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In this Discussion
- albtraum November 2014
- AZZA1984 July 2018
- brewsmith September 2014
- captainshooch October 2015
- CothermanDistilling August 2018
- FloridaCracker August 2018
- FullySilenced November 2015
- GD50 July 2018
- grim July 2018
- jbierling July 2018
- jonno October 2014
- Jung September 2014
- Kapea November 2015
- Kill_Devil_Spirit_Co December 2015
- Law_Of_Ohms November 2014
- Lloyd October 2014
- Manofconstantsorrow November 2014
- Pa_bon March 2018
- popcorn November 2015
- punkin July 2018
- richard August 2018
- Smaug July 2018
- Sunshine September 2014
- TheMechWarrior July 2018
- Unsensibel November 2015
Comments
Can I get more detail on the "Integrated washer surface", please?
it's just a raised flat surface Lloyd... machined into the head it is not a separate washer :D
I would add a chamfer to the corners of the hex on the side where the integrated washer is located as well looks like a sharp corner there in the drawing unless there is a footnote saying break all corners...
If not a separate washer then it serves no purpose because it cannot spin and "protect" the surface of the fixture. It makes no sense.
A washer is there to spin free to protect the fixture surface from the digging in action of the nut or bolt head. So I'm tole. And could be wrong.
My machinist is so not interested in this that he wants $6 each with MOQ 400 pcs.
Granted, I could spend more time on this and get a machinist to do it at half the price or less but 25 pcs sold and I inventory the rest? This project is too low volume and that has always been a problem when dealing with China. Good prices start at 10,000 pcs not 25 or 50.
SD has clout and street cred now but we can't pull some things off in low volume without paying through the nose. Even if the end user agrees that $6 is fair and wants 50 of them I'd still need to produce and stock the other 350 pcs and hope they sell someday.
At least now you know the value of each both that you drilled and tapped @CothermanDistilling if you'd like to make and vend then?
Thanks for trying and thanks for providing the forum where we can try to come up with ideas to make better products to promote our passion! If any other 8" CD purchasers want to help meet the minimum, let him know, I don't want to leave Lloyd stuck with something if no one wants them!
OK, did 2 gallons of vinegar in maybe 20 gal of water last night, and tested the column... due to the frugality of us before having money coming in, I used my 2 2" long condensers, one with the danfoss valve, and then one above it. It could cool the vinegar distillate at full power with no problems... I had my copper cored dephleg in place, but not plumbed... I will have it plumbed for the sacrificial run..
5x 5500W elements, but 2 are on 208, not 240, so just under 25kW
Without a dephleg, the top plate( ProCap ), loaded, but not a lot, it sent only a trickle down and the lower plates never loaded...
I will test my dephleg, maybe tonight, need to get fittings for my IBC totes..
and yes, I ordered the proper 8" dephleg this morning from @smaug , but I have not lost hope for a can dephleg inside the CD glass, hung from the reducer..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx-LECydD3E
Cleaning run 2, like that 1 day shipping from @Smaug !!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2uQ4QhlWTo
Very nice @CothermanDistilling . Are you planning on using the downcomer adjusters for the ProCaps?
Short answer - No, no time to think about them with all the other stuff in my brain right now...
Long answer,: OK, so in the infancy of using these, 2 vinegar runs and a sac run. The ProCaps seem to look like they are under-driven but just fine at 667W/cap (8200w/12 caps ~= 2 5500W elments at 4100W (208v^2/10.47ohms = 4132W) where the perf plates, one of which I cannot adjust the downcomer at the current point in time, seems to be driven OK (but plates are sensitive to being level, and only half the plate is bubbling, but the perf two plates below, the other half is bubbling, so leveling the boiler is not an answer...... I need to carefully inspect/measure the installation of the perf plates, maybe assemble while installed on the boiler with very close attention to detail while assembling each plate...)
With lots of action, the traditional cap seems to be driven at the upper end of it's capability, 547Watts per cap, I have 15, of them (19 holes, 3 downcomers and 1 hole is eliminated with a bolt to make room for downcomer from above)
Since I robbed these traditional caps from my 4" 8-plate setup, I will likely buy either 1 or 3 more ProCap plates, I would love to be able to use alternating perf plates, but it may be more trouble than it is worth...
also, using beer has left deposits on the glass, and running hot backset into the 4x2 reducer after the run cleaned the bubble caps r=pretty well, but the perfs did not load up, even at a rate that almost overwhelmed the 8" dephlegmator...
