making a condensor

[Uncle Jesse]

from the old message boards:

Anonymous
(Unregistered)
10/03/02 07:22 PM
subject: Making a Condensor

I want to make a small condensor using 3/8 inch copper in a 3/4 inch copper "jacket". My question is, what is the minimum (but still effecient) length required to make it work? Would an 18 inch long tube provide enough cooling surface to condense whiskey from a "pot still"? I have seen photo's of what appear to be VERY short condensors in use with small "stills" and I would like to make one about 12 to 18 inches long (in the interest of keeping the overall size of the "rig" as compactas possible) and alternate it's use between my 1 gallon "pressure cooker" still and my larger 4 gallon one. Can anyone tell me how to calculate these relationships? Thanks from the "Rank amatuer"!


BillyWeeble
(Unregistered)
10/04/02 09:47 PM
Re: Making a Condensor [re: Anonymous]

To keep it compact, how's about coiling the 3/8 copper to fit inside a 3 or 4 in. diameter PVC pipe with typical PVC fittings for the in/out coolant? Just water in it - spray paint the PVC black for effect. Point it down with coolant in at the bottom and out the top from the side of the pipe. If a 3x3/4x3 T is hard to find or too expensive, drill a hole to accept the pipe you use, slip the pipe in and cement on a slice of connector to the inner end of the pipe. Slather cement at the pipe/connector interface and pull tight to the 3 or 4 in. pipe to seal. Use hose fittings available for PVC to connect your hoses to.

Use a 3/8 drill bit for the holes in the PVC caps for the copper coil in/out and seal with, what, silicone? Rough the cap surface first for proper adhesion.

20 ft of coiled 3/8 copper should cool anything you throw at it. The coil shouldn't touch the sides of the jacket so water flows all around it. The ends don't need to come out the middle of the caps, so wind the tubing first and see where the ends line up with the caps.

I'm doing this inline with a 1/2 copper inside a 1 in. PVC at a less than 45 degree slope where space is not a problem.