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I've been using 3 thumpers for the past while, made from 1.8 litre mason jars, some have said that all you need is one, I disagree! I find that this 3 not only increases my % but also seems to make my recipe all that much smoother. Please give your imput.

Three thumpers/effects/retorts are very good if they are well designed, but you wouldn't catch me using glass preserving jars and seals for it.

Looks...sketchy to say the least.

buckfity6. Good onya ..I love the experimenting .Never tried it myself but it makes sense.

Just like others have mentioned, glass thumpers are not the best choice . The world is all about Harm minimization . ( we are a stupid bunch apparently ) and some will copy it with a gas burner ( or a cigarette in the hand ) and one day for some reason a glass jar thumper will break and bad shit will happen .....best we do it not in glass ...or at least use Borosilicate glass which is less likely to spontaneously crack .

Glass bash aside ...great idea ...and nicely done Now why not stack them one on top of each other , with a drain in each so when one gets fill it drains into the one below it

What happens when they go....thump...thump...chink?

Also, the vapor tubing looks quite small. 3/8" OD?

How big of a boiler are you feeding those (3) quarts with? Typically, the thumper is 1/4 (minimum) to 1/3 the size of the boiler as a minimum.

I cannot in good faith recommend a setup like you're showing.
ss

You can, and should, do better...!!! Just say NO to glass thumpers... Let us see the rest of your rig so we can insure that it is safe because it appears that your judgement may have been clouded by what you've read or seen elsewhere... You won't see folks here running glass thumpers... At least not once they understand why they shouldn't...

Safety, first and foremost...

make a tri thump out of safe things and use that a a 3 chamber bong

Thanks for the input guys, I'm using a 12.5 gallon pot, I am in the process of getting Pyrex glass incase in stainless steel 1/2 gallon thumpers set up now, I have had great luck so far but won't chance any longer, but will for sure keep using 3.

buckfity6 wrote:Thanks for the input guys, I'm using a 12.5 gallon pot, I am in the process of getting Pyrex glass incase in stainless steel 1/2 gallon thumpers set up now, I have had great luck so far but won't chance any longer, but will for sure keep using 3.

For a 12.5 gallon boiler you should be using at least a 3 - 4 gallon thumper... Half gallon thumpers aren't the way to go... Have you done enough research...???

I have moved this topic to what not to do. Glass period is a NO NO. Be safe, Don't do it. Do the reading. The posts above have been very kind to you on how they told you not to. Imagine what would happen if one broke. Stainless or copper is the only approved metal in your vapor path. Lets not dog pile on this even though it is very temping.

buckfity6 wrote:I've been using 3 thumpers for the past while, made from 1.8 litre mason jars, some have said that all you need is one, I disagree! I find that this 3 not only increases my % but also seems to make my recipe all that much smoother. Please give your imput.

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I had the same set-up for port. Six or seven jars, the first one raised and the last (actually a small barrel with the feed through a cork in the bunghole) lowered.

So when I turned on the tap I could see the level in the first one going down....Used to put part-bottles of fortified wine, port, muscat, whatever, into it, also some part-bottles of wine that were still okay, with some spirit to bring the abv up to say 25%. So the taste was always changing...
Geoff

I've used a 2l glass jar thumper several times. I couldn't knock it over, my 1/2" tubing kept it suspended, even if I removed my crates. It's heats gradually, so thermal shock is almost out (it takes pouring boiling water into it, when it's cold) and it handles heat much higher than my boiler can put out.

This is why it gets debated still, but this place stresses safety first. It takes skill to use it, and it's easy to make a mistake. Picked wrong glass, didn't see a flaw or miniscule air bubble, turned the heat up too high, so that hot mash bubbles into the jar when it's still cold, jar is too cold when process is started. Just to make things better, underside of lid is coated in what?, lid is made of what? Answers usually are plastisol (something close to that, night shift #4 is robbing me mentally) and hopefully stainless steel, but since they are coated... I kinda sorta doubt that (I also avoid SS alloys). Also people can take something for granted and not realize they grabbed the wrong kind of jar, free of flaws when not, etc.

Also, just because I got away with using skill and professional focus 49 times doesn't mean the 50th will go well, specially if a flaw forms and u miss it due to complacency. I can be hard headed, but even I can admit that this is like playing 5 finger flay, at some point your going to make a mistake, and it's going to hurt. Accept it, or don't play. Safety is preached here so that it will reduce the chance of it happening, and reducing the fallout when it does.

I have retired my glass thumper and now use a 6qt SS thumper for my 20L SS boiler.

Glass will receive no support here, not from a lack of knowledge or understanding of it, but from an abundance of it. It took me a while to get that.

Been exploring the site and gleaning as much info as possible from the different boards and came across this. With a chemical plant operator background, and a long time pressure canner (food), I'd never use glass jars in a distillation process. I've posted a picture of my wood cask thumper. I made it from a 5 gal charred oak barrel coming off a 10 gal pot. I really like the wood, as it quiets the 'thumping' and doesn't get too hot to handle. 3/4" copper into the bottom of keg bubbles through the 2 gal liquid level and exits through 1/2" copper.