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I played with air cooling. I never got a condenser to really work over 1000 watts. On the dripping water a very thin cotton cloth works best. A towel even wet insulated.
Obviously a fan helps.

Add all that up and an 8 mm copper line bent into coils with water going through is easier.

When I said, 'The air cooled condenser looks amazingly simple.',
I was thinking of the baseboard heater.
Or similar discarded refrigeration tube that has those 'heat sink ' plates fitted.

Geoff

The Baker wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 5:13 am
Perhaps best suited where the air is more cold and less humid.
And when you need or wish to conserve water.
Or if making the water available involves pumps (which in turn need power which may not be available)
and plumbing; perhaps also needed for draining the water away...

Agree Geoff .Evaporative coolers are common place in Victoria . In NSW , they still use them but you won’t find many north of Sydney .
Ask a Queenslander what one is and the’ll be scratching their head while whipping their sweaty brow .

The Baker wrote: ↑Thu Oct 26, 2023 1:33 am

Yummyrum wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 12:44 pm

The Baker wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 5:12 am

Kareltje wrote: ↑Thu Aug 23, 2018 2:08 am I did not measure it, but placing wet rags on the cooling spiral may double the capacity (or even triple it?). But you have to pay attention all the time, because they of course dry and need rewetting. But it saves you a lot of water, as the vaporizing heat is much greater than the specific heat of water.

Drippers?

Geoff

Sauna

I have no experience with a sauna.
But I thought that garden drippers above the cloth would save rewetting them 'by hand', and having to pay attention for rewetting...

Geoff

Yes, good idea. Or the system like 54woody3 build. And one of my colleagues here uses a plant sprayer to spray a mist of water drops.
But all these solutions I did not yet implement. Too lazy and clearly the trouble of rewetting is not annoying enough.

An air cooled condenser is the same as is used in a counter top air still. (or a counter top water distiller if you will) No reason why it can't work. The OP started with a "fin tube" as it's called, copper is a plus, and encased it in a cage with electric fans to provide the air flow. Perfect. Oh by the way, the fin tube system uses hot water and not steam.

I was totally bitten by this and have been putting the parts together for a few months. I ran it on both my systems over the weekend and it is utterly incredible. It cooled my 10 L and 40 L stills, both on propane, running full out with no issue. There seems to be some little skepticism of air coolers and for the moment, I can't figure out why. The water cooling took me 20-30 minutes to get set up and was so water wasteful and fussy. This way I'm set up in 2 minutes.

I was a small amount concerned with my 40 L set up but I was pushing out a stream in my stripping run at 60-70 ml a minute and it was 24 C.

As the OP says, I'll never go back.

Nice looking condenser!!

Your collection point next to the gas stove seem a little dangerous to me. I also use propane, but my collection point is almost 10 feet away from the flame, so if I spill I'm not fighting a fire.

I am all with you on saving water, but you have waste heat when using air cooled condenser which might be more valuable than the water.

I mashed 150 lbs of grain during my last spirit run with hot water from my condenser.

@Alchemist, that is a very impressive setup, nice and neat, compact footprint.

Those heating elements are expensive over here. I suppose if I want to go to air cooled I can just run my old air still: only issue there is capacity, but it works fine. Indeed I now wonder about extending an air still setup with an extra air cooled condenser...

Alchemist wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 2:29 pm
There seems to be some little skepticism of air coolers and for the moment, I can't figure out why. The water cooling took me 20-30 minutes to get set up and was so water wasteful and fussy. This way I'm set up in 2 minutes.

Nice setup.
Here's another way to use aircooling.

zach wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 5:00 pm Nice looking condenser!!

Your collection point next to the gas stove seem a little dangerous to me. I also use propane, but my collection point is almost 10 feet away from the flame, so if I spill I'm not fighting a fire.

I am all with you on saving water, but you have waste heat when using air cooled condenser which might be more valuable than the water.

I mashed 150 lbs of grain during my last spirit run with hot water from my condenser.

I've been collecting that close for over a decade. I appreciate your concern though.

I've never mashed at the same time as distilling. Never crossed my mind. Interesting thought.

Crow River wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 5:05 pm @Alchemist, that is a very impressive setup, nice and neat, compact footprint.

