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Sorry I forgot to ask How did you put the valves in the bottom of the collector bowl? Do you drill and use a tap, if not would you take the packing nut out and sweat them in? Thanks

Chub, As for posting pictures, go to http://www.Imagecave.com onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow , you can down load pictures there for free, up to a point, but I think you can post about 100 or so on their with no charge, it's free, you can also reduce the size to make it faster for someone to down load them, and that is what I do on this site, other wise it takes for ever to down load and it takes up too much space, but go there and it will kind of walk you throuth it, if you have any problems, let me know maybe I can help you with it, I am no computer wiz by any means, but I have at least been there done that kind of thing. At first I was not resizeing my pictures, and thay just took up too much space, but it also walks you through how to do that, so it seems to be a good site, and you can also share pictures with other people, and block ones that you do not want them to see. Let me know if I can be of any more help.

Hey workerbee one more question, I posted it above but did it so you would not have seen it. Also have been doing alot of reading there seems to be quite a broad range for the copper packing, how many feet should roll up to form the 2" diameter your looking for. Chub

It all depends on what kind of mesh you have. Some is thicker then others. I bought mine from Brewhaus and I cut 48" lengths to roll up. This length fits snug in the column.

I find you need a little more than Brewhaus quotes for a particular length of column. 48" is about what I use. Little longer on the Amtek mesh.

Chub wrote:Sorry I forgot to ask How did you put the valves in the bottom of the collector bowl? Do you drill and use a tap, if not would you take the packing nut out and sweat them in? Thanks

Chub, I am not sure that I know what you are talking about, but I think you are talking about the valves that are in the bottom, below the condenser, one is for the reflux, and the other one is the colection tube, as for how they are connected, I drilled two 1/4" holes in the bottom of the 2" cap, and soldered a short piece of 1/4"xabout 2" tubing into each hole, placeing each tube, just far enough into the cap so they are about flush inside, and then soldered them into place. Then I used valves that had compression fittings on them, that way when the still is not in use, the colection tube can be removed so it does not get bent, just makes it easy to handle with out having that long copper tube on it, and it would just get bent up. Did I answer your question for you?? let me know if you do not understand, maybe I can send you a picture of it.

valves wrote:Hey workerbee one more question, I posted it above but did it so you would not have seen it. Also have been doing alot of reading there seems to be quite a broad range for the copper packing, how many feet should roll up to form the 2" diameter your looking for. Chub

Knuklehead is right, I also cut mine 48" long and then rolled it up and it is a snug fit, then you just keep filling your column with the rolled packing til you have 3' of packing in there. Buy it from Brewhaus and you will have enough, I had bought mine form someone else and they sent me about 19' and that was too short, so now I have ordered some form Brewhaus my self. I should have asked more questions at that time, before I ordered it, and I would have gotten it right the first time.

Chub wrote:Sorry I forgot to ask How did you put the valves in the bottom of the collector bowl? Do you drill and use a tap, if not would you take the packing nut out and sweat them in? Thanks

Chub, if you want you can solder the valves right on to the cap, it keeps it more compact but if you do this then make sure you pull out the needle because there is a rubber gasket which seals the nut between the valve and the inner seal so it doesn't leak when the valve is open. I would however suggest to do it the way Workerbee has suggested in case you want to take the valves off to clean or replace them. I used needle valves the first time around but they started to leak after a while and I had soldered them to the cap. When I replaced with little solid ones I soldered nipples to the cap and connected the valves with compression fittings as well.

Thanks guys, this has been very helpfull, It makes sense to put the tubes in the bottom and connect the valves to them for all the reasons you guys said. The original plan looked like the valves were taped in the bottom thats why I got them I think I will get some with compresson fittings on both sides. It sound like brewhouse is the place to get the copper mesh; I was thinking about ordering from mile high there was a link to his site from here. If everone has had good luck with brewhouse I can stick with them. I will need to pack 40" of column would 2 pounds be enough? Thanks again guys for the help. Chub

Brewhaus in Canada sells it in 30' packs. 30' will do a 36"x2" column.

I making the condesor tonight, hopefully that will go well... but i was looking at the needle valves and was wondering which ones to get, they all seem to have compression fitting on them, are those the ones I should get?

I bought mine at home Depot, let me know how it goes with bending your coil.

ok i made the coil, here's some pictures of it





should i pull the condersor apart more?

How did you coil it up? Did you fill it with something? Just wondering?

Just pull it apart enough so vapor can get all around it. As long as each loop doesn't touch the next your fine.

no, i just wrapped it carefully around a 1.25" OD pipe and it came out fine with no kinks! it took me about 30 minutes. its 1/4" ID tube

Very nice job on the coil

thanks! my roomate didnt think i could do it (when he saw it, he asked me where did i buy it) haha

Hey, looks good, how big is the pipe that it is going into? It looks like it is pulled apart just fine, as long as it fits into the pipe that you are going to put it into, I would leave it just like it is. Remember that it needs to come out of the bottom of the pipe high enough so that when you slide the pipe into the fitting that it is to slide down in to, that your 1/4" tube does not interfear with that fitting, did that make sense? Mine comes out just above my 3"X2" reducer that the condenser slides down into, also this condenser is NOT soldered into place, so it can be removed for cleaning. You could also have both your inlet & outlet water lines just come out of the top of the condenser pipe, that way the coil would just lift right out when not in use, and you could just drop it in there when in use, make sense??

