Copper condensers and impurities

[distillingwisdom]

hi
Does a copper coil condenser or a liebeg condenser made from copper any beneficial than condensers made from stainless steel?
Is it true copper suck impurities good and deliver a better product?
What about the boiler is the copper one any better than a stainless steel one?

[Yummyrum]

Scroll down past the first three Google adds .
It’s all been discussed here before
app.php/googlesearch?cx=012980085383122 ... mit=Search

[NZChris]

Some reading for you: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf ... .tb00450.x

[kennstminet]

It is easy to add copper to a SS Boiler. Just throw a few pieces of scrap copper pipes or sheet metal in the pot and leave it there. Works fine for me with my Stainless Steel Boiler.

[distillingwisdom]

It is easy to add copper to a SS Boiler. Just throw a few pieces of scrap copper pipes or sheet metal in the pot and leave it there. Works fine for me with my Stainless Steel Boiler.

Interesting.
You do sanitise those copper pieces and use them multiple times?

[kennstminet]

Over time the copper gets a dark color and looses efficiency. It can be refreshed easily in a citric acid bath followed immediately by a rinse with fresh water.

[Yummyrum]

I’m surprised that copper in your boiler goes dark .
Any copper in contact with wash or Dunder in my boiler is perfectly clean .

Copper in the vapour path is a different story .
Having said that , I don’t care . It seems to do it’s job just fine .

[shadylane]

I use a shot gun barrel brush and water every so often to clean the black crud out of condensers.
If the black isn't cleaned once in a while, it will begin to form greenish blue stuff that breaks loose and contaminates the whiskey.

It's best to design vapor plumbing and condensers, so it's easy to mechanically clean everything vapor touches. Using acid or backset works to do the job, but I think it's better to just brush the black off and give it a rinse. Acid will make the copper shinny again, but that isn't the best because it can lead to corrosion and make the problem worst.

[distillingwisdom]

I’m surprised that copper in your boiler goes dark .
Any copper in contact with wash or Dunder in my boiler is perfectly clean .

Copper in the vapour path is a different story .
Having said that , I don’t care . It seems to do it’s job just fine .

Eventually if the vapour is going to pass through the copper condensing coil then what added advantage copper pieces in the boiler offer?

[NormandieStill]

Eventually if the vapour is going to pass through the copper condensing coil then what added advantage copper pieces in the boiler offer?

Contact with the liquid during heat-up time and during the run is far greater than vapour contact time when condensing. From memory the various studies showed that depending on what the run was (stripping or spirit) the best place for copper varied. For a hobbyist, best to have it everywhere unless you fancy switching between copper and stainless boilers and condensers every time!

[kennstminet]

I assume many of you already know that PDF.
If not, it could be helpful.

The Impact of Copper in Different Parts of - Harrison.pdf

(2.1 MiB) Downloaded 77 times

[LWTCS]

Here is a pretty good write up on why copper in the kettle.

https://distilling.com/distillermagazin ... perations/

[Steve Broady]

Here is a pretty good write up on why copper in the kettle.

https://distilling.com/distillermagazin ... perations/

Very interesting. The article seems to discuss commercial still design more than our hobby stills, but what I take away from that is that copper in the boiler can make a significant difference.

I wonder, is it possible to discern the difference in EC levels by taste?