15/5 Keg Build

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Reservoir build continued:

The guts completed. The water flow bypass control (hose splitter ) just rests right outside the can and provides easy access to control everything when the lid is closed. The return from the Liebig is at the top, the pump cord is next, then the feed line from the pump, then the bypass line, finally the supply to the condenser.

This is the finished set up from the top with the lid closed.

When I finished the run, I used the 30ish gallons of water to rinse the all the still parts. It functioned great on run #1, I guess I'll see how it goes in the future.

This is the set up for my sacrificial run last weekend with the new additions added. Oh, yeah, I also picked up another 2" sight glass for the thumper since my last posts.

Won't be long now until the stainless fab starts!

Rusty

[MooseMan]

Very neat solution for your reservoir and flow control Rusty I like it. portable too haha!

I can see you putting quick connectors on the can walls at some point in the future, so you can just snap on/off and go in a second.
I used 10mmm and 12mm push fit connectors and rigid air hose on all my water stuff right from the start and it's so convenient,

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Very neat solution for your reservoir and flow control Rusty I like it. portable too haha!

I can see you putting quick connectors on the can walls at some point in the future, so you can just snap on/off and go in a second.
I used 10mmm and 12mm push fit connectors and rigid air hose on all my water stuff right from the start and it's so convenient,

Thanks! I like the idea of quick connectors, I am adding hose connection at the Liebig so that I don't have to take clamps on and off, maybe I'll start there with the quick connectors.

Rusty

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

What's up y'all? It's been a little bit since I did an update on my build. Counting the sacrificial run and the unintentional sacrificial second run, I'm up to 6 runs on the Goat, sugar washes and a panela rum run now too. While the still is running, I check my connections every so often to make sure everything is tight & right. Well, about the time I got through the foreshots on run #6 I see a small puddle of liquid at the boiler neck. I thought it was my homemade gasket between the boiler and the still riser, so I snugged that a bit, but it kept coming. It was my bottom 2" ferrule connection on the riser seeping ever so slightly. Dang it! I didn't want to stop the run and solder anything, so while I made sure none of the liquid could reach the burner, my wife ran some oatmeal through the coffee grinder for me. So, last Saturday was another distilling first for ole' Rusty, I made an oatmeal seal. Does that make me a real liquor man now, albeit a novice one still?

Worked like a CHAMP! About every hour I'd take a wet rag and soak both of them, so they didn't pull away from the hot pipe. That's right, I said both of them, the still head started seep leaking about 10 minutes after the riser. D'OH. I guess the movement from running, in conjunction with my shoddy solder work has created the leaks.

The oatmeal worked great, and I finished off the run. Here's the repair plan, I currently have 2 panela rum washes working to finish 4 rum stripping runs and 12 gallons of sugar wash for the SPD I have planned. I would like to finish the panela and SPD spirit runs before I tear everything apart, so I think I'm going to get good at oatmeal seals in the next few weeks. Once I have a little bit of double distilled product to sip, I'm going to tear down and rebuild anything that needs attention and make some modifications. Now that I've run some, I have some things I'd like to improve or change so I'm going to do that, and I might have some of Twisted Brick's shotgun parts on the way too. Once I get all that done, I'm going to steam test for leaks, vinegar run, then a sacrificial run with some high ABV sugar water. Since it's a pitch batch, I'm toying with the idea of seeing how high I can get it with DADY instead of baker's yeast. Any who, that's the loose plan at the moment, if you guys see any holes in it, I'd appreciate the input.

Rusty

[MooseMan]

Those little leaks will take no time fixing Rusty, get it all clean, re-flux and orient the piece so that as the flux heats and runs it flows into the gap in the joint, then warm back up and it will re-flow nicely. The solder will want to go where the flux is as soon as you hit the right temp, you may not even have to add any more solder.

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Thanks for the tip Moose, I'll give that a try. I have Harris liquid flux now so I'm hoping for better results on all my solder joints. I'll probably try to seal them up before I run again if I can pull it off this way.

Rusty

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

I'll just leave this right here...

Thanks Twisted!

Rusty

[Salt Must Flow]

Thanks for the tip Moose, I'll give that a try. I have Harris liquid flux now so I'm hoping for better results on all my solder joints. I'll probably try to seal them up before I run again if I can pull it off this way.

