wildcats pot still w/ccvm option..

[Steve Broady]

When I wound the 3/8” for my Dimroth, I found that it wanted to kink if I wasn’t extremely careful about filling it with salt. And even then, I had a couple spots that wanted to act up. It was also very hard wrk, holding everything in my hands. I should have used a vise and some kind of clamp and form. But it WAS achievable be a complete novice.

[Wildcats]

Yeah. I think I just got ahead of myself. Maybe I didn't have it full of salt all the way.... I should have waited. I'll give it another go with more prept.

[MooseMan]

Ok before you try again mate, see if you can get some fine sand, that stuff flows and compacts really well and is easier to get out afterwards than salt. Tap, tap, tap, or hold something that vibrates (:-) against the tubing as you fill it.

Make sure it's bone dry, even if you have to heat it in an open pan for a bit.

If you have a trusted friend, it goes easier with an extra pair of hands, and use lots of cable ties, clamps, wire or whatever, to hold the tail end completely solid as you wind. Totally solid.

Find something if you can, that your second pair of hands can rotate the "Mandrel" in as you wind the coil.
If your having trouble that can help loads. I went really rough and ready and used house bricks with holes in but pillar blocks and bearings are a dream.

And if you think you are going slow enough, go slower!
Copper can work harden surprisingly fast.

[Wildcats]

Ok before you try again mate, see if you can get some fine sand, that stuff flows and compacts really well and is easier to get out afterwards than salt. Tap, tap, tap, or hold something that vibrates (:-) against the tubing as you fill it.

Make sure it's bone dry, even if you have to heat it in an open pan for a bit.

If you have a trusted friend, it goes easier with an extra pair of hands, and use lots of cable ties, clamps, wire or whatever, to hold the tail end completely solid as you wind. Totally solid.

Find something if you can, that your second pair of hands can rotate the "Mandrel" in as you wind the coil.
If your having trouble that can help loads. I went really rough and ready and used house bricks with holes in but pillar blocks and bearings are a dream.

And if you think you are going slow enough, go slower!
Copper can work harden surprisingly fast.

Thank you for the advice Mooseman. I'll give it a shot tonight when I get off work.

[Yummyrum]

Maybe its a dumb question…. maybe not …. But was your copper annealed ?
If its not annealed ( heated to at least cherry red ) then you won’t have a snow flakes chance in hell of getting it to bend

[Wildcats]

Maybe its a dumb question…. maybe not …. But was your copper annealed ?
If its not annealed ( heated to at least cherry red ) then you won’t have a snow flakes chance in hell of getting it to bend

Yes it's the soft coil 3/8". I will heat it to red hot at the first bend this time and see if that helps. The 1/4" seams like it is a lot easier to wind. I'll give the 3/8" another go tonight. Hopefully I'll report back with my new coil. Thank you for the feedback sir.

[Saltbush Bill]

Do any of these links help, worth a look anyway.
viewtopic.php?t=11554
viewtopic.php?t=14559
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=61035
viewtopic.php?t=53694

[Wildcats]

Do any of these links help, worth a look anyway.
viewtopic.php?t=11554
viewtopic.php?t=14559
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=61035
viewtopic.php?t=53694

Got rained out today. Will re read these again. And give it another go. Thank you sir.

[MooseMan]

Any update on your efforts?
I'm really keen to see you succeed with this coil as I was super nervous before I did mine but with a little reading and some prep (And a good mate to lend a hand) it went smoothly, so it can be done by an amatuer with no experience.

I had real trouble trying to hard solder my SS element stubs to my keg and got really frustrated because it just wouldn't stick.
The amount of advice and suggestions I got from guys on here was heartwarming.

I ended up getting them welded in and later found out that I had the wrong solder flux, but I was pushed on by the amount of people here who tried to help me with the soldering, so I'm trying to pay that forward.

[Wildcats]

Any update on your efforts?
I'm really keen to see you succeed with this coil as I was super nervous before I did mine but with a little reading and some prep (And a good mate to lend a hand) it went smoothly, so it can be done by an amatuer with no experience.

I had real trouble trying to hard solder my SS element stubs to my keg and got really frustrated because it just wouldn't stick.
The amount of advice and suggestions I got from guys on here was heartwarming.

I ended up getting them welded in and later found out that I had the wrong solder flux, but I was pushed on by the amount of people here who tried to help me with the soldering, so I'm trying to pay that forward.

