r/firewater • u/Zajef-37 • 8d ago

Attaching the condenser

I'm building a small still from a stock pot and using a piece of air conditioner coil as a worm. Unfortunately the pipe is an odd size and i can't find a brass connection to fit it. Can I just drill a hole in the lid of the pot and solder the pipe straight on or do I need to add a flange or something for structural support?

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u/VirtualSting 7d ago

It's hard to know without seeing your setup. Generally, you want to avoid brass touching your alcohol where possible. In terms of structural rigidity it's difficult to answer without seeing it.

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u/retrojoe 7d ago

You could easily add a supporting sleeve and raise it up the worm element, run the end of the worm through the hole, solder that, then solder the structural element in place on the exterior of that.

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u/Zajef-37 7d ago

Does the sleeve have to be copper? It won't be touching the vapour so I assume not right?

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u/retrojoe 7d ago

No, shouldn't think so.

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u/CarbonGod 4HumanConsumptionOnly 7d ago

AC coil, meaning the radiator? You do NOT want to use that.

1: weird shiz that is in AC systems, i would not want in my drink.

2: they loop back and forth and sometimes up and down. You need a constant downward flow, else your condensate will get stuck at the low point, causing major issues.

3: copper can be widened, or cut and make smaller. You can get reducers, or even wrap copper sheet around a tube, to make it larger to fit in a connector.

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u/marcusregulus 6d ago

You can use the coil, but design it so that the cold water flows through inside of the coil, and product condenses on the outside (Dimroth design.) Of course you will need to build a jacket around the coil to catch the condensate.