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In this Discussion
- 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
@RedDoorDistillery, I'm trying to get a 4" dephlegmator made here with a copper core like yours. So far no results but I'm optimistic until I'm not.
I figure if the factory can do a good job on a 4" then they can do any size. Hopefully we can make copies of your work.
@Lloyd ,
It is "enough" if you copy Rdd reflux condenser and perform all of ss, the difference in vapor velocity and cooling performance is said to be more than 200% and this is more than an 8 "in sieve plates and about 10% hole surface/ 1,5mm hole can receive in effect ...
So copper pipe is not needed if you have a sufficient number of (small) ss pipes and also sufficient length of reflux cooler ...
I personally have chosen copper is that it is much easier to work in for me than ss and in China it seems to be the other way around so why complicate things when it is not needed ... ss is enough if you just dimension pipe size, number and length right ...
Cheers
No need to worry about the plate to shell joint damaging the tube to plate joints. You just stuff a cork in the bottom of each tube and fill them with water. It keeps the tubes a bit colder than the plate for long enough for you to do the joint to the stainless steel.
It probably doesn't matter - but would it not be easier to do the plate to shell joint first - and then put in the tubes? Tig the shell and braze the tubes?
Lookin good RDD. At the end of the day, all you need is it sealed. Tig or solder, its your choice. Both will work if done right. The copper will give you the knock down power you need, I hope.
Did a lot of welding this weekend. Got the Copper Dephlem almost done but I blew thru the walls of 3 of the pipes with the tig. So now I need to drill out these 3 tubes and replace them. Then I can weld the Core into the outer tube and pressure test it for leaks. Tig welding this much copper was a very HOT experience, and requires a lot of power.
With the test piece I only needed about 70amps. But once all the copper was combined the required amps went up to about 135amps or you could not even get a puddle going. The copper mass just acted as a giant heat sink and wicked away the heat like crazy.
That's a good sign i am thinking....
@RedDoorDistillery, this thread of yours is the most viewed thread on the forum.
Not sure about your welding but you are doing something right! ^:)^
I drilled out all 4 pipes that I blew out. Replaced them and welded the new one in. Blew 1 of the 4 out again. So had to re-drill it for the 2nd time and try again. I think I have them all done now.
I also drilled the new stainless shell for the water connections and welded on the 1/2 npt fittings on opposite sides to create the cross flow of water for more efficiency.
All that is left now is to acid clean the copper the best I can and then weld the core into the stainless shell and then do a final cleaning, pressure test it and pray for NO leaks. [-O<
Seeing as I did all the pre-fabrication work in my living room I was really surprised that my wife did not kill me when she got home and saw the hammers and anvil and all the parts sitting in on the living room floor... But hey.. At least I put down a towel to work on... LOL :D
Nice job RD! That shall work fine! :)>-
It is what you make it!
Great work with the whole project RDD, and love your multi-barrel gattling Dephglem. You have a lot of skill and patience ;)
I gotta say WOW! That is real nice. Now I gotta ask how did you put the flange on that copper? I see where something gripped it and with both ends like that I know they gotta be exact, perfect. I could do one end but both ends and perfect I gotta know. Howd you do it. Its gotta be more than a hammer and and an anvil. You got skills buddy.
@applepie I used a Copper Flaring Tool for doing water compression fittings and a shim to set the height the same for everyone. That gave me the basic flare and then I tapped it down flat with a ball ping hammer. Very time consuming to do that 66 times. You also have to cut every pipe to the exact same length to start with...
Now that would take some time. I'd get frustrated and mess it up for sure. I figd you had a magic jig you made to keep them the same. Now even more impressed. Does not look at all like hand work.
All Hand work... And hours in front of the TV on the floor. That's why I did it in the living room... :)) You can actually see the mini anvil that I used in the 1st picture and the Flare Tool and Hammer in the 4th picture.
@RedDoorDistillery How are you going to fill the gap between the wall of the pipe and the copper plate?
Stainless filler rod? Copper Wire?
I'm just starting out with TIG and looking for tips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty6eY9VUIgI
Copper Filler wire is what I have been told to use for Copper to Stainless Tig.
I see your flaring tools. I would have bet against that. It still blows my mind. They look so perfect
Thanks.
Very nice job RDD, you have definatly a lot patience !!
I can't wait to see the knockdown power of this thing... too pretty to hide away forever! It should be in a crystal section! maybe weld it to stainless bushings that have o-rings on the outside and slide it into the that stainless section or even cooler, a glass one....
@CothermanDistilling, maybe you are psychic?
There is an Aussie that has special ordered an 8" glass section 200mm tall for exactly that. It will surely be some time before we see the fruits of that but it will probably be awesome.
It will definately be @awesome. :))
The condensor probably will be too B-)
StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand
More pics!!! you tease!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty6eY9VUIgI
Pressure tested the new Dephlag last night. I have about 10 pin hole leaks to fix. Not bad for the total volume of welding it took and welding copper for the 1st time. I did end up Tig welding the Cooper plates to the Stainless shell. It was actually less difficult than doing the Copper to Copper Tig. And on 1 of the pin hole leaks is in the Stainless to Copper. The rest of on the Copper to Copper. Was hoping to be able to use it tomorrow to do a strip run but with the leaks it is not going to happen. Still going to run the Strip Run tomorrow but using the original dephlag not the new one. :-(
Sounds like you are closing in on it @RedDoorDistillery.
My factory here failed to weld copper to SS in grand fashion. I'll have to content myself with upgrading the 8" dephlegmators with longer shells and more (and smaller) pipes.
With a crystal dephleg, the convoluted copper tubing would be "legen..... .....dary"...
maybe the answer lies in staying 'modular' in SD fashion... A stainless body, copper core condenser with no copper-stainless welding... Have copper tubes (could be plain copper, or convoluted with plain ends) then you have the dephleg shell split in two (i.e. top and bottom), each half having one end be basically a thick end-cap with holes with o-ring grooves in it... You place slip the copper tubes into one end, then with a little patience, slip the other half shell on over the 5-20 tubes, and put on the clamp... all your copper just has to be is straight and have a smooth finish to not cut the o-rings... Also, you could do a crystal version with: two thick end caps, each with around groove cut for an o-ring for the crystal, and full of o-ring grooved holes for the copper pipes... this version would need the 4-6 tensioning rods to hold it together..
Lloyd to keep it from getting to tall, why not a horizontal deflagmator water in the tubes vapor condensing and falling off the tubes outside....
Very nice work RDD. You put some hours into that, that for sure. I guessing you got your pinholes fixed. Did you run the tig over them to seal them or solder them?
Not fixed yet. Worked on it last night at home but forgot the hose I needed to pressurize it at the distillery so I had no way to test it last night. I am trying to run the tig over the leads and seal them up. I tired to solder but I was not able to get the solder to flow into the holes as they are so small.