THUMPER BASICS

A Thumper is mainly used for pot stilling but can be used with a copper mesh column. It will not work with a bubble plate column.

A Thumper needs to be approx 1/3rd the size of the still boiler for optimum results and be around two thirds full.  Example 50L still boiler thumper needs to be 16L or 17L so the actual thumper wants to be about 20L. If on the other hand, you have a 50L boiler with 25L of wash in it you will need a 10L thumper with 7L to 8L of content.

Cold contents in the thumper need to be just over half full. Remember that as soon as you connect a thumper to the system it stops being an open system and become a closed system.

The Thumper needs to have an alcohol base. The base liquid can be preheated if you prefer for quicker results it should also contain alcohol. Water can be used but you will lose some ABV to start with. Likewise, if you start with cold contents it will take volume from the still which increases volume in the thumper until the temperatures equalise and you get an output.

PSI at Sea Level is approx 14PSI. This will vary depending on where you live. The higher you are the lower the PSI. Plus boiling starts at a lower temperature.

Temperature goes up pressure goes up. Temperature goes down pressure goes down. This can cause a still boiler to be crushed when cooling down because the pressure inside the boiler as it cools will be less than the pressure it was when it was hot and the normal 14psi of air pressure outside the boiler. As soon as you stop the still, open a valve either at the top of the still or in the pipe connecting the still to the thumper to allow air in. This will allow equalisation of pressure within the still boiler.

Slobber Box. 

This is an entirely different animal. A slobber box is just an empty container. It collects slobber. Vapours come in one tube and simply go out another tube. They are mainly used to collect any gunk and rubbish that may be court up in the vapour path when pot stilling. Any froth or foam produced known as puking drops into the slobber box and the cleaner vapour just goes into the adjacent tube and into the condenser for collection.