Side note: I was all set up and was going to run 100gal of beer yesterday, but my gout has me hobbling, so I got everything ready, had it almost to boiling, then neighboring brewery owner called and all his 7bbl fermenters all were getting warm after he had installed new control panel from premier stainless to replace his johnson control A419's, and the local electricians replaced the 110v coil packs on the glycol valves with 24v units on Friday, they worked for one day then stopped having the 'oomph' to open the valves... I was hobbling, but helped him troubleshoot it to the coil packs, then made some 110 ac power cord to solenoid jumper cords for him to put on the 110 packs so he could manually open the glycol valves and cool his fermenters and bright tanks... needless to say, I don't pay for beer over there... the tap list for the past three days was out of this world each day 7venth Sun Brewing @ Facebook then at 2pm, I went home to spend time with the wife who worked 12+ hour shifts the last three nights, then the day off and three more, I needed to make sure I was keeping up my part of the happy wife, happy life deal... :-))
"(but plates are sensitive to being level, and only half the plate is bubbling, but the perf two plates below, the other half is bubbling, so leveling the boiler is not an answer......"
This sounds like channeling, not too familiar with it but have read about it somewhere. Looking forward to an all ProCap plates results :-c
Another note while I am thinking about it, during the vinegar and sacrificial runs I had a march 809 pump recirculating from a IBC tote, and the flow rate was not that good. I had 1" ID hose to pump on the floor, then 5/8" ID garden hose to orange pushlock hose to pushlock tee to 2 pushlock hoses to the 2 bottom connectors of the dephleg, and a similar setup on the output... this gave me a flow, once purged with a garden hose on full blast, of 5gal bucket in 2:30, so 8L/min, not so great... this could not put the 25kW into full reflux, maybe it could handle 15kW.. midway through the sac run, I switched to a larger march pump and it was only marginally better... I knew the restriction was in the single pushlock section... for the first real run, I changed it up, the outlet of the pump was connected to a 5/8" black rubber garden hose to brass barb in a PVC 1/2" NPT tee to 2 Blue hoses to two 1/2" NPT pushlock fittings in the lower dephlegmator inlets. The dephleg outlets had the same 1/2" pushlocks with orange hoses going to two pushlock fittings in a stainless 1/2" tee with a brass hose barb in it, then black rubber hose returning to the tote... this setup had easily double the flow of the previous setup, maybe triple, just with the small 809 pump... I am sure this will be a winner...
The point is... if you have 2 condenser inlets, do not use a single pushlock hose anywhere in your plumbing!
oh, and y'all are probably tired of me commenting continually right about now, but don't worry, when I get fully approved by the fire marshal, you likely won't hear from me for a month or two!
March sells an impeller kit to upgrade the 809 to 815 and it gives a slightly better performance. I upgraded my 809 to 815 and purchased a second 815. Pulling from a similar IBC tote max flow thru SD push connects and 5/8 GH return thru a car radiator that fills from the bottom and dumps out the top is 1.2 GPM for each, Deph and condenser(total 2.4 GPM) with one pump. But if I shut off one completely (deph or cond) I still only get 1.4 GPM, which seems to be max for these pumps with this restrictions, and 8' of head and my flow meters. The good thing is it only takes 0.4 GPM for the deph during take off.
actually, I have that impeller, just default to saying 809... the smaller impeller is default on most pumps because a lot of people but the pump for things thicker than water(think bio-diesel or heating oil or similar)... I will likely switch over to a center inlet housing unit I have when my tote adapters get here... my buddy is a pump distributor and likes his booze, so you ever need parts, let me know ;-)
I got about 1GPM , now getting 2+Gpm...
If you look at the pump curves, I believe we all can be getting much more, if you have no air in the system and returning to the same container, that is 0 feet of head... the 809 is about 7.5gpm and the 815 is 8.5GPM:
Yes, but I prolly have too much head and too many restrictions. But it's working. My other option is to go for a diff. pump but that would mean a bypass. I do like the fact that you can pinch down the flow with needle valves without hurting the March pumps.
