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Let go of the vacuum
Good afternoon shiners! I’m about to run a spirit run. My sac run through my thumper caused a vacuum at power off. I run electrical for my rig fyi. My thumper has a ball valve at the bottom. At power off can I open the ball valve to drain the distillate? It will be hot obviously but there is no open flame. If I’m careful I don’t see an obvious concern.The other option is my boiler has a 1.5″ tri clover fill port. I could had a ball valve at the top to open. Could this work to release the vacuum? I realize a vacuum pressure relief valve is best but I don’t have $100 at the moment. Any advice is helpful thank you.”No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness”. Aristotle
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16 Replies
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You could install a valve on top of the thumper boiler. Later you could replace that valve with a vacuum/pressure relief.4″ VM Build
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Thanks I appreciate that. My boiler is 20 gallons max but I fill to 15 gallons.What pressure of vacuum do you think I’m getting? Stout tanks has a valve rated at 5psi. There are so many different PRV/vacuum relief valves it’s difficult to know which to buy.”No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness”. Aristotle
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One of these and a ball valve or a radiator drain plug.
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You can also just break the seal between your boiler and thumper as soon as you power off. Put on an oven mitt and remove a tri-clamp or loosen a union joint on the arm connecting the two or remove the cap from your boiler’s fill port. That’s a pretty low cost solution.Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/DimrothLearning to Toast: Toasting WoodPolishing Spirits with Fruitwood: FruitwoodBadmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
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Simplicity is usually the best solution to a problem.
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I have the manual ball valve on my boiler that I open on shut down. I also have a vacuum breaker that opens at 1/2 psi vacuum. I would not rely on breaking a flange as you could loose power and have a vacuum prior to noticing.
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I’m thinking.Having the boiler sucking liquid out of the thumper when the heat is turned off isn’t dangerous if the boiler is stiff enough, like with a SS boiler but with a copper pot driving a thumper, collapse could be a real problem.Another possible failure mode is having a vacuum suck mash back into the boiler to thumper tubing.The mash could thicken and plug up the tubing. If the boiler is fired back up, there’s an over pressure.
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A normally open solenoid could be used, powered on in parallel with the element. The only time a simple circuit wouldn’t work is if the element failed, but that is pretty rare.
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https://www.sabersales.shop/products/ea … lief-valve16 bucks delivered.
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I use these on my systems.They are a little pricey but are designed for high temp and are very reliable.I build boiler packages for a living and use these regularly.https://www.supplyhouse.com/Bell-Gosset … POc8SU1F5MThe liver is evil and must be punishedCranky”s spoon feeding for new and novice distillershttp://acedistiller.com/forum/viewtopi … 15&t=52975
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That looks exactly like the ones on this Vendome kettle.
Trample the injured and hurdle the dead.
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These fancy vacuum valves look great .But I got a feeling they are not going to protect a Ace distiller copper kettle ……. Nor a skanky Stainless Version . Might be OK on a Beer keg butMy recommended goto .wiki/index.ph … ion_Theory
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Mine are installed in beer kegs and one in a steam pipe. Would like to know why it won’t work on what you are referring to.Windy’s is damn expensive,but that’s a huge boiler and one not attended to much I’ll bet. I would get a normal price 5psi pvr,A vacuum breaker on boiler and thumper, and a ball valve on the thumper to vent and charge with. All for the price of that fine vacuum breaker.
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They are actually adjustable and can be made to open fairly easy without chance of leaking during pressure phase.Its bottom range is 1/4″ of mercury or 0.122 psiThe liver is evil and must be punishedCranky”s spoon feeding for new and novice distillershttp://acedistiller.com/forum/viewtopi … 15&t=52975
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My mistake Windy .Yeah if they can be set that low , no worries .My recommended goto .wiki/index.ph … ion_Theory
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I appreciate all the advice here. I will be documenting my next run when parts come in. Kindest regards”No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness”. Aristotle
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