Workerbee,are you saying that the condenser coil should actually go down past the t and get close to being at the bottom of the distilite trap? If so I will have to cut my condeser shell down a bit.Chub

if i had the water coming in/out from the top, whats the best way to get the connection to the bottom? soder a joint and another piece to the top? pvc tube? thanks!

Chub wrote:Workerbee,are you saying that the condenser coil should actually go down past the t and get close to being at the bottom of the distilite trap? If so I will have to cut my condeser shell down a bit.Chub

No not at all, if you look at the photo that I posted of my condenser and coil you will see how the coil comes out closer to one end of the pipe then it does on the other, this is because the condenser its self slides down into a 3"X2" reducer, and it is not soldered in place so I can pull the hole condenser out for cleaning. Or the other option is that you can have the condenser just drop down into the condenser pipe where both the inlet and outlet water lines would come out the top of the condenser pipe so the coil would just slide in and out of the pipe, there are some pictures of that on this site, I will have to see if I can find them. Mine is not that way, mine come out of the side of the condenser pipe so the coil is soldered into it, Here is a photo of my condenser, note how the 1/4" tube is closer to one end then the other, the tube coming out by the bottom is the cold water inlet, and the tube at the top is the water outlet--- In this next picture you can see how the condenser just dropes into that 3"X2" reducer, it is NOT soldered in place so I can remove it.-----

ooohhhh i see, that makes a lot of sense! i assume it doesnt have any problem with sealing. very nice.

Conquistidor wrote:if i had the water coming in/out from the top, whats the best way to get the connection to the bottom? soder a joint and another piece to the top? pvc tube? thanks!

I do not know if I understand your question about the connection to the bottom. If you go to the forum index, and click on Stills and Appurtenances, then click on Still Photos, you will see where Canadianmoonshiner has a link to his photos, there is a good photo there where he is using a 2" condenser and has both the inlet and outlet water lines coming out the top of his condenser, this way his coil just pulls right out of the 2" pipe. Mine however is not that way, I use a 3" condenser, and my coil is soldered right into the 3" pipe.

Conquistidor wrote:ooohhhh i see, that makes a lot of sense! i assume it doesnt have any problem with sealing. very nice.

None, it is open to the top anyhow, and you are condensing the vapors back into a liquid, and as the liquid runs down the inside of the pipe and coil it just collects in the bottom and eather comes out the collection tube or gets to go into the reflux, the 3" pipe sets inside the 3" reducer so it can not leak anyhow, works great. Hope that helps you.

Workerbee, you're a damned genuis!!! Boy I wish I could do neat work like that. I usually have a couple pounds of "slagged" solder dripped all over everything. Damn that's nice! I saw the condensor you referred to by Canadianmoonshiner and I like yours better, 'specially since it looks a whole lot easier to make.
Kep em coming,
Spiritmaker

My set up is just like canada moonshiners as both tails come out of the top,I can also pull my coil out for cleaning. My tails however are fused to an encap with a large hole in the center [to keep presure from building up] the reason I fused the tails is to suspend the coil in the proper location which I thought was right above the t however I can just cut my condenser shell to lower it if that would be better. Chub

Anonymous wrote:My set up is just like canada moonshiners as both tails come out of the top,I can also pull my coil out for cleaning. My tails however are fused to an encap with a large hole in the center [to keep presure from building up] the reason I fused the tails is to suspend the coil in the proper location which I thought was right above the t however I can just cut my condenser shell to lower it if that would be better. Chub

I would never cut the condenser shell, I would be more inclined to build a longer coil, you could also place a bend in one or both tails coming out the top to hold the coil at the right spot.

Anonymous wrote:Workerbee, you're a damned genuis!!! Boy I wish I could do neat work like that. I usually have a couple pounds of "slagged" solder dripped all over everything. Damn that's nice! I saw the condensor you referred to by Canadianmoonshiner and I like yours better, 'specially since it looks a whole lot easier to make.
Kep em coming,
Spiritmaker

Oh, I am not a genuis by any means, I can hardly chew gum and walk at the same time, I just like to take my time to do things, and do them right, and then that does not work all the time, I have had plenty of problems with this project along the way, but building it to me is half the fun. Thanks for the compliment.

hi guys new to this think i must be posting wrong or something

maybe i got it right this time workerbee if you dont mind me asking how long is the 3'' pipe for your condensor.great looking outfit i am trying to make one just like it but i am also having truble finding fittings.finely fond a 3x2 reducer today.may i ask what you are useing for a boiler. I have a
15.5gal keg.maybe when i get it togeather and learn how to ues the site ill send some pics thanks.