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- applepie November 2013
- awesome January 2014
- bentstick November 2013
- Bold August 2013
- captainshooch February 2014
- chill July 2013
- cooperville October 2013
- CothermanDistilling April 2014
- cunnyfunt February 2014
- delta_H August 2013
- emptyglass October 2013
- Fluxed October 2013
- fnulnu February 2014
- FullySilenced December 2013
- Geezaboy July 2013
- gixxerpilot750 August 2013
- Grip February 2014
- harley November 2013
- jonno October 2013
- Karl August 2013
- Law_Of_Ohms February 2014
- Lloyd April 2014
- LunaBrille August 2013
- mikejwoodnz August 2013
- Moonshine February 2014
- moscca September 2013
- Mtnmann December 2013
- Myles September 2013
- nvnovrts September 2013
- Philter February 2014
- punkin February 2014
- RedDoorDistillery April 2014
- Smaug March 2014
- spud1700 September 2013
- Stinger August 2013
- Vaya_Con_Dios_Distillery September 2013
- zymurgybob July 2013
Comments
Approximate Thermal conductivities:
Which is a pity as it rules out as impracticable, an all glass dephlegmator. :(
Utter and complete failure.... I can not get the leaks repaired. Everything I try fails. Tried to solder them with just normal lead free plumbing solder and flux. (Solder will not flow into the holes.) Tried to use Brazing Silver Solder..... (Same problem) Tried to Tig with copper filler. (I seal up on leak and the heat stress causes another spot or 2 to crack and start leaking...)
At my wits end here. I may have to start back at the beginning.
Only thing I can think of would be a liquid stop leak filler like you would use on a radiator for a car. Put it in and it fills the leaks from the inside but the liquid has to be under pressure and hot. Not even sure if they make something like that in a Food Safe version.
Any thoughts?
I am going on Vacation to Florida late tomorrow and wont be back till the 18th.
Maybe I will just have to rebuild this whole thing in just Stainless Steel as this copper is a BITCH to work with.
I would try to die grind the pinhole and make it larger more beveled.... then solder or silver braze it with lots of flux...
This should bridge the pinhole and the soft solder/ 56% silver should attach to the surrounding metal and provide a seal..
RDD tried to call a few minutes ago got the machine, didn't leave a message was gonna chat is all
take care and have fun in Florida ... Make Smaug buy you a drink or three....
FS
First off let me say I am not anywhere in the same league as you and I have never held a tig in my hand. When I stick or mig and burned through and the hole was larger or had a hard time filling it I would find a piece of what ever I was welding that was the same size as the hole and shove it in the hole (sometimes tap in with a hammer) and melt it in. In your instance copper I would shove the biggest copper wire in the hole I could shove and tap around it to squeeze it and tig away.
I tried to use 2 MAP gas torches at the same time and was not able to get it hot enough to use the 56% Silver. The copper just wicks away the heat to fast. When I get back from VAC I am going borrow a Acetylene torch and try again with the 56% silver. Also I will try to use a small drill bit to open up the holes from pin leaks to holes the flux and solder can flow into.
If this does not work I am going to cut all the copper out and redo it all in Stainless.
Sucks to get this close and hit the wall.
I dont think I will get down to where @Smaug is. He is near West Palm Beach and I will be in Orlando. But maybe a road trip is in order...
Good luck on getting holes pluged do not toss you can get it,with your break you will come back with new gusto,it is just a piece of metal,it will conform,we spend time out just west of Orlando,Dover off of 4 wife's aunt and uncle live there,but take the time and go see The smaug one,when I hit the Fl border it is on my place to go!
It is what you make it!
@bentstick West of Orlando is where we will be. Family in Ocoee FL. Agreed walking away come back and look at it again when I get back. If noting else I will cut the copper out of the SS shell and reuse the shell. That 1 foot SS tube section ran me $250 so I dont want to just toss it out if I can avoid it.
