StillDragon Thermowell

Lloyd

Now wait a doggone minute, I said 1/2" before Myles did. :))

Still, good to get conformation that 1/2" is the nominal size to adapt down from.
Some sizes will be trick, 1/2" x 6mm or threaded 4mm for example, but "that ain't no step for a stepper" an old man once told me.

Ain't nothing can't be done, says he that can - the old wise man.
Gotta get past the minimum order, says I.
Screw that, they will buy it, says the old wise man with no money.

Screw the old wise man. We have limited resources and new products to make and each want our attention and cash.

Still, the old gent is right. Sometimes you have to do what is right even if the $numbers don't add up.

Wise men suck sometimes because they make sense even when we don't want them to. Hate that.

Its all a balance. Limited resources being applied in the best way possible. That is not just you, it is also StillDragon.

Gonna munch on simmering Hot Stone Pot Kung Pao Chicken and sip on a cold Tsingtao beer and think about all this. Probably won't change anything but gonna do it anyway.

punkin

We already have the 2"endcap with a 1/2" thread (Rims Cap) as an option there. There is plenty of ways to put it where you want it with the torpedo reducers, 3x2 tees and 2" tees.

cunnyfunt

Yes I agree with 1/2"

punkin

Jealous of your chicken, if i ever have another one of those beers it will be too soon. Can you get Singha over there cheap? It's from Thailand and not a bad drop at all, quite malty for a lager.

That sing sao stuff tastes worse than budwieser. :((

Lloyd

I'm not much of a beer drinker and it was the first one I've had in awhile. There are so many beers available here it's mind boggling. Don't recall seeing Singha but I'll look for it.

bentstick

@punkin only good thing about Budweiser is has kept my wife employed for the last 20 yrs and I wont even drink the free stuff she can bring home,does it get worse then Budweiser? PS she won't drink it either!

Law_Of_Ohms

I sapose I'd better do something on this tread...

punkin

A levitating well?

cunnyfunt

Copper cone SD tee bong

Law_Of_Ohms

bong

CothermanDistilling

I will take a half dozen of each material thermowell if @smaug gets em...

Lloyd

The first batch of the new SS and copper thermowells have been machined and should ship to me tomorrow. I'll post pictures as soon as we receive them.

@CothermanDistilling, @Smaug should have them with his next express that we expect to post out in about 2 to 3 weeks.

I'm still trying to conjure a design for SD Tees and reducers that will accept a variety of different thermowells because I know you guys want more options than the SD 4mm cheapo digital thermometer probe. At best, that is months away because we have so much going on already.
It ain't rocket science, its just a matter of having a 1/2" half coupling welded to the tees and reducers with adapters that fit several different probes. The problems involved are the costs and the ability of the factories to polish out the difficult to get at weld burn. Then each adapter would need to be produced and, as always, each part has a high minimum order.
Then, to add another layer of complication should we accomplish this, folks are asking for additional ports on the tees and reducers for CIP. And (a whole other subject) is getting a low volume spray ball because the few that I've used want fire hose kinda pressure to operate properly.

Lloyd

Dang it, the holes in the thermowells were drilled a touch small and the probes wouldn't go in. Sent most of them back to be re-machined.

CothermanDistilling

any update? FYI - I really like the original length, just drilled out deeper..

Lloyd

The new thermowells in both copper and stainless are at the port warehouse now and should be loaded aboard the ship to USA this upcoming Saturday.
It is by far the biggest SD sea freight ever - but I've said that before.

I'll keep that in mind @CothermanDistilling. The next time I get more machined I can easily have a few made special for you. Might be a while though.
I order 500 pieces at a whack to get the best price break. It truly costs the same to get 250 pieces made as 500. I could get 50 made but they would be a little expensive. It would be best to order "sample quantities" when tied to a bigger order.

Maybe something like this, to help the probe from getting stuck.

Myles

Interchangeable perforated CIP spray wand and thermowell, with the same size fitting? Also mentioned in Looney Bin.

AKA your biggest thermowell with holes drilled in the probe section?

CothermanDistilling

regarding the new copper flanges, they are really nice... I will likely cut off the slip joint part, but I am not in production, so that is fine...

can we get them in 3/4? I want to weld/braze to a counterflow chiller to cool my product before it hits the parrot... mua-ha-ha-ha ....