Rusty

For copper to copper joints, I've always used common paste flux. Never had any issues with copper to copper joints. If you do have an issue, just heat it up, pull it apart, sand it all clean, flux and solder it again. You don't have to clean off 100% of all solder from both parts (you can leave them tinned). It will be obvious where the problem is because there's no solder and it looks like crap.

I've only used Harris liquid flux for stainless to stainless and copper to stainless joints. Soldering stainless is a little bit more tricky, but easy enough to get the hang of with a little practice.

[Twisted Brick]

You’re welcome, Rusty. I’m glad to see they got there!
I think you’ll like the versatility of the Harris 8 solder and stay-clean liquid flux with your Duracast 8000 tip. They make joining ss ferrules and copper pipe a breeze.

Enjoy the build. Can’t wait to see your new shotty installed on your kit.

Twisted

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

For copper to copper joints, I've always used common paste flux. Never had any issues with copper to copper joints. If you do have an issue, just heat it up, pull it apart, sand it all clean, flux and solder it again. You don't have to clean off 100% of all solder from both parts (you can leave them tinned). It will be obvious where the problem is because there's no solder and it looks like crap.

I've only used Harris liquid flux for stainless to stainless and copper to stainless joints. Soldering stainless is a little bit more tricky, but easy enough to get the hang of with a little practice.

I've soldered for years and never had any issues till the 2" stuff. All of my 1", 3/4", and 1/2" work never leaked once, even my liebig. I think I might be heating the joint to hot and flashing some of the flux. I do have stainless to copper in the next phase of the build/upgrade. If you hadn't already guessed I'm about to do a Twisted style shotty build and the ferrules for it are stainless.

One thing I know, I'm a stubborn ass and won't stop till it's right and exactly what I want. You guys have been a huge help and I really appreciate the warm welcome to the club over the last few months.

Rusty

[Salt Must Flow]

For copper to copper joints, I've always used common paste flux. Never had any issues with copper to copper joints. If you do have an issue, just heat it up, pull it apart, sand it all clean, flux and solder it again. You don't have to clean off 100% of all solder from both parts (you can leave them tinned). It will be obvious where the problem is because there's no solder and it looks like crap.

I've only used Harris liquid flux for stainless to stainless and copper to stainless joints. Soldering stainless is a little bit more tricky, but easy enough to get the hang of with a little practice.

I've soldered for years and never had any issues till the 2" stuff. All of my 1", 3/4", and 1/2" work never leaked once, even my liebig. I think I might be heating the joint to hot and flashing some of the flux. I do have stainless to copper in the next phase of the build/upgrade. If you hadn't already guessed I'm about to do a Twisted style shotty build and the ferrules for it are stainless.

One thing I know, I'm a stubborn ass and won't stop till it's right and exactly what I want. You guys have been a huge help and I really appreciate the warm welcome to the club over the last few months.

Rusty

Soldering stainless ferrules to my 2" shotgun condensers was my first attempt at soldering stainless. I struggled with it and ended up buying some copper Tri-Clamp ferrules. They soldered much easier. It was worth the extra cost for me at the time and I never regretted it. I got better at it since then, but having the option for copper ferrules is really nice.

[MooseMan]

It's really all about joint surface prep on SS, without the prep/flux, that solder will never stick as well as it should, if at all.

I've managed to silver solder a few easy joints on flat copper fittings to flat SS with good prep and the "Wrong" flux by using the solder ring trick, but I really need to get some liquid flux intended for the job if I want to improve my SS soldering at all.

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Soldering stainless ferrules to my 2" shotgun condensers was my first attempt at soldering stainless. I struggled with it and ended up buying some copper Tri-Clamp ferrules. They soldered much easier. It was worth the extra cost for me at the time and I never regretted it. I got better at it since then, but having the option for copper ferrules is really nice.

Yeah, Salt, that's the reason I went with the copper ferrules for my initial build, I had read that here. I managed to find a killer deal on stainless 2" ferrules so I snagged those and figured I'd give it a shot this time. I'll eventually figure it out, I'm determined (or I might cave and go copper if I fail at it miserably, but I'll get there eventually).

It's really all about joint surface prep on SS, without the prep/flux, that solder will never stick as well as it should, if at all.

Hey Moose. What kinda special special surface prep do you recommend for stainless?

Rusty

[Twisted Brick]

Soldering stainless ferrules to my 2" shotgun condensers was my first attempt at soldering stainless. I struggled with it and ended up buying some copper Tri-Clamp ferrules. They soldered much easier. It was worth the extra cost for me at the time and I never regretted it. I got better at it since then, but having the option for copper ferrules is really nice.

