Fester's Corner

Lloyd

I'd think a P trap would need a valve to drain it unless the still was intended for daily use, and maybe even then, as the water trap could go rancid? Maybe not depending on the ABV trapped there.

A return to the boiler through a tube that ends well below the boiler charge after the run would be an elegant solution.

That could be as simple as attaching to an unused element port but with a little imagination we could easily find alternative solutions. The column drain entering the side of the boiler seems to have an advantage over entering from the top, as Harley noted, the bottom of the column must always remain above the boiler charge to insure the drain will function. Else the boiler charge level could and would flood the bottom of the column.

This is yet another case where a short, squat boiler is more beneficial than a tall and narrow boiler. (But we all know this).

Myles

Those bolt style flanges are great. I like the offset column variants and those are just what is needed.

What sort of plate is fitted between the two ferrules to act as the base of the column? A bubble cap variant with no holes? Or do you need to weld a blanking plate into the lowest column section? What thickness plate can the clamp cope with between the two ferrules in that 8" size? (You could even make a small thumper with some of these 8" components. =D>)

Lloyd

@Myles said: What sort of plate is fitted between the two ferrules to act as the base of the column? A bubble cap variant with no holes? Or do you need to weld a blanking plate into the lowest column section? What thickness plate can the clamp cope with between the two ferrules in that 8" size?

We haven't got that far yet but 1.5mm is the optimum thickness plate to clamp between two ferrules.

Lloyd

This worked well.

Lloyd

@awesome said: Hi all this question is directed more to Lloyd can I get a measurement of the 8"crystal dragon my understanding is that the setup is able to have more than one bubble plate and if so I can work out how many sections that I need .

Sorry I'm so late answering you, awesome, 5 glass section containing either 4 or 5 plates with dephlem and reducer as shown in the picture below is 97 CM tall. Just under 1 meter.

punkin

But they will be sold only in pairs ;)

harley

Hi Fester, What is the height of just the glass column with 8 "connectors, ferrules so all can see how many sektions they can fit on the top of each other under thers ceiling.

Cheers

Lloyd

@harley said: Hi Fester, What is the height of just the glass column with 8 "connectors, ferrules so all can see how many sektions they can fit on the top of each other under thers ceiling.

The sight tower ends with 5 glass sections (as in the picture above) without the dephlem or reducer is 67 CM tall. Each glass section is 100mm tall.
With 8 connecting rods I'm sure 6 to 8 glass sections - called chimneys - would be OK. I'm not sure where the structural limit is. The SS connecting rods are 10.7mm diameter.

harley

This solution is not only good looking it's also really effective at saving height, if I want 10pc plates so it builds only 167cm with 2pc sections,refluxcooler and reduser + what bend the pipe to the product cooler requires in height. It would be interesting to compare this solution with 10pc plates in 8" and allso "comlpett" against your modular solution in 8" supplemented and also where 10pc plates in what the height required to accommodate this. I relly think that this solution "save" someting like 1 meter if we talking 10pc plates-sektioner and then you can have a lots of more plates in the same hight ;-) and it also looks relly lovley from all side... I think that you shall "go safe" in how many glass chimneys that you put in every sektions....

Cheers

Cheers

Lloyd

Oh my! 10 plates. I won't be able to express ship those connecting rods and making them in 'sections' would look bad, at least to me.
Every day that passes now is one day closer to getting the final pieces. I can't wait to get it all assembled and post pictures here.
I've received interest in another 8" Crystal Dragon and this time with copper bubble cap plates. That's going to be a real head-turner, too.

punkin

And will be in Australia to boot. :)>-

Lloyd

This is a cool fitting. Its a prototype for the Gin Basket housing as an option but I could see it as something that I'd add to my personal Dash.

2" 90 with ThermoWell and 3/4" ferrule, 3/4" 90 bend and a 3/4" TC ball valve.

Adds CIP and digital thermometer to the top of the column.

Lloyd

Harley's 4" SS sight glasses arrived.

Now stocking the 4" pipe hanger along with the 2 and 3 inch.

End caps with thermowells added. 3/4, 1.5, 2, 3 and 4".

Damo

@Lloyd said:

This is a cool fitting. Its a prototype for the Gin Basket housing as an option but I could see it as something that I'd add to my personal Dash.

2" 90 with ThermoWell and 3/4" ferrule, 3/4" 90 bend and a 3/4" TC ball valve.

Adds CIP and digital thermometer to the top of the column.

Hi, excuse my ignorance but what is CIP? Also, the fitting looks lovely but please tell me, how it would work in your Dash? Being new to this I am trying to figure it out and not succeeding!

Cheers, Damo.