No I didn't make any progress on the coil. But I did make a bracket to support the condenser and I ordered the gas burner and more tri clamps. Also ordered the fitting for my condenser and water lines. So I will be ready for a cleaning run as soon as all my stuff comes in the mail. Still need a RC. I'm gonna get some more 1/4" tubing for the RC. It's so much easier to wind then the 3/8". Thank you for all the help sir.

[zed255]

Curious, did you buy refrigeration grade of general purpose tube? Refrigeration grade has a thicker wall, it will be more resistant to kinking than general purpose type but will take more force to bend too.

[Wildcats]

Curious, did you buy refrigeration grade of general purpose tube? Refrigeration grade has a thicker wall, it will be more resistant to kinking than general purpose type but will take more force to bend too.

I got it from the HVAC guy at work. So I assume it is refrigerated tubing.

[Wildcats]

Well I've been busy with work and have not even got to do my cleaning run and sacrificial run yet. I do have 20 gallons of Shadys Sugar Shine waiting to be stripped. And I have 3 1/2 gallons of low wines for my sac run. Just been to busy to get it done. Not happy about that. Hopefully will get it done this weekend.

[Wildcats]

I was able to get my cleaning run and sacrificial run done today. I am so happy with my new rig. The shotgun condenser is so efficient. It'll knock down all I'll need. I had the gas cranked up and the water flow was minimal. And the distillate was nice and cold. I clocked it output @ 3.1lph. I don't really know if that's fast. As this is my first time with the 2" still head. It's was so easy to run. I did notice some passive reflux. That's what the picture of the sight glass is showing. I still need a reflux coil. And because I have a ferrule on the top of my tee. And I like being able to see what's going on. I will be getting another sight glass to go in top the tee. As well as the one under. I am super happy with how she drive in my sacrificial run.

[Wildcats]

These are the pictures from when I finished the condenser. I just got them up. I have struggled with up loading and resizing pictures. I was just now able to figure out how to get it done.

Really happy with my new set up. It'll make stripping runs so much nicer. The bigger boiler is so much better. I was only able to charge about 3.5 gal to my boiler before. So this is so much better. Cuts will be nice. Thanks to all on this site for the feedback and wealth of information.

[MooseMan]

Congrats on getting it all finished up man, it looks real nice too! I for one appreciate the pics.
That shotgun looks like it could knock down all the steam from a thermal spring! Haha

I'm sure you will be letting us all know how it runs in reflux when you've got it nailed, I hope it all goes well and makes you lots of clean neutral.

Although it's a great shame to cover up all that lovely copper column, you may want to think about insulation for it if the temps are low or its breezy out.
My 50" copper column was radiating a huge amount of heat waste until I insulated it.

[Wildcats]

Congrats on getting it all finished up man, it looks real nice too! I for one appreciate the pics.
That shotgun looks like it could knock down all the steam from a thermal spring! Haha

I'm sure you will be letting us all know how it runs in reflux when you've got it nailed, I hope it all goes well and makes you lots of clean neutral.

Although it's a great shame to cover up all that lovely copper column, you may want to think about insulation for it if the temps are low or its breezy out.
My 50" copper column was radiating a huge amount of heat waste until I insulated it.

Yeah I could notice a slight change when the wind blew. And a lot of passive reflux. So I will be insulating the column. Planning on stripping run for today.

[shadylane]

Looking good.
Have Ya built a stand with a shroud for the burner yet?

[Wildcats]

Looking good.
Have Ya built a stand with a shroud for the burner yet?

No not yet. I need one, that's for sure. You can't see the burned spot on the floor in the picture. The metal is covering it. Now you got me thinking... I do have some metal frame from our old cabana. I could drill a few holes and screw it all together. It'll have to wait till after the 4th as we have family in.
Sipping SSS and coke

[Hapican]

That is some beautiful fabrication work and ingenuity brought together right there.

Very impressive

[Wildcats]

That is some beautiful fabrication work and ingenuity brought together right there.

Very impressive

Thanks man. I'm just following in the steps of Giants. It's all here. The set up I have and use has been build and used by many members here on HD. Cheer's

[Tōtōchtin]

14' double coil

Curious, did you buy refrigeration grade of general purpose tube? Refrigeration grade has a thicker wall, it will be more resistant to kinking than general purpose type but will take more force to bend too.

I got it from the HVAC guy at work. So I assume it is refrigerated tubing.