Can you "pre-heat" the copper part in your kitchen oven?
or gas cook top
make sure the wife is not at home!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty6eY9VUIgI
Try grinding the weld to expose a clean surface, drill out the hole to take a solid copper wire, nail or rivet and just soft solder it in place. Provided the solder flows on the weld it should be OK.
It is often difficult to seal a hole unless you can plug it first. If you are using a flame it tends to burn through the exposed hole and just makes it bigger, unless you block it first.
No need to waste the good work so far. Soft solder will seal it provided it flows onto your weld.
Also once you are hot scoop some paste flux onto a Brush while keeping your work surface and solder at temp, and push/paint /drag the solder into position with the brush. Just a simple tinning is all.
Yours truely The King of Leaks and soft solder floor medallions
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
I have discussed this with both TIG welding and MIG welding of copper with this company that produces everything for me and one of the reasons that they have chosen to braze all copper plumbing hard soldering lood is that you may easily small holes when tig welds in copper if it is not sufficiently thick material and it is the same problem even if you choose me MIG welding of copper with copper wire. The company I use have many years in the business and have or have had most of them welding licenses ... then it shall not be forgotten time savings when hard solder against these 2pc other ways to join copper to copper if it is note 4-5mm thick material... soft solder issnt anything for me.....
Cheers
Don't give up on glass. What you loose in thermal resistance, you can make up with colder water. I'm going to use a evaporated chiller. It is like a swamp cooler. Look at Adams & Chittenden. Write in distillation. Robert Contreras.
@RedDoorDistillery How's it going with your " hybrid" reflux condenser! do you get it tightly-no leak or are you manufacture a new stainless. Cheers
He is on a trip harley... away for the week i read...
Ok, thanks Fs.
Received the first of the updated 8" dephlegmators.
Old:
New:
shown with 2" end cap and 2" clamp for scale. Same height as the old dephlem just a lot more smaller pipes.
Are there water outlets on both sides now ?
Back from VAC now. Going to try and pickup the Acetylene Torch set from my brother in law today and try to silver braze the pin holes. Hopefully this works. If not I may need to have you ship me that one.....
I was wondering the same thing. Wouldn't it be more effective with the inlet outlet being as far apart as possible?
Yes, I think it would be more efficient to put the inlet and outlets on both sides. Meaning a total of 4, 2 for the inlet and 2 for the outlet. And reduce the coupling down from 3/4" to 1/2".
That is something that I can experiment with on the 4" dephlem but sadly I cannot power an 8" column.
Has anyone ever done this before?
I was thinking with 2 inlets and 2 outlets an x pattern.... on inlet low one high... and the same for the outlets.. not sure if it would make a difference or not.. but am thinkin it would... now if there was a center baffle i know it would make a huge difference....
Is there any baffeling inside. If there is a need for help that would max the water movement. It is beautiful and I would say more efficient than the old one
There is no baffling and to do so would mean moving production to different factory.
If you can use a tig equiped with pulse and downslope, you should be able to reclaim that condenser RDD. The downslope should bleed the heat out that makes the copper contract fast, leaving a pinhole (as does stainless). It can be done with a lift tig and practice, but a hot/scratch start tig wont do it. There is no reason to scrap such good work just because of a few holes. Obvously, any low temp compounds/solders present will stuff you up. a complete clean up of them is in order. Good luck champ, remember, metal only beats you when you let it. Remind it who's boss
I would keep both inlets either high or low dependent on your preference and coolant set-up. Having both inlets at the same level will result in a lot of turbulence at anything other than slow coolant flows. At low coolant flow rates I would consider adding in a restriction orifice in the inlet tubes to increase the coolant pressure on entry into the dephlegmator.
OK. Back from VAC. Feet back under me at the office. Tomorrow back to trying to stop the leaks in the new Deplag...
Welcome back! Nice trip?
It is what you make it!
Good luck RDD !!
Total and complete utter failure. The Copper expands and contracts to much especially when cased in the stainless. Cracks everywhere. So I cut out all the copper and I am going to start again using all stainless.
Sorry to hear that!
It is what you make it!