If I wanted a piece of copper machined, @Lloyd , could you do that special order? Or you can steal my idea... I want a 8-12mm thick piece of copper machined into a disk to fit in a 3" (and one for 4" maybe) pipe or ferrule with a few thousandths clearance. the edge/circumference will have a nice o-ring groove (or two would be better) in it. The center can be machined thinner, maybe 4-5 mm... and will be cnc marked (or better, a slight depression machined) for drilling holes to weld/braze copper tubes into.... I would take two of these, drill for a particular pipe size, and weld tubes into them, then insert the assembly into a 20" TC pipe for a product condenser... some sort of set screw or toggle to hold in place...

punkin

Now that really IS a great idea! Custom condensors any size. The plates in my Gonzolution column are setup the same as that with silicon O rings.

Lloyd

Thanks @CothermanDistilling the new copper ferrules are nice but were a very expensive project because of the minimum order required.
The "pipes" were custom made for the job and were cut into "blanks" that each ferrule was machined from. To get the pipes made we had to meet a high minimum from the mill. The machine shop provided the machining in exchange for the scrap that was produced.
We probably will run out of the 3" size before the 2" or 4". I have no more 3" here because I had much more of the 2" and 4" made since those sizes were always more popular in the brass ferrules.
3/4" would be possible but they would need to be made from solid copper round bar stock because we can't meet the minimum order to get the pipes made and casting molds are only cost effective if producing thousands instead of just a few.
But putting 3/4 USA copper pipe on a 3/4 TC ferrule end is a bit of a problem as the pipe is also about the same size as the TC end. 1/2" copper pipe would be more appropriate. I had 1/2" copper pipes, about 1.5" long, tig welded to a SS 3/4" TC ferrule a couple of years ago and they were very slow to sell. I loved the idea but the sales didn't justify having more produced.

I can do a lot of things in SS that I cannot do in copper because of the minimum order involved. I can get 10 custom prototype SS bubble plates made with no problem but I cannot do that with copper. When I order the 4" copper bubble plates, for example, I have to order a minimum of 400 pieces. Anything smaller than that and the mill will not sell to the machine shop.

We invest a lot of time and money on the first of something. As it goes from concept to prototype to improvement and finally into production. This makes it hard to do one-off custom work, especially in copper.

CothermanDistilling

Thanks for the insight, I was wondering how they were made... I had better buy some more if they won't be made again , way to market them!

oh, and it would not be 3/4" pipe, more like 3/8"-1/2", like the 12.8mm stainless one...

and the plates may have to be stainless :-(

CothermanDistilling

OK, stainless plate inserts... 12mm thick stainless disk, 2 o-ring grooves around outside, a large number of small tube holes (thinking max size would be .5" for 3/8" nominal tubing) from there, two options:

1 - just drilled and shallow countersunk (drain best and reduce smearing) for welding/brazing of copper

2 - also 2 o-ring grooves put in each hole and o-rings inserted, customer puts in pipe. pipe retention

then to make this even more difficult, see if we can get the copper tubing sections convoluted in the middle...

Lloyd

Doodles, not to scale.

brewsmith

Reviving a dead thread. I agree with @CothermanDistilling 's idea here as I am currently trying to do the same. Have some friends with access to university shops with mills, laser cutters, water jets, 3d printers etc and I am trying to fabricate those exact same plates to repurpose the 2" copper from my first packed column, and copper seems to be no go across the board for one reason or another. Offering the discs in 2-4" sizes with holes cut for 1/2 and 3/8 tubing would be awesome, and the machining doesnt have to be too difficult. With your current line of tc extension pipes would make for a great diy/custom solution. Given the fact that most SD customers seem to be of the DIY mindset, I feel like we should be able to meet some kind of minimum order here stateside ;)

CothermanDistilling

If you machine a step in the edge of the TC extension, and a lip on the plates, the TC could hold the plates in, eliminating the need for a connecting rod..

CothermanDistilling

@brewsmith - you should read this discussion, particularly @RedDoorDistillery building an 8" copper dephlegmator.