Yeah, Salt, that's the reason I went with the copper ferrules for my initial build, I had read that here. I managed to find a killer deal on stainless 2" ferrules so I snagged those and figured I'd give it a shot this time. I'll eventually figure it out, I'm determined (or I might cave and go copper if I fail at it miserably, but I'll get there eventually).

I think you’ll find the Harris 8 and liquid flux easy to work with. Flattening your solder allows it to flow at a lower temp. Use patience matching the temp of stainless and copper focusing mostly on the ferrule. Once the solder begins to melt into the joint, train the flame 3/4" up the shell and the solder will disappear into the joint. Once the joint is full a bead of solder will form 360* where the ferrule meets the pipe. If you get the joint too hot before applying solder the solder will not flow and tends to clump or ball up and roll off your project. The example below is a member’s shell repair I did several years ago.

One other note: Shotgun plates without flanges are a challenge because of de-soldering. You won't have to worry about this since the flange has been designed to hold a 'sleeve' of solder that takes forever to melt. Lastly, as you work, the liquid flux may burn and turn black. A quick brush with fresh flux cleans it right up.

EDIT: I aggressively file each ferrule barrel (in a vise) until the logo is ground off and the surface texture is uniformly roughed up.


HTH.

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Well, I've stepped on into it. I made a big Copper Tubing Sales order and got a few things from the jungle website, here comes The Horny Goat 2.0.

I've ran my setup now 12 times and I'm hoping to take that experience and make my setup even more efficient and fun to run. Plus, I get the fun of another build, that's my favorite part! My son is my best tinkering buddy and he just moved back to town after being gone for a few years, he's going to be a big part of the work this time. I'm REALLY excited for the rebuild. The financial limitations I had at the start have eased as well so I've kinda made a wish list and went for it. We'll see if my concepts and ideas will work, I have put countless hours of research and thought into it.

The two biggest changes are going to be a steam kettle instead of direct heat and a Twisted Brick style shotgun instead of a Liebig. Thanks for the parts Twisted! That said I'm going to touch most components and try to make a really cool erector set that cranks out some killer hooch.

What I have in mind, if I can pull it off, will give me the ability to run a direct fire pot with a shotgun, a double thumper set up for rum, or steam distill a must for brandy. I think that's actually where I'm headed next, brandy. Strawberry season is coming soon and I have a friend that I can get culls from at $10 per flat, she sells them as canning berries. Anywho...

I'm probably going to start with the shotty since I see that as the hardest component to pull off. I've always worked that way, hardest to easiest, my friend Tommy calls the concept, "eating your peas before your steak". Twisted has really inspired me to work to his level of perfection, his stuff is beautiful to me.

I'll continue to update this thread with the re-build since it's sort of a continuation and it'll be nice to have everything documented in a single thread, as long as the mods think that's cool. I'll start with a parts spread once everything arrives.

As always thank you guys for all the help and the amazing resource that HD is!

Rusty

[Salt Must Flow]

We always LOVE to see builds! Building really is half (if not most) of the fun.

[Black Bull]

Keen to see what you've come up with, been great watching your progress

[MooseMan]

Well, I'll be really looking forward to seeing the Horny Goat 2.0 develop on here!

[Twisted Brick]

I'm probably going to start with the shotty since I see that as the hardest component to pull off. I've always worked that way, hardest to easiest, my friend Tommy calls the concept, "eating your peas before your steak".

Rusty

Rusty, I think you'll really enjoy the build. The plates enable your tubes to fit together like an Erector (Meccano?) set and once the tubeset is soldered up, just slide it into the shell and solder the endplates. Just remember to drill the I/O port holes in your shell before fitting everything together.

The Harris silver solder and torch that you (and I) have will work a treat. Flattening your solder and splitting the length down the middle (tin snips) works great for precise filling of the flanged surfaces.

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Thanks for all the comments guys! I'm really excited about getting to build more. Here's a drawing of my basic idea. It's already developed passed this point with hand sketches, but the basic concepts are the same. For example, while looking around I found 2" tri clamp PRV/VRV instead of the 1 1/2" I had originally planned. For the price, I figured if I actually need it, the extra volume would be helpful. I have a couple of ideas to make the discharge safe if it ever get to that point. The 3/4" from the steam kettle to the boiler is going to be 1". I've also changed the steam & still head fitting configuration to be more compact with reducing tees, just a few things like that. The thumper head has worked great on my original set up and it's going to be reused, just moved above the site glass. Everything you see hatched (dark) is what I didn't need on the shopping list, the rest will need to be built and part of the hatch areas still have modifications if I get everything done.