Glad to see it's coming together for you. Making a coil is one of the easiest thing I've had to do so far. I used 14' of 3/8" to make a double coil. I used fine sifted beach sand that I dried out bone dry in the sun. I used a two story building so I could pour sand down and packed it using a vibrator. I then used a 3/4" PVC with a broom handle inside of it. I wire tied the copper to the PVC then tied the PVC to a fence post and just walked around in circled leaning outwards. Once I had 10" of coil I slipped a 1 1/4" PVC over that and continued to walk in circles.

PVC with slot cut out

Two people would have made it real easy. When cutting the slot sand down the edge of the slot so the tubing has no sharp edge to go over.
Tōtō

[Wildcats]

IMG20231119191450~2.jpg

Curious, did you buy refrigeration grade of general purpose tube? Refrigeration grade has a thicker wall, it will be more resistant to kinking than general purpose type but will take more force to bend too.

I got it from the HVAC guy at work. So I assume it is refrigerated tubing.

Glad to see it's coming together for you. Making a coil is one of the easiest thing I've had to do so far. I used 14' of 3/8" to make a double coil. I used fine sifted beach sand that I dried out bone dry in the sun. I used a two story building so I could pour sand down and packed it using a vibrator. I then used a 3/4" PVC with a broom handle inside of it. I wire tied the copper to the PVC then tied the PVC to a fence post and just walked around in circled leaning outwards. Once I had 10" of coil I slipped a 1 1/4" PVC over that and continued to walk in circles.IMG20231120155626.jpg Two people would have made it real easy. When cutting the slot sand down the edge of the slot so the tubing has no sharp edge to go over.
Tōtō

looks good man. I made the coil but have not run it in reflux yet. Have gallons of SSS and All Bran. I just use my pot still mostly.
Just put down a corn flakes and rye bread and all bran wash last night. Cheer's

[Hapican]

IMG20231119191450~2.jpg

Curious, did you buy refrigeration grade of general purpose tube? Refrigeration grade has a thicker wall, it will be more resistant to kinking than general purpose type but will take more force to bend too.

I got it from the HVAC guy at work. So I assume it is refrigerated tubing.

Glad to see it's coming together for you. Making a coil is one of the easiest thing I've had to do so far. I used 14' of 3/8" to make a double coil. I used fine sifted beach sand that I dried out bone dry in the sun. I used a two story building so I could pour sand down and packed it using a vibrator. I then used a 3/4" PVC with a broom handle inside of it. I wire tied the copper to the PVC then tied the PVC to a fence post and just walked around in circled leaning outwards. Once I had 10" of coil I slipped a 1 1/4" PVC over that and continued to walk in circles.IMG20231120155626.jpg Two people would have made it real easy. When cutting the slot sand down the edge of the slot so the tubing has no sharp edge to go over.
Tōtō

That is a beautiful coil. I truly appreciate the insight, I would have never thought to use the sand. I'm having issues attaching pictures but I'll try to attach one.
Granted it's a reshaping of the original worm that came with this vevor.... But I used a 4-in chunk of cherry limb as a center Post when wrapping it which by keeping the pressure consistent prevented kinking as well

[Wildcats]

If it was me I'd ditch the small worm and built a Liebig condenser for it. You'll be glad you did. That worm is under sized. 36" x 3/4" over 1/2" will work well. Cheer's. Not sure why your posting on my old build thread. (I don't mind)Check out the just post a picture of your rig thread and the construction thread for ideas. Good luck.

[Hapican]

Good morning Wildcats,

Thank you for the graciousness for posting on your old thread. When I was reading thru it, I came across your having packed the copper with sand to keep its shape while bending. I had never heard of doing that. Definitely one of those "know how's" I'll never forget.

I appreciate the guidance towards using a liebig. I am completely green and never heard of one before finding home distillers. I'm off today, so perfect time to get familiar with one.

Much appreciated.

[Wildcats]

Good morning Wildcats,

Thank you for the graciousness for posting on your old thread. When I was reading thru it, I came across your having packed the copper with sand to keep its shape while bending. I had never heard of doing that. Definitely one of those "know how's" I'll never forget.

I appreciate the guidance towards using a liebig. I am completely green and never heard of one before finding home distillers. I'm off today, so perfect time to get familiar with one.

Much appreciated.viewtopic.php?p=7112281#p7112281 here is a post that talks about a Liebig condenser and has a parts list for it. I was able to find this by using the search function.