill a couple holes and with a little silver soldering, you can get the job done.

Bubble Plate 2.jpg

[shadylane]

I recently went o a garage sale and found 2 4 inch site glass, one with a bubble plate. I've never used a bubble plate before, but for the price I could not say no. Purchased these 2 for $35.

Great find, as already pointed out the dephlegmator goes above the plate.
Here's a simple way to build and plumb a coiled dephleg.

[Salt Must Flow]

I recently went o a garage sale and found 2 4 inch site glass, one with a bubble plate. I've never used a bubble plate before, but for the price I could not say no. Purchased these 2 for $35.

Great find, as already pointed out the dephlegmator goes above the plate.
Here's a simple way to build and plumb a coiled dephleg.

Curious ... how does that copper plate clamp to the sight glass?

[shadylane]

With a 4" tri-clamp and a seal.
Here's another one of the same design that was used for experimenting with a 4" perf plate glasser.


viewtopic.php?t=78254&start=120

[Yummyrum]

That is the perfect solution Shady . Would be dead easy to bring the pipe down to same level as the existing lyne arm

[shadylane]

All I know is it works much better than a shotgun and is easier to build.
As Winston Churchill said. “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all other possibilities”

[shadylane]

Your also going to get different opinions on plate numbers,
My opinion is that anything under 3 plates is a waste of time as well as being fiddly to run.

99% of the time I'm in agreement with Ya, but I'll argue about under 3 plates being a waste of time or fiddly.
I think the first plate gives the most bang for the buck, every extra plate pays diminishing returns.
One plate is forgiving of design mistakes but as more plates are used, the more fiddly they become during operation.
Mostly because many store bought plates use the same bubble cap design and invert it for a use as a downcomer.
That's bad because an inverted cap holds back the same pressure as it would make if used for a cap instead of a downcomer.
Long story short, if stability is high on the list, use a downcomer cup that's 150% deeper than the plates liquid depth.