Winding a Coil Condenser

[rad14701]

A method that I have used to make a coil fit in the column is to increase the air gap between coils... That may not be much of an option if you already have wide air gaps, however...

[crazyk78]

Nope, no chance. Scrap it and try again. Take it slow and read the tutorial by Hook carefully.

[Samohon]

+1. Take it very slowly. Here's what I learned after a few attempts...

1) Wind your 1/4" copper round 1/3 of your mandrill.
2) Stop and count to 5 slowly.
3) Wind another 1/3 onto the mandrill.
4) Stop and count to 5 slowly.
5) Wind another 1/3 onto the mandrill.
6) Stop and count to 5 slowly. (Continue in this fashon).

What happens is this:

The copper is already anealled (soft) when you buy it..
Once you start to work with it, it hardens.
So, you bend 1/3 of your copper round the mandril, counting to 5 slowly enables the worked copper, just bent, to harden.
When you get to the stage where you have to come back on yourself for the outer coil, the stopping and starting is still relevent.

I done the inner coil first, then had lunch, then done the outer coil...

Patience is the key here, once you learn how to do it, you can repeat it over and over again...
Took me a good hour to wrap my coil, not including stopping for lunch...

Hook, Rad and others have said this in many posts on HD and in Hooks excellent pdf...

Hope this helps man...

[Kentucky shinner]

+1. Take it very slowly. Here's what I learned after a few attempts...

1) Wind your 1/4" copper round 1/3 of your mandrill.
2) Stop and count to 5 slowly.
3) Wind another 1/3 onto the mandrill.
4) Stop and count to 5 slowly.
5) Wind another 1/3 onto the mandrill.
6) Stop and count to 5 slowly. (Continue in this fashon

I done the inner coil first, then had lunch, then done the outer coil...

Patience is the key here, once you learn how to do it, you can repeat it over and over again...
Took me a good hour to wrap my coil, not including stopping for lunch...
Hook, Rad and others have said this in many posts on HD and in Hooks excellent pdf...

Hope this helps man...

++2

[arthurz]

Thank you all for your help,

Now I'll have to go shopping for more copper, 1/4inch is not readilly available at the local hardware stores.
The original coil was secondhand from a flea market, maybe thats why I couldn't wind it properly (excuses).

How about winding a single coil but twice the length?

What can I do with the wasted copper? Somebody suggested cutting it up and use for packing. Is this an option?

Will keep you posted with my next attempt.

[crazyk78]

Hey Arthurz...I have 2 spare copper coils both 8inch I think to fit a 2inch column.

They are pretty snazzy if you are interested $30 posted in Aus. email me don't pm me if you want pics.

Oh, and if you are anywhere near preston northern sub's $25 bucks and we can catch up somewhere.

Cheers

[bgrizzle]

So I wound my first coil. I am attaching pictures of my first attempt. I think it looks ok. I did not turn the final end up yet.

I am concerned that maybe it got too flat. I can blow in one end and air comes out the other. BUT, I have to compress pretty hard. (Notice I used the word compress instead of blow) I'd say it would be like trying to play a flute or something. Is this normal or should air blow through more easily.

Let me know what you guys think. I have 10 more feet of tube, so I can try again if this is failure.

Thank you.
-grizzle

[rad14701]

bgrizzle, test it with water... If the inner coil is too pinched for decent flow, 1 liter per minute, you can remove it and add a coldfinger... Don't scrap the whole thing if you don't have to...

[bgrizzle]

I can rig up some stuff and test the flow... If it doesnt work out, you mentioned a cold finger or something??? Can you provide details on how I would do this or direct me to link on this site. I HATE being such a newbie! BUT, i appreciate all the help.

grizzle

[rad14701]

[HookLine]

Looks okay to me. My first double wind didn't turn out as well as yours.

If it doesn't leak and can handle at least a litre of coolant a minute, you should be fine.

[Samohon]

Looks okay to me. My first double wind didn't turn out as well as yours.

If it doesn't leak and can handle at least a litre of coolant a minute, you should be fine.

+2 Hook, I'm gonna get a piccie of my first and second attemps taken for comparison up on this thread...

@bgrizzle:
That looks great man. You will get some flattening on the inner coil, but as the guy's have said, test it wi water...
After my third attempt, I finally rolled a decent coil, very theraputic.
The stopping and starting process is very relevant when working thw copper...

[bgrizzle]

Thanks guys. I will try to test the flow today.

If I dont get 1 ltr per minute, I will make a cold-finger like RAD suggested. Great suggestion! The only flattening I was concerned about was the inner coil.

[bgrizzle]

I didnt test the flow... but I did make another coil!

