Blond bubbler construction

[Kimbo]

well done Blondie :clap: :clap:
your gunna have some fun with that mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[tickle]

err,

not altogether sure of the purpose or benefit of the split reflux condenser...it seems like more work for undetermined reasons.

bt1

The mid condenser plate is possibly is a waste of time, but my thinking was:
If you have the water input and outlet on the same side, there may be a preferential flow on that side, so the plate (with the hole on the opposite side to the inlet/outlet) forces the water to cross the tube before exiting the condenser.

Btw I have nicked tickle's idea of having 2 outlets. Both of these are above the middle plate.

We'll see whether the thing works in a month or two.

I see what you are thinking there, water wanting to take the shortest path and all. Trust me, you'll have plenty of knock down power with that thing. It was a huge concern to me too, on my first build, to make sure it was big enough to get 'er done. really ends up not bieng a concern, really, its surprising how little flow is needed. On newer builds, i've made the spacing between the bottom inlet and the middle drain as close as 2" (50mm? i think..)This build is looking awesome! :handgestures-thumbupleft: Great work, I found the support in this site to be outstanding.

as far as nicking the idea..please. that's why it was shared. i wouldn't have built at all if not for stealing from others! If i may be as so bold to name it?...."the tickler" :obscene-sexualvlick: :obscene-sexualvlick: :laughing-rolling:

[MR-E]

Well done Blondie, now fire it up :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[blond.chap]

First proper test yesterday just using water in the boiler and it seems to be running ok, only 1 vapour leak (to be fixed with a thicker gasket) and no cooling water leaks (yay). Few observations:

- Running all cooling water from the product condenser to the RC was causing issues. Getting the RC to run low enough to get any flow through basically shuts off the product condenser so end up with steam coming through. I think I've resolved this by putting a T onto the PC outlet with the needle valve on one end and a ball valve on the other. Can now preheat the RC water and still get enough to ensure the PC works properly.

- The maximum flow through the system is pretty low, this may be partially because I'm using water rather than ethanol, but I think the main reason is that I only have a 2kW boiler and it's losing too much heat through the column and boiler. I'll try insulating the boiler, and I've got plans for a 4.8kW keg boiler, any other suggestions?

- Being the blind bubbler that it is, I have no idea whether the plates are loading, I'll put sight glasses in at some point, but till then I might just have to guess.

Cool. 2 things though, sugar will give headaches (crow will disagree with me here) and you got free/best yeast on the plums.
Soak em in water for a few days, then run a paint stirrer through them and they mash up easy and start fermenting all on their own.

I'll have to remember that for next time thanks EG, I was going to attempt using wild yeast, but ended up wussing out because I was worried it wouldn't work, similar issue with the sugar. Hopefully we get a few more plums this season.

I see what you are thinking there, water wanting to take the shortest path and all. Trust me, you'll have plenty of knock down power with that thing. It was a huge concern to me too, on my first build, to make sure it was big enough to get 'er done. really ends up not bieng a concern, really, its surprising how little flow is needed. On newer builds, i've made the spacing between the bottom inlet and the middle drain as close as 2" (50mm? i think..)This build is looking awesome! :handgestures-thumbupleft: Great work, I found the support in this site to be outstanding.
as far as nicking the idea..please. that's why it was shared. i wouldn't have built at all if not for stealing from others! If i may be as so bold to name it?...."the tickler" :obscene-sexualvlick: :obscene-sexualvlick: :laughing-rolling

Cheers tickle, my RC is 100mm from inlet to main outlet, and about 75mm from inlet to 2nd outlet. And the thing does seem to be too efficient, the tiniest trickle knocks everything down. If I was building another one I'd go 75mm and 50mm.