Moonshine

@Damo,

CIP = Clean in Place

I think that's one of the best new features, should be used whenever possible.

Lloyd

Hi Damo, it's nice to be able to monitor temperatures and the new thermowell fitting is a low cost and easy way to do it.
The port to attach a valve is handy to give everything a good rinse either before or after distilling. Caution is advised though when CIP'ing the product condenser. I opened the valve and water spewed out the surge breaker and the parrot :))
The parrot can handle over 20L per hour but couldn't handle the water from the mains with the valve fully open.

Philter

@Lloyd said: Harley's 4" SS sight glasses arrived.

Another great product Lloyd. Is there a listed price for these as yet? Would also make for a dual purpose sight glass and fill port for the boiler!

@Lloyd said: Now stocking the 4" pipe hanger along with the 2 and 3 inch.

Hmmm, @punkin :)] might have to grab me 1x of each

punkin

I have all the hangers coming via express, i have stock of the 2"now. At this stage i haven't ordered any of the large SG housings although we've had them for a while.

Philter

Do the SG housings also come in 3", although a 4" would look awesome on the boiler (Might not be enough room for it) :))

Lloyd

@Philter said: Do the SG housings also come in 3", although a 4" would look awesome on the boiler (Might not be enough room for it) :))

Yes, they come in 2 and 3", I think they also come in larger sizes than 4".
Please note that there is very little length of the pipe that gets welded.
They are also heavy, the 4" is just over 1.5Kg.

4x4x3 SGU (Sight Glass Union) Bubble Tee

Myles

That is a SERIOUS bit of glass. Borosilicate?

punkin

Yes it's the same glasses and fittings that have always come as sightglasses on our boilers. The boroscilate is 10mm or so i think.

awesome

The 4" sight glass looks great well done and as per normal look at the quality !

Lloyd

I don't think that thick glass is borosilicate. I've asked several times and they only tell me its "hard glass", whatever that means.

The brass SGKs are always borosilicate.

Myles

Acording to google "Hard Glass" is another name used for borosilicate.

Hard glass and soft glass distinction

Lloyd

At last, the 3" and 4" filter disks have arrived. The factory had a high fail rate, I believe about 12% or so, and ran out of material. They wanted another week or 10 days to fill the order but I told them to send what the had and fill in the rest later. Got 300 each today. Nice.

The gin basket is inching along. The sheets are etched, cut and holes punched. Tomorrow they begin welding them into shape. Only a few more days and they should be ready to send to me.
50 housings are being made now and should be ready about the same time. The custom boxes will take a week to 10 days to have made once all the parts arrive.

The 4" Crystal Dragon is on track, too. The 4" special envelope gasket mold was successful and produced perfect gasket samples for the 4" glass chimneys. The production order is placed now and the gaskets should be ready in about a week.
The 4" perf plate samples should arrive for testing tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to that. If all is well I'll have 600 pieces produced on the first run.

The 8" Crystal Dragon is painfully close to completion, just waiting for the connecting rods to arrive. Everything else is ready.

Our last batch of thousands of risers and downcomers were stolen from the factory and that caused a delay. Stocks got pretty thin waiting on more to appear and appear they did, thousands of downcomers and risers have arrived over the last few days. The assembly and boxing is underway so that means less time online and goofing off - something I strongly disapprove of.

StillDragon currently has over 300 different products and thats a lot to keep track of. So if I forget an item or two it could be because I was busy, or partying or drinking but I'm probably going to get around to it sooner or later :)

There is a lot to get done before we go on vacation but I'm confident that almost everything will be semi-completed and the rest half-done before we leave.

***Edited to correct spelling and stupid comments left unedited and all stupid comments are hereby covered by internet copyright law to mean nothing but I hereby claim that nothing. Should you wish to use my stupid comments then written permission - in triplicate and double folded twice- is required for its use. Unless you don't want to, in which case there is nothing that I can do except call you stupid. ****

punkin

The man is tireless. B-)

Moonshine

... or a robot :O)

Lloyd

The rods arrived today for RedDoor's 8" Crystal Dragons. Inspected and approved by our pet Mynah bird named Bird. As a talking bird, but not very bright, he was quick to announce the completion of the project by saying "Mao La" (meaning 'Don't have' or 'All out of') because he is after all just a stupid bird but we love him anyway. After more than a year he hasn't ended up in a Chinese girl's soup pot, not naming names, so I'd say he is a very lucky bird.

He is also helpful arranging my notes and cleaning the clutter from my desk and onto the floor.

I'm not sure what we'd do without him but if he bites me one more time I just might find out!

punkin

Looks like a race to see if the first Crystal Dragon lands in Australia or the States! :)]