Those heating elements are expensive over here. I suppose if I want to go to air cooled I can just run my old air still: only issue there is capacity, but it works fine. Indeed I now wonder about extending an air still setup with an extra air cooled condenser...

Thanks!!

Heating elements? Do you mean the finned heat exchangers? Here they were about $40 each.

shadylane wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 5:20 pm

Alchemist wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 2:29 pm
There seems to be some little skepticism of air coolers and for the moment, I can't figure out why. The water cooling took me 20-30 minutes to get set up and was so water wasteful and fussy. This way I'm set up in 2 minutes.

Nice setup.
Here's another way to use aircooling.

4 of them!! Is that enough airflow for good cooling? What rate can you get off that set up?

Just guessing, on a hot day somewhere around 4500w.
It could knock down as much vapor as an electric keg sized still can make without puking.
Pushed really hard, the shine would start getting hot but was fully condensed and liquid.

Beaut job on the condenser Alchemist . Functional Steampunk feel to it .

I do agree with Zachs comments about collecting so close to the gas though . I’ve only had one Poo in pants moment doing that and that was enough for me

Yummyrum wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 6:18 pm Beaut job on the condenser Alchemist . Functional Steampunk feel to it .

I do agree with Zachs comments about collecting so close to the gas though . I’ve only had one Poo in pants moment doing that and that was enough for me

Been there and done that.
The collection jar is definitely too close to the flame for a stove top still.
Maybe turn the condenser around and use a longer lyne arm to get jar farther from the fire.
All it would take is some more copper tubing to make it safer.

Yummyrum wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 6:18 pm Beaut job on the condenser Alchemist . Functional Steampunk feel to it .

Functional Steampunk could not be a higher compliment to me. Thank you so much.

Thanks for the input folks.

zach wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 5:00 pm Your collection point next to the gas stove seem a little dangerous to me. I also use propane, but my collection point is almost 10 feet away from the flame, so if I spill I'm not fighting a fire.

Yummyrum wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 6:18 pm do agree with Zachs comments about collecting so close to the gas though . I’ve only had one Poo in pants moment doing that and that was enough for me

shadylane wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 6:59 pm Maybe turn the condenser around and use a longer lyne arm to get jar farther from the fire.
All it would take is some more copper tubing to make it safer

Agree with all of the above 100% , it will work just fine , until oneday when it doesn't, then the shit will hit the fan in a big way
Not even a secondary catchment under the jar incase of over filling.
It needs fixing and saying that it doesn't sets a bad safety example for newbies.
Forum Rule I "Safety first and foremost! "

Alchemist wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 2:29 pm I was totally bitten by this and have been putting the parts together for a few months. I ran it on both my systems over the weekend and it is utterly incredible. It cooled my 10 L and 40 L stills, both on propane, running full out with no issue.
IMG_3473.jpgIMG_3472.jpgIMG_3469.jpgIMG_3468.jpg

There seems to be some little skepticism of air coolers and for the moment, I can't figure out why. The water cooling took me 20-30 minutes to get set up and was so water wasteful and fussy. This way I'm set up in 2 minutes.

I was a small amount concerned with my 40 L set up but I was pushing out a stream in my stripping run at 60-70 ml a minute and it was 24 C.

As the OP says, I'll never go back.

Alchemist that's a really well built and impressive looking air condenser, fantastic job.
I am so envious that you can get those finned tubes where you are. Even if I could get them in the UK they would be expensive.

Do you control the fan speeds?
I would imagine all those things going at full whack will be making a lot of noise!

When I was building my own air cooled PC for a stove top still, I went through several types of fan (All scavenged from old computers) and finally found a larger, slower speed one that barely makes any noise. Being larger it still moves a lot of air but doesn't have that loud whine, makes a big difference in the house!

That's really nice. I've considered something similar from time to time and perhaps I should get to it.

I know you already responded to another, but I'm going to still suggest you put another elbow on the end and direct away from the gas burner. If by any chance the condenser didn't keep up and any vapor were to escape, it seems like you are almost guaranteed to have ignition. I'm super glad that's never happened, but not convinced it couldn't happen. Very simple change for a little extra safety.

shadylane wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 6:59 pm Maybe turn the condenser around and use a longer lyne arm to get jar farther from the fire.
All it would take is some more copper tubing to make it safer

I take everyone's point. It is also way more that "more copper tubing'. That is not an excuse not to be safe but it is not insignificant to make it work with the tools I have at hand. My copper ability is not huge.

[quote}
Agree with all of the above 100% , it will work just fine , until oneday when it doesn't, then the shit will hit the fan in a big way
Not even a secondary catchment under the jar incase of over filling.
It needs fixing and saying that it doesn't sets a bad safety example for newbies.
Forum Rule I "Safety first and foremost! "
[/quote]

If it makes everyone feel better I do use a secondary catchment. The picture is of a cleanout water run. There was no alcohol involved at all. I also use a baffle/block between the burner and the still. It just isn't in for the sake of the photo.

MooseMan wrote: ↑Tue Dec 10, 2024 1:49 am Alchemist that's a really well built and impressive looking air condenser, fantastic job.
I am so envious that you can get those finned tubes where you are. Even if I could get them in the UK they would be expensive.

Do you control the fan speeds?
I would imagine all those things going at full whack will be making a lot of noise!

When I was building my own air cooled PC for a stove top still, I went through several types of fan (All scavenged from old computers) and finally found a larger, slower speed one that barely makes any noise. Being larger it still moves a lot of air but doesn't have that loud whine, makes a big difference in the house!

The fans are either on or off. There is no speed control. For the smaller setup I've already decided I'm going to wire in a 2nd switch so I can run every other fan. The noise is not bad. About 80 dB up close and of course way quieter farther away.

Alchemist wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 5:26 pm
Heating elements? Do you mean the finned heat exchangers? Here they were about $40 each.

Only ones I've found for that price are aluminium tubing, not copper. Or they are very small diameter tubing, winding back and forth, like you get at the back of a fridge. Ones like in the OP or your pics are the equivalent of $200 each here...

MooseMan wrote: ↑Tue Dec 10, 2024 1:49 am
Alchemist that's a really well built and impressive looking air condenser, fantastic job.
I am so envious that you can get those finned tubes where you are. Even if I could get them in the UK they would be expensive.

I think the company that makes these in the US went out of business, so maybe there's just a back stock of parts. Unavailable in the UK. I looked into alternatives, and the only similar one I can find is Smiths Sureline skirting level convection radiator system.

You can get a heating element with two copper pipes running through it, 1 metre long (over £100). Or buy a 500mm heater, with element and casing too (£65). Longer heaters available too, up to 2 metres.

This is the heating element, looks interesting but not sure how well it would work: maybe if fans were mounted so they blow over both pipes equally?


This is what the heaters look like in their cases: seems familiar...


Dimensions

I also found various caravan/motor home heaters which are fairly cheap, but the pipes seem to be made of aluminium, not copper. I suppose you could slide a narrower copper or stainless pipe inside the aluminium one (which is available in 22mm or 16mm diameter, wall thickness 1mm), e.g. 21mm OD or 15mm OD. Here's the Alde heating system model.

Checking with people/companies that rehab building might be a good source for cheap units.

I have to now update the other main reason I wanted to move to air cooling.

I have in the past done my stripping run on my back porch where I have water access. Now that winter is upon us that is so much harder. I've wanted to bring it into my shop but the distinct lack of water there plus the massive trouble water on the floor would cause if I brought water there has made it not viable.

Now I can distill in my shop, out of the blowing chill wind with no real concern of water spills and overflows.

Wonder why the big distilleries don’t use air cooling….
Must be a reason

Or can anyone confirm that they do???

Copperhead road wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2025 8:27 pm Wonder why the big distilleries don’t use air cooling….
Must be a reason

Or can anyone confirm that they do???

Just guessing, it's because water is more efficient at removing heat than air.
Also the hot water from the condenser is probably used for mashing to conserve energy.

Copperhead road wrote: ↑Thu Feb 06, 2025 8:27 pm Wonder why the big distilleries don’t use air cooling….
Must be a reason

Or can anyone confirm that they do???

It's purely an efficiency thing.
Fluid is so much more thermally efficient for cooling, than air, and even if you have to run recirc pumps and refrigeration, cheaper.
The sheer surface area of air cooling needed to knock down the kind of wattage used by pro distillers in those big stills, would take up literally rooms full of heat exchangers.

Smaller craft distilleries could maybe use it to an extent I guess.

Also as Shady says, hot water sure comes in handy in a distillery. You've already expended the energy to heat it up, so may as well use it!