Hey all been busy distilling and experimenting thanks for all advice. got another one want to add a thump keg to my pot still. Running a 62qt stainless steel boiler, 1/2 soft copper for condenser, been doing alot of research question is how big should thumper be? When I run it is usually 12-14gals of wash at a time, been told a one gal glass jar (pickle jar) would be perfect. any advice would be highly appreciated. noticed after second distilling product cleaner tasting (higher proof also 165-170) they say a thump keg will eliminate the second distill process. NEED ADVICE THX

"They say ( the really smart people I mean) your thumper should be 1/3 the size of your pot. You can use the pickle jar idea you just have to empty it often and it does get really hot of course but that can be worked out too. Safety first of course.
I did'nt think the thumper idea was as good as a second run but thats just an opinion. I dont think you need one, you could slow down your collection and that really cleans it up but again....thats just my opinion."

"Well I can't say I'm very smart buuuuuuut....I used for a while and it seemed to do what a thumper is supposed to do. Now if you've never used one or seen one work, it will collect some of what goes through it because thats what it does, it condenses SOME of what passed through it. Thats why it continuously fills and you have to empty it.
Once I learned to run my still the right way I discarded that little thumper deal, now with that in mind, if you slow down your collection rate you really dont need that little gizmo inline, and also I found that a second pass through the still was a much better product result than thinking the thumper was as good for the second distillation.
In conclusion....you can use one but you can get the result you are after without it."