So I am looking at a steam stripping set up. As it is, I have two 50L milk can boilers to my disposal and the idea would be to create steam in one and push the steam over to the second where I have the wash to be stripped. The below picture is Pablo Picasso's understanding of how this would be set up. Elbows are square in Picasso's world, nb.
Everything in the set up would be 2 inch tri clamp components that I use in my normal pot still set up, except the thumper pipe, which would be a 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch pipe, connected via tri clamp. The thumper pipe will end about 2 cm above the bottom of the second boiler. Would this work? I would be stripping between 25-40L batches.
Shady informed about the need for an atmosphere valve to avoid implosion when steaming stops, sitting along the steam path from boiler one to boiler two. Not entirely sure what exactly that is, except that it is a valve, and not sure where it would fit in this modular set up - suggestions appreciated.
The valve could also be on your boiler, above your top fill line. If you already have an extra port on the top of your boiler, this could be relatively easy to add a valve there. The valve is not needed if you simply detach the thumper arm immediately after cutting power to the boiler. That said, a valve is much easier to quicker that trying to detach a hot fitting. It’s just a matter of convenience as both solutions require that you remember to release pressure at the right time.
When you do your build, I would recommend you allow for varying elevations of your boiler and thumper. Whether it’s dealing with uneven floors or a need to raise/lower a specific component of your still, you will appreciate the flexibility. Consider the range of height differences when deciding how long your arm parts are.
I see a shotgun in your diagram. Make sure the thumper riser is high enough that you can fit your collection vessel under your PC output. I collect stripping runs into a 3 or 5 gallon car boy on a rolling cart and unfortunately my thumper head riser height is fixed and low, so when I steam strip I need to elevate my thumper a couple of feet off of the ground. The next thumper rig I make will either have a 2’+ riser or I will make a modular riser so I can adjust the output height.
My Horny Goat rebuild is set up with a relief valve between the steam generator and the pot and one between the pot and thumper if you need a reference for what Shady is talking about, Jonny's drawing explains it pretty well too. These are not to be confused with a safety PRV that release any over pressure situation, these are simply to release the pressure manually at the end of the run and open the system to air so you don't have any vacuum form, causing problems.
Rusty
"Knowledge is a paradox; the more one understands, the more one realizes the vastness of his ignorance" - Viktor (Arcane)
OtisT wrote: ↑Thu May 22, 2025 5:58 am
The valve could also be on your boiler, above your top fill line. If you already have an extra port on the top of your boiler, this could be relatively easy to add a valve there. The valve is not needed if you simply detach the thumper arm immediately after cutting power to the boiler. That said, a valve is much easier to quicker that trying to detach a hot fitting. It’s just a matter of convenience as both solutions require that you remember to release pressure at the right time.
When you do your build, I would recommend you allow for varying elevations of your boiler and thumper. Whether it’s dealing with uneven floors or a need to raise/lower a specific component of your still, you will appreciate the flexibility. Consider the range of height differences when deciding how long your arm parts are.
I see a shotgun in your diagram. Make sure the thumper riser is high enough that you can fit your collection vessel under your PC output. I collect stripping runs into a 3 or 5 gallon car boy on a rolling cart and unfortunately my thumper head riser height is fixed and low, so when I steam strip I need to elevate my thumper a couple of feet off of the ground. The next thumper rig I make will either have a 2’+ riser or I will make a modular riser so I can adjust the output height.
Thanks, Otis! Yeah, I see I need to think hard about how to fit the two boilers and their height relationship. For brewing, which generates a lot of steam, I use a small bathroom in my brewery where there's a fan. I put a small table there where I put my Braumeister and I was thinking of putting the steam boiler there. But the height difference if the second (mash) boiler would be on the floor would be too high. It probably would need to be elevated too, which at least mean there should be no concern to fit a carboy under the shotgun PC. The problem will be a the uneven bathroom floor, however. The angle of it towards the drain is quite acute. Add on top of that how tiny the bathroom is, not much wiggle room with one boiler, with two...
PalCabral wrote: ↑Thu May 22, 2025 5:01 am
Hiya guys.
So I am looking at a steam stripping set up. As it is, I have two 50L milk can boilers to my disposal and the idea would be to create steam in one and push the steam over to the second where I have the wash to be stripped. The below picture is Pablo Picasso's understanding of how this would be set up. Elbows are square in Picasso's world, nb.
Everything in the set up would be 2 inch tri clamp components that I use in my normal pot still set up, except the thumper pipe, which would be a 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch pipe, connected via tri clamp. The thumper pipe will end about 2 cm above the bottom of the second boiler. Would this work? I would be stripping between 25-40L batches.