I filled it with salt this time. I hope I never have to do that again. After about two hours with the air compressor trying to get the salt out, I almost gave up. I then had a stroke of genius... I have a mist cooling system that cools of the outdoor air in my backyard. I think the pressure is like 800psi. I disconnect the main 1/4" push to connect fitting feeding the lines, and connected it to one end of the 1/4" tube on my condenser. I turned on the machine, and voila! There was a 40 ft stream of salt shooting across my yard followed by water!

Here are pictures of the second try...

One more note... There is definitely less restriction on this second coil, but I think the first one made with no salt would work just fine!

I'm going to soak it for 24 hours, and hopefully it will sparkle!

[Kentucky shinner]

Looks great she will look like a new penny when you take it out of the vinegar...
KS

[rad14701]

You wound a mighty fine double helix condenser coil on your second attempt, bgrizzle... Good job...

[HookLine]

Very nice. Now you got two working coils!

[olddog]

Nice job.


OD

[Samohon]

Damn nice coil there sir...

Allways said it was the hardest part of any build....
Thanks to Hook and Dixiedrifter it just got easier...

Well done...

[HookLine]

Normal flattening of inner coil tube.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 5#p6844955

And on the same thread

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 4#p6899224

[czedd]

After much reading and many thanks to Hookline's tutorial and others for posting their coil attempts / experiences I have finally got around to winding my double coil for a 3" boka build .

I used about 12' of 3/8" soft copper tubing which made a double coil of 10" in length with two tails of 9" long. I made a simple jig, filled tube with salt and took my time winding the coil, stopping for a quick breather every 4 to 5 winds. I was surprised how smoothly it went once I had established a rhythm. Only issue I had was soaking the salt out which took the most time and effort but worth it.

Once again thanks to all the forum threads and especialy HookLine's tutorial for makeing my first attempt painless. Here are some pictures.

[rad14701]

Nice job, czedd...

That amount of 3/8" should work well in your 3" column...

Seep us posted on your progress...

[Bushman]

I used a very similar jig until I scored a couple 3/3" pillow blocks at a garage sale never used for $2.00. I did a 3/8" coil for a member in California and used an air compressor at the beginning to get most of the salt out.

[HookLine]

czedd

Nice job.

[Klaxxon]

had some trouble trying to wind my first coil, so i left the bench to read up some. i had hooks tutorial, but it just want working out for me. now, after reading, i know why - count to 5 isnt in the tutorial! <gasp>

I have been thinking of filler to reduce kinking. I have seen sugar, salt, silica sand, and even baking powder... I have something that will be very well suited to filling. A few years ago, my daughter had a fiddler crab. We still have most of the 10 pound bag of 'bedding' left over. It is a very fine sand-like material. it is finer than sugar and salt, but not as fine as baking powder (which was suggested for ease of removal with vinegar).

I am going to give it a go...

[Bushman]

had some trouble trying to wind my first coil, so i left the bench to read up some. i had hooks tutorial, but it just want working out for me. now, after reading, i know why - count to 5 isnt in the tutorial! <gasp>

I have been thinking of filler to reduce kinking. I have seen sugar, salt, silica sand, and even baking powder... I have something that will be very well suited to filling. A few years ago, my daughter had a fiddler crab. We still have most of the 10 pound bag of 'bedding' left over. It is a very fine sand-like material. it is finer than sugar and salt, but not as fine as baking powder (which was suggested for ease of removal with vinegar).

I am going to give it a go...

After winding a few with salt I was told that the silica sand is easier to clean and is the preferred method by people that bend copper for a living. My neighbor has a sandblaster so I will use that on the next one I make.

[Klaxxon]

The 'calcium' sand (i think it is pulverized shells) worked well for packing. I managed some nice coils. It was a chore to get out though. I hit it with compressed air and i could feel it chugging through the coils. ultimately what got it out was a mixture of compressed air and lots of tapping.

[Bushman]

The 'calcium' sand (i think it is pulverized shells) worked well for packing. I managed some nice coils. It was a chore to get out though. I hit it with compressed air and i could feel it chugging through the coils. ultimately what got it out was a mixture of compressed air and lots of tapping.

Congratulations, I feel the pain as I have done the same process on more than one occasion!

[midlife_rebel]

Just finished winding my double coil condenser, and it came out pretty nice.

I did use salt in it to withstand the crush.....but now I cannot seem to get the salt to come out.
I boiled it in vinegar for 4 hours.....still plugged.
boiled in tap water 4 hours...plugged.

The tube is not crushed in any way but is there any tricks to getting the salt out?
thanks

[Bushman]

This method takes a long time, most people put water pressure using a compression fitting and let it set for sometime. I go back and forth with boiling in hot water and using my air compressor. It will eventually come out but you have to be very patient and come back to it after a while if it doesn't clear right away.