I have seen mine pump the 8 GPM advertised only when transferring from one container to another, and like you said, no restrictions and no head. BTW, rumor has it 809 has been discontinued and now only 815 is available. Dunno for sure.
809 has the fully rounded inlet shape, the 815 has the flat angle on the inlet....
if you are returning to the same container and more importantly, have no air bubble traps , you have zero head pressure...
OIC, I though head was the highest point in the line. :\">
if you had an opening such as a vacuum break at the highest point in the line, say, on the dephleg, you would be correct!
Must be the numerous restrictions keeping the flow rates down. Reason why I increased the deph size :D
I got nearly double the flow rate though the 8" condenser eliminating any 'single path' using push-lock
first semi-production run:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wj4DJ4PIz0
Great video - What's your dephlegmator coolant temp and flow rate now? How close are you from knocking down 100%? Your garden hose is 5/8ths ID? (Trying to work backwords from your experience to gauge if I need to make any changes to my planned setup for the 12").
I was planning to plumb the coolant feed and return lines with 1" PEX, mainly to minimize head/restrictions.
PEX Tubing Technical Specifications and General Installation Recommendations @ PexUniverse.com
Some good charts here that include the 5/8ths, not sure how much tubing you are running in total, but once you hit about 4gpm on approximately 5/8ths ID, you hit a brick wall (3/4 pex is near 5/8ths - 0.625 id)
no temps yet, had to get rid of some scrap beer... my whole automation system is on the shelf.... I know, I know... maybe tonight...
Flow rate is 3.3GPM, checked by filling a 5 gallon bucket in 1.5 min ;-)
yes, Garden hose is 5/8" ID, it was a sears craftsman bought in 1990 or so when I was in college... no hose has ever stood the test of time like that one... and all the fittings are 5/8" brass hose barbs.
Do NOT use PVC on the cold side, after I shut off the pump to collect tails, the cold side got very hot and the threaded garden hose adapter fell right the hell out... I am going to use 5/8" brass compression fitting and 1/2" ID copper to a brass compression T, then the rubber hose to a wall mounted fitting I think when I redo it tonight or tomorrow
biggest issue is the two product condensers, exit water cool on the lower condenser, but distillate was hot... looking at it yields a 'doh!' moment... the distillate is all taking one tube in the lower condenser... maybe a 2" filter? Maybe copper wire 'drip downcomers' to direct the flow from one to the other? maybe put my single counterflow on and move the thermostatic valve to the top...
I also have a tiny leak on the bottom CD gasket... need to research..
I'd align the condensers vertical, more plumbing, I know - you probably have Larry on speed dial anyway.
Is there a way that you can locate the march pump below the level in the tote? Mine do not like having to suck from the tote and I have them at about midway up but feeding from the bottom drain of the tank.
Maybe some packing material before the first condenser in the line up and some in the 45 degree bend?
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
don't we all have it memorized by now anyway? :)]
I do have a 2" tube the length of the condenser, so i can try that... I get next day shipping for free! and I like the new website ordering....
now to scrub the resin off the bong... err, the baked on hop oils off the pyrex.... at least that is what I think it is...
OK, installed my automation box on the wall, ran a conduit and the 4-wire 50A range outlet that it needs.
Super hot backset may do wonders, but 120F or so in a 5-gal bucket did not do much, oh, and DO NOT get lazy and throw the gaskets in too... forever off-white now I fear... not terrible, but not new...
drilled and tapped 1/8" NPT into the almost virgin 380L boiler, between two elements and as low as possible while still being flat, put in a stainless compression fitting and the boiler temp probe
drilled and tapped a 2" end cap and put in the compression fitting for the vapor temp probe on one of the top fittings.
had to fix a bad ground in the 5VDC circuit in the control box that was moved around and sat for 10 months, had to run ethernet to the box, and punch a hole through the firewall at the shop so I can access it from outside...
that is all I got done from 7 to midnight... still have to put fitting on the 8" reducer for post dephleg and I guess one in the CD Flange for pre-dephleg temps. And reassemble the CD and figure out new product condenser setup... maybe hit the credit card up for the 4" condenser, some 4" elbows, and 3 more ProCap plates... painful on the wallet, but I think I may need it...