Rusty

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

My son and I got started on the rebuild this weekend. I had to go to work today, but he's continuing on. Won't be long now till we're steaming.

Rusty

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Got my first two stainless to copper ferrules under my belt, not to bad. I'm sure the Harris flux and solder are helping, it makes the small stuff ridiculously easy. They've been water tested and seem to be holding. The steam head is complete, the PRV just needs to be calibrated. We made a drop over safety stack from a 45 and some 2" pipe, I'm hoping it never pops but if it does that should direct it away from us.

Rusty

[shadylane]

Looking great.

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Looking great.

Thanks Shady, so far so good.

Rusty

[Twisted Brick]

My son and I got started on the rebuild this weekend. I had to go to work today, but he's continuing on. Won't be long now till we're steaming.

Rusty

Looking good, Rusty! I just noticed on your parts table that your steam 'nozzles' are pointed to swirl in a counterclockwise direction. If you plan on using a drill motor/paint stirrer for mashing, note the direction stirrer mixes in. When soldering, you'll want to match the steam nozzles to work in the same direction so they work together instead of cancel each other out.

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Looking good, Rusty! I just noticed on your parts table that your steam 'nozzles' are pointed to swirl in a counterclockwise direction. If you plan on using a drill motor/paint stirrer for mashing, note the direction stirrer mixes in. When soldering, you'll want to match the steam nozzles to work in the same direction so they work together instead of cancel each other out.

Thanks Twisted, we'll make sure we get them headed in the right direction. I realized a little while ago I made a mistake on the steam head. In an effort to minimize the size so my connecting arm would run uphill, I made it too low for the 1" on the tee to clear the upper keg ring. D'OH! I'm going to have to pull one of the stainless ferrules back apart and add a longer 2" section to one side so it will clear.

Rusty

[MooseMan]

Looking good, Rusty! I just noticed on your parts table that your steam 'nozzles' are pointed to swirl in a counterclockwise direction. If you plan on using a drill motor/paint stirrer for mashing, note the direction stirrer mixes in. When soldering, you'll want to match the steam nozzles to work in the same direction so they work together instead of cancel each other out.

Thanks Twisted, we'll make sure we get them headed in the right direction. I realized a little while ago I made a mistake on the steam head. In an effort to minimize the size so my connecting arm would run uphill, I made it too low for the 1" on the tee to clear the upper keg ring. D'OH! I'm going to have to pull one of the stainless ferrules back apart and add a longer 2" section to one side so it will clear.

Rusty

Looks good Rusty.

I recently also did some stainless ferrules to copper tubing since I got some stainless flux, and it's a game changer.

Regarding the little hiccup, could you not chop the keg ring to suit?
I think I'd do that before pulling the joint apart again.

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Looks good Rusty.

I recently also did some stainless ferrules to copper tubing since I got some stainless flux, and it's a game changer.

Regarding the little hiccup, could you not chop the keg ring to suit?
I think I'd do that before pulling the joint apart again.

Thanks Moose. I could go that way, I didn't think about chopping that keg, I'm doing a bunch of chopping on my kettle keg. I'll look at it tonight when I get home from work. My son is the one that noticed it, so it may be fixed when I get there this evening.

Rusty

[MooseMan]

Lucky you having a mini Rusty to help and even problem solve while while you're out at work!
Wish I had a mini Moose to share the journey with.

It's funny you're saying "When I get home this evening" since I'm typing this on a coach travelling back to Krakow from a very long day trip, (Short break to Poland with friends) and it's already late evening!

[Rusty Ole Bucket]

Lucky you having a mini Rusty to help and even problem solve while while you're out at work!
Wish I had a mini Moose to share the journey with.

It's funny you're saying "When I get home this evening" since I'm typing this on a coach travelling back to Krakow from a very long day trip, (Short break to Poland with friends) and it's already late evening!

Yeah, I feel lucky to have Worm Bucket back from college, he's a huge help and really interested in distilling. His love of tinkering comes from me so we work really well together.

It's still not evening here. I miss Europe and how easy it is to travel all over the place and see cool stuff. I need to go back, it's been 15 years.

Rusty