Shady informed about the need for an atmosphere valve to avoid implosion when steaming stops, sitting along the steam path from boiler one to boiler two. Not entirely sure what exactly that is, except that it is a valve, and not sure where it would fit in this modular set up - suggestions appreciated.
Steam stripp.jpg
Your Thumper/Boiler2 needs to be higher than your Steam Genny/Boiler1. You will have some passive reflux of the steam in the lyne arm between the Genny and the thumper. If the thumper is lower the condensed water will flow into thumper filling it up.
If thumper is slightly higher, the condensed water in the lyne arm will flow back into the Genny. You can put a vacuum release ball valve and a PRV on either Boiler 1 or the lyne arm.
You've got the makings of a good design so far.
Good Luck!
If it's got hide or hair, I can ride it.
Wheels or tracks, I can drive it.
Rotor or fixed wings, I can fly it.
And if it's grain or fruit, i can make a drop outta it!
Rusty Ole Bucket wrote: ↑Thu May 22, 2025 6:07 am
My Horny Goat rebuild is set up with a relief valve between the steam generator and the pot and one between the pot and thumper if you need a reference for what Shady is talking about, Jonny's drawing explains it pretty well too. These are not to be confused with a safety PRV that release any over pressure situation, these are simply to release the pressure manually at the end of the run and open the system to air so you don't have any vacuum form, causing problems.
Rusty
Hats off to you, Rusty, what an awesome build you made! You are either a first rate plumber in this life or you were in your last. Absolutely brilliant!
Pure Old Possum Piss wrote: ↑Thu May 22, 2025 9:12 am
Your Thumper/Boiler2 needs to be higher than your Steam Genny/Boiler1. You will have some passive reflux of the steam in the lyne arm between the Genny and the thumper. If the thumper is lower the condensed water will flow into thumper filling it up.
If thumper is slightly higher, the condensed water in the lyne arm will flow back into the Genny. You can put a vacuum release ball valve and a PRV on either Boiler 1 or the lyne arm.
You've got the makings of a good design so far.
Good Luck!
Super vital information, thanks POPP! I got it wrong there. My understanding was that the pipes should be horizontal but you're saying they should incline a little to allow passive reflux to flow back into steam boiler. Gotcha! (Classic man-splaning there, lol).
Thanks for all the great input. So I have updated Picasso's picture a bit to cater for the 3 way tee that will be where I will have a valve and the height difference between boiler 1 and boiler 2. I think Picasso got carried away with the angle but he's from Catalonia and angles are their thing.
What about the the length of the thumper pipe? Is 2cm or 3/4 inch above the bottom about right? Higher?
PalCabral wrote: ↑Thu May 22, 2025 9:22 am
Hats off to you, Rusty, what an awesome build you made! You are either a first rate plumber in this life or you were in your last. Absolutely brilliant!
Thanks Pal! I'm not a plumber, just a farm kid that had a grandpa that loved to teach me things.
Your design is coming right along, I can't wait to see what you come up with. Looking good!
My spear outlets are about 1" off the bottom to my kettle, same for my thumper, but my kettle spear is capped and has holes and mesh in it up to about 3". Thumper spear is bologna cut.
Rusty
"Knowledge is a paradox; the more one understands, the more one realizes the vastness of his ignorance" - Viktor (Arcane)
My personal opinion is that it does not matter which is higher, the boiler or the thumper, or even if they are level. You are using this for stripping so it really does not matter. Even for a spirit run, I don’t think it matters.
The arm length is important. Too short and you can’t deal with big elevation differences. Too long and you may find the boiler/thumper to far apart for your small room. Of course, if you make your thumper arm in two pieces, you can get the best of both worlds. I’d make one arm as short as possible, so that it would support an even or close to even elevation and would keep the two boilers close together (don’t forget to account for insulation when placing the two boilers next to each other). The second arm would be added to the first for bigger elevation differences or when you need more spacing. Think of scissors.
My advice would be to mock up the arms with your actual equipment in the actual room before you cut arms to length and solder things up.
If you need an Otis-Picasso drawing of what I am describing just ask.
SS tri-clamps work good, but for vapor plumbing.
I prefer using copper 1" unions and 90' degree elbows to avoid having to solder or braze copper to SS.
Rusty Ole Bucket wrote: ↑Thu May 22, 2025 6:07 am
These are not to be confused with a safety PRV that release any over pressure situation, these are simply to release the pressure manually at the end of the run and open the system to air so you don't have any vacuum form, causing problems.
Rusty
Do you recommend a PRV on the steam boiler, aka boiler 1, Rusty?
