I connected all the hoses and fired up the pump. It pushed water through the leibig condenser just fine but didn’t push any water at all through the coiled reflux condenser on top of the column.
I switched the water off to the leibig and the pump still wouldn’t push any water through the coil. I figured that the coil was providing too much resistance (being only ¼” tubing).
So I built a condenser that had much less resistance to flow. I used standard ½” copper pipe and managed to stuff 4 of them in a 2” pipe, with clearance around all 4 of them. Normal fittings were too big so I drilled 3/8” holes in the end caps and soldered in little pieces of 3/8” tubing to connect them.
The pipes are 14” long and extend past the outer 2” cover and into the column. They stick about half way down into the “T” fitting where the takeoff lives. This gives me a little more cooling in that area so I can better control any vapor that tries to slip by.
I calculated the total surface area of this unit, and it is about the same as a 144” (12 feet) of coiled ¼” tubing.
I am posting this because it is a good alternative to a coiled condenser. It’s easy to make, cheap and very sturdy for hooking up to external hoses.
However, it didn’t solve my problem. I didn’t even consider the height factor when I hastily switched condensers. It turns out that my little pump simply can’t push water that high. It’s more of a high volume than a high pressure pump.
I still have one more hope, and that is to charge the whole system with water and then start the pump, counting on the siphoning effect of the return water to be enough to overcome the height problem.
Anyway, I like this new condenser better because I have gotten away from ¼” tubing altogether.
Here are the finished guts:
Here is the end detail showing the 3/8” connectors:
End holes:
Complete condenser:
