Baby Dragon - Ace of Hearts

Lloyd

This thread split off of The Big Name Finding Thread for the NEW 2.5" Crystal Dragon

Baby Dragon - Ace of Hearts

Lloyd

MikeAggie

Sweet, can't wait to fire one up. Already thinking what wash to run.

Lloyd

Standing 108 CM (42.5") tall.
Sample stockpot is 33L but probably about 25L charge (8.7 and 6.6 gallons, respectively).
Custom threaded SS rods instead of all-thread and sporting acorn nuts for a more finished look.
Adjustable downcomer inserts in all the ProCaps.

Every effort has been made to keep this project as affordable as possible but feature creep is setting in. The stockpot was an expensive sample because I only bought one instead of a container-full. I'm a little stuck at the moment because we don't have a "cheap" parrot.
I guess that's next on the list. As much as I hate to, I guess we'll need to eliminate the drain valve.

These are kind of nice. A 2" weldless adapter that vapor simply cannot escape through the threads. The special 2" gaskets without the ridge on one side should be here in a day or two.

JoeHell

Looking good

Lloyd

The final detail to being able to price the Baby Dragon column is the packaging. Everything else is known as far as costs. My experience so far has been to take all the parts to the box factory (about 1.5 hours away 8-| ) and work through the packaging with them. Then wait about two weeks for the boxes to be made.

Sunshine

wow, it looks good!

punkin

If it's been run and won we should probably announce the winner, but i do recall the announcement of a poll for the members to vote for the name?

Lloyd

A sample of the T500 boiler (with 2000 watt internal element) should arrive in a day or two and the fitting above should make the connection between it and the Baby Dragon. Pictures when it arrives.

The fitting could be useful on any flat surface for converting a pot/tank/or other vessel into a boiler just by drilling a hole. I'm not sure it would seal properly on a curved surface.

The first 200 glass sections for the Baby Dragon just came in and was put away so that should be encouragement enough to start getting the boxes and padding made for them.
50 pairs of the custom machined sight tower ends should be ready in maybe a week and more than enough of the threaded rods were made for the first Baby Dragon production.
The acorn nuts cost a tad over three times as much as a regular nut but they are still cheap enough to use and they add a touch of class to the project for just a buck or so per column. The little things do tend to add up (feature creep) when trying to stay economical for this project but a little splash of flash here and there should be OK, right?

I figure there are hundreds of folks that live in apartments (like me) for every single one that has the luxury of having a shed. This is one of those projects that could be quite popular because of its small size, low cost and high productivity so I need to make the packaging as friendly as possible because I'm basically a lazy person.

irishman

Any idea on the target cost?

CothermanDistilling

@Lloyd - you just made a weldless 2" adapter for people to use for the EGK also, can I order a couple right now???? they would be great side ports on my plastic 300 gallon conical fermenter... after that, get stock to @smaug and we can tell people on the homebrewtalk electric brewing forum about them... will sell like hotcakes, weldless electric brewing with class...

Chalmer

@Lloyd you could put a 3/4 end cap on the bottom of the parrot that would lose the valve, two 3/4 clamps and the ferrule. Would knock $30 off the kit without making a new parrot.

brewsmith

I agree with @CothermanDistilling, the weldless TC fitting is a game changer for those who are cant/wont weld or solder and perfect for plastic tanks like fermenters and possibly coolers. Well played yet again

Lloyd

Thanks guys, we played with the adapter's design and changed it I-don't-know-how-many-times but this one really stands out because the seal is complete without the possibility of any leaking through the threads.

As for price, the Baby Dragon is not quite ready for your distributor to supply pricing yet because I haven't been able to nail down the packaging costs for the glass yet. I sent 6 units with Larry's sea freight (he should have them in a few weeks) but the best I could do then was to put a bunch of the glass in a large box with lots and lots of shredded paper, so not quite ready for prime time yet.
Also remember that each distributor has vastly different import costs. USA is spared many of the protectionists fees, duties, taxes, VAT, warehouse fees, etc, etc, etc... that plague Punkin and SDeurope.

@CothermanDistilling I'm sure Larry will have an express order before his next sea freight so drop him a line to get a few included.

The picture of the 2" adapter (anyone care to help coin a clever name for it?) was taken by Tan's new iPhone (yes, the ransom I paid for being allowed to leave for 2 weeks). We could have got so much more accomplished yesterday if I'd taken it away from her for a few hours. She has it setup and configured to her liking now so hopefully we get something done today!

@punkin holy smokes, you are right. We were to vote on the name. I fell in love with Ace of Hearts and just went with it. I have the original here and its ready to ship so if everyone can please vote for Ace of Hearts I can get it sent out =))

Lloyd

Nice, everything fits inside.

jonno

Wow those 2 inch adapters are really nice! Can't wait to see the pricing on them

Brewhaha

@punkin holy smokes, you are right. We were to vote on the name. I fell in love with Ace of Hearts and just went with it. I have the original here and its ready to ship so if everyone can please vote for Ace of Hearts I can get it sent out...

O.K I'll vote for Ace of Hearts :-O I must of missed the conclusion of the competition... might be time to sober up for the Clayton's comp =)) I don't need the boiler just the tower condensors and hoseing.

I hope that will be an option at the store when they hit Oz... very interested to see what the price is :-B

CHEERS

punkin

Yes, initially the little boilers won't be coming to Australia. The unit is designed to fit the Stillspirits boiler as well. so at a couple hundred dollars it would cost more to convert a stockpot i think. Although if the new fittings were able to be used as a weldless element adaptor it might be ok.

Just have to talk Lloyd into drilling a 48mm hole in the side of his shiney new pot to fit an element and see how it seals.... ^#(^

Lloyd

@punkin said:

Just have to talk Lloyd into drilling a 48mm hole in the side of his shiney new pot to fit an element and see how it seals.... ^#(^

No, no, no... the stockpot is intended to sit atop an induction stove, hot plate, stovetop or maybe even a gas burner.

I recall an electrician friend a few years ago use a Greenlee tool to create a knock out or hole for a ~2" electrical conduit fitting. I imagine the dies used would create a flat on the curved wall of a stockpot?

Lloyd

Anyone recall who came up with the Ace of Hearts name?

punkin

@captainshooch said: Baby Dragon, the ace of hearts.

B-) Page 7 of the name finding thread.

brewsmith

@Lloyd there is a thread on HBT that is several hundred pages long discussing a "keg tool" which requires a hole to be punched in the vessel that is a bit smaller than the fitting to be soldered in, then mechanically pulling a concentric reducer through the hole backed on the other side with a larger diameter coupler to flare it out, allowing both more surface area for solder to adhere to and preventing the flat spots you are worried about. I have successfully pulled and soldered a 1" tri clamp ferrule to a pin lock corny keg which is little more that 8.5" diameter using this method and can't imagine that it would not work with a2" ferrule on a 8.5 gal stock pot with the right tooling. Just a thought

Lloyd

I was actually hoping for a flat spot so the 2"x48mm adapter would have a better chance of getting a good seal.

Lloyd

The T500 boiler arrived today and the 2" x 48mm adapter fits it perfectly.

These are pros and cons to both boiler types.
The T500 has a built in drain and 2000 watt element, which should be great for the baby dragon. (At least this model has 2000 watts, some models are less). That's pretty much the pros. The cons are the unit feels flimsy compared to the MUCH thicker gauge SS used in the stockpot, its quite a bit taller but has about a gallon less volume - I'd need to verify actual capacity - and the element is not adjustable - its either on or off but I don't know yet if it pulses on and off during operation (that would not be a good thing).

The stockpot, while shorter and having a larger volume, does not have a drain and its up to the user to devise a heat source. The stockpot feels stronger and would certainly last longer with moderate use compared to the very thin walled T500.

Both cost about the same, at least my samples did, and both would probably give the user excellent service. I haven't run either boiler yet so I can't give any first hand preference.
If I were to use the stockpot, I'd probably take it to my local welder and have a drain fitting added because I'm way too lazy to lift 5 gallons of boiling hot liquid. Might cost me $10 to have two 1/2" or 3/4" half couplings welded on (one in the lid for a fill port) but at that price they wouldn't be sanitary welds but I really wouldn't care.

All of the Baby Dragon column parts could easily be stored in either boiler.

The T500 boiler can be sourced from almost any homebrew shop worldwide and a good stockpot can be purchased from almost any restaurant supply. The T500 is plug and play but the stockpot would need to be modified because very few would come with a gasket in the lid or lid clamps (what's the proper name for those?)
Its a personal preference but if the extra 9.5 inches of height is not an issue I'd go with the T500 simply because its ready to use out of the box, needing only the 2" adapter.

The configuration shown above stands 132 cm tall (52"). As noted before, the same config mounted on the stockpot is 108 cm (42.5") tall.

Chalmer

Looks really good Lloyd. I sold my T500 to a friend now he is real interested in the baby.

punkin

Proper name is over centre latches.

You did see my comment above about the name finder mate?

punkin

Picture looks brilliant by the way. Mind if i lift it for my facebook? A job very well done. DA:O

waxernz

Cant wait to hear a price. Specifically of the glass section alone.

punkin

Pricing in Auz/NZ will be a while. I need to know the import costs to be able to work it out and that will be a month or two away.

Lloyd

Lift away Garry and yes it looks like I owe @CothermanDistilling the original Baby Dragon.
Ah, over center latches, I know you told me that before.

I'll get with Cotherman about delivery... might even give it a rinse and wipe.

Ace of Hearts just rocks. I loved it the instant that I read it.

jonno

i thought it was @captainshooch lol