OtisT wrote: ↑Thu May 22, 2025 12:38 pm
My personal opinion is that it does not matter which is higher, the boiler or the thumper, or even if they are level. You are using this for stripping so it really does not matter. Even for a spirit run, I don’t think it matters.
The arm length is important. Too short and you can’t deal with big elevation differences. Too long and you may find the boiler/thumper to far apart for your small room. Of course, if you make your thumper arm in two pieces, you can get the best of both worlds. I’d make one arm as short as possible, so that it would support an even or close to even elevation and would keep the two boilers close together (don’t forget to account for insulation when placing the two boilers next to each other). The second arm would be added to the first for bigger elevation differences or when you need more spacing. Think of scissors.
My advice would be to mock up the arms with your actual equipment in the actual room before you cut arms to length and solder things up.
If you need an Otis-Picasso drawing of what I am describing just ask.
I have some scorching, sorry distilling, to do this weekend, but I hope I have time to put the two boilers with some additional spools next to eachother in my "boiler room" so I get a feel for how much space there is and what kind of "plumbing" I am missing - will try to take some pics to share. Since the boilers are of equal size and shape, I am thinking it would be most practical if the two stand next to eachother on level.
Yes, I think I would like to see some Otis-Picasso artwork if you have something to share?
PalCabral wrote: ↑Fri May 23, 2025 1:41 am
Do you recommend a PRV on the steam boiler, aka boiler 1, Rusty?
I do.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but, my thought process was that any vessel in line that has a spear can clog, causing back pressure and a dangerous situation. I decided I wanted one on the steam generator and the kettle, each on the vessel before the next spear in line. It's not necessary on the thumper since it's open to atmosphere and shouldn't develop back pressure. I have pressure tested my set up to 20PSI+ checking for leaks, so I set my PRVs at 14PSI, or just about 1 bar. I wasn't confident they were set accurately from the manufacturer so I made a tool to verify and adjust the pressure they release at. I was right, one was set at 1bar the other was set at 2 bar. From my research the steam generator should produce about 7 psi against the kettle spear and the kettle should produce about the same, maybe a little less, to the thumper spear.
I wanted to do a manometer for my PRV but I have two doggos, Mac and Cheese (for a combined weight of 130 pounds) that love to hang around in the still shed and I was afraid they would get tangled up in something like that, so I just bit the bullet and paid for a set of PRVs. Honestly though, my safety and the safety of my family and friends that are around when I'm running doesn't have a budget. Long story longer, yeah, I think it's a good idea.
Rusty
"Knowledge is a paradox; the more one understands, the more one realizes the vastness of his ignorance" - Viktor (Arcane)
shadylane wrote: ↑Thu May 22, 2025 3:50 pm
SS tri-clamps work good, but for vapor plumbing.
I prefer using copper 1" unions and 90' degree elbows to avoid having to solder or braze copper to SS.
I prefer the 2 inch for vapor travel, no restrictions, easy way to charge the thumper.
I've been interested in thumper thinking it would be more fun than squeezing sacks of corn muck and have two questions.
1. Will this general design work for stripping solids? Put the clear siphonable beer into the boiler and the stuff you would otherwise have to squeeze into the thumper? I am concerned you might really need some sort of manifold or false bottom to distribute the steam evenly through the muck.
2. Assuming the simple spear solution is good enough...any opinions on whether this dip tube from kent would do the job? Along with their 6 inch TC port keg seems like easy off the shelf modular thumper. Variety of uses for the two extra ports on top (pressure release valve in one and perhaps a pressure gauge on the threaded port) and can picture using my CIP ball in the bottom port for easy cleaning. https://www.tcwequipment.com/products/d ... for-6-kegs
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but, my thought process was that any vessel in line that has a spear can clog, causing back pressure and a dangerous situation. I decided I wanted one on the steam generator and the kettle, each on the vessel before the next spear in line. It's not necessary on the thumper since it's open to atmosphere and shouldn't develop back pressure. I have pressure tested my set up to 20PSI+ checking for leaks, so I set my PRVs at 14PSI, or just about 1 bar. I wasn't confident they were set accurately from the manufacturer so I made a tool to verify and adjust the pressure they release at. I was right, one was set at 1bar the other was set at 2 bar. From my research the steam generator should produce about 7 psi against the kettle spear and the kettle should produce about the same, maybe a little less, to the thumper spear.
I wanted to do a manometer for my PRV but I have two doggos, Mac and Cheese (for a combined weight of 130 pounds) that love to hang around in the still shed and I was afraid they would get tangled up in something like that, so I just bit the bullet and paid for a set of PRVs. Honestly though, my safety and the safety of my family and friends that are around when I'm running doesn't have a budget. Long story longer, yeah, I think it's a good idea.
Rusty
Thanks Rusty! Very good answer and I do agree on the safety aspect. To tell you the truth, steam scares me. It's a whole different ball game than what I signed up for, if you understand what I mean? I am on thin ice here.
I have a port on the top of my boilers, above the water/wash line, like a 2 inch type of manhole, tri clamp. Is this a good place to put the PRV? Or does it need to be higher, in the path of the vapors as they leave/have left the boiler?
Is 1 bar a good mark or should 2 bars be the threshold for the PRV? I have absolutely no idea what it even means, except it's steam pressure. How did you measure your boiler's pressure btw? You closed the outlet off with a manometer or what?
For safety and to avoid nuance popping. I'd use a PRV rated for around 2X the boiler pressure during normal operation.
If my math is right and it's often not. With a thumper filled to a depth of 2 feet (0.6meters) during operation the boiler pressure will be around 0.9 psi (0.06 bar)
I wouldn't recommend a PRV rated for 15 psi (1 bar), instead use a PRV that opens easier.
A problem is finding a steam rated PRV that opens lower than 1 bar.
I use a PRV and a manometer at least 4 feet tall. On shut down pull the ring on the prv to relieve any vacuum.
Kinda like wearing a belt and suspenders to keep your pants from falling down.
shadylane wrote: ↑Fri May 23, 2025 12:04 pm
For safety and to avoid nuance popping. I'd use a PRV rated for around 2X the boiler pressure during normal operation.
If my math is right and it's often not. With a thumper filled to a depth of 2 feet (0.6meters) during operation the boiler pressure will be around 0.9 psi (0.06 bar)
I wouldn't recommend a PRV rated for 15 psi (1 bar), instead use a PRV that opens easier.
A problem is finding a steam rated PRV that opens this low.
Plan B is to use a PRV and a manometer at least 4 feet tall.
Kinda like wearing a belt and suspenders to keep your pants from falling down.
See, smarter people than me have spoken. I'll have to adjust mine down, I don't think I can get them to 1PSI but they will go to 3PSI. I did test them to see what a release at 14PSI would look like, I wasn't going to tell you guys since it's kinda dumb, but I just had to know what it was going to do. I clamped it down right on top of my keg, fired it up full bore on my burner and let it go until it popped. I went into my shop in case the kettle did rupture and waited to hear the release. I couldn't hear it when it did go, so I got impatient and went out there after a while and it had released. It spit and sputtered, sorta like a pressure cooker toggle, shot out some steam and hot water, but nothing crazy.
They're easy to adjust with the little jig I built, it's a 2" ferrule to a 1/2" NPT tee with a gauge and a Schrader valve. It's how I pressure tested all the new stuff I just finished up.
It's got 4 runs on it set the way it is now, but I'll have to see if I can figure out a dog proof way to add a manometer in the near future.
Rusty
"Knowledge is a paradox; the more one understands, the more one realizes the vastness of his ignorance" - Viktor (Arcane)
shadylane wrote: ↑Fri May 23, 2025 12:48 pm
DAMN
I use garden hose water with a regulator to pressure test my boilers.
Much less potential drama when testing something that's legaly a felony.
(DISCLAIMER: KIDS DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME, I'M DUMB DON'T DO THE THINGS I DO)
Rusty
Last edited by Rusty Ole Bucket on Fri May 23, 2025 1:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
"Knowledge is a paradox; the more one understands, the more one realizes the vastness of his ignorance" - Viktor (Arcane)
shadylane wrote: ↑Fri May 23, 2025 1:06 pm
Absolutely you can share what I said, my Grandpa said it to me.
While I'm giving advice. Don't be a dumb ass, a steam explosion is extremely dangerous.
Yes Sir, it won't happen again.
Rusty
"Knowledge is a paradox; the more one understands, the more one realizes the vastness of his ignorance" - Viktor (Arcane)
They must have been related!
Yeah, I see I need to think hard about how to fit the two boilers and their height relationship. For brewing, which generates a lot of steam, I use a small bathroom in my brewery where there's a fan. I put a small table there where I put my Braumeister and I was thinking of putting the steam boiler there. But the height difference if the second (mash) boiler would be on the floor would be too high. It probably would need to be elevated too, which at least mean there should be no concern to fit a carboy under the shotgun PC. The problem will be a the uneven bathroom floor, however. The angle of it towards the drain is quite acute. Add on top of that how tiny the bathroom is, not much wiggle room with one boiler, with two...
