Column Leveling

[nabtastic]

Hi All,

Our columns don't have adjustable legs/feet on them.  Anybody have recommendations for adjustable legs - preferably that can be permanently mounted into concrete?  I'm looking for a safe/secure method of adjusting our columns because our concrete is uneven.. 

Would this adjustable foot work if we use a couple and then use separate anchor bolts to secure it to the concrete?  Is there a cleaner / more streamlined option?

Thanks

[richard1]

You will need some engineering requirements to do that.... driiling, 4.5mm flat plate and finally welding of a SS nut to such plate and leg.

 

Possibly easiest is to just pack underneath the leg with square thin plates unitl level

[Southernhighlander]

What do your column bases look like?  If they are bolt flanges just bolt to the floor using red heads and shim with metal plates.  If the columns are tall  then you should run some aircraft cable to ceiling joists or other very sturdy structures to hold them in place.  if you need something fabricated, send me some pics paul@distillery.com and we will come up with something and give you a quote.

 

http://distillery-equipment.com

http://moonshine-still.co

http://triclamp.co

http://emeraldgoldextractors.com

 

 

 

[indyspirits]

23 hours ago, richard1 said:

Possibly easiest is to just pack underneath the leg with square thin plates unitl level

Exactly what we did.  Stainless washers to be exact. Drilled holes, insert stainless threaded rod. Epoxy in place. 

[nabtastic]

Well that’s easy enough. Thanks!

[SLCDBD]

How off-level are we talking?

If everything connects well you might get some novel refluxing.

[nabtastic]

It's less than 1 inch I'd guess but it puts a lot of pressure on each tri-clamp.  I think for us, using metal shims and bolting it to the ground is best.  They are flanged btw.  I'm off to go buy steel slotted shims and some anchor bolts... hmm I guess flat washers would work too?

The whole rig is less than 16'.  I'm hoping that means we are good with anchor bolts.. 

[SLCDBD]

If you get bigger anchor bolts than you think you need you should be fine. You might also want to support the top of the column from above if you are using washers and anchors to prevent any swaying. you catch a bad harmonic and a column can really get moving.

[Southernhighlander]

I would use metal shims cut to the radius of the column, drilled and tapered, so that you have full support.  I would use red heads with bolts as they will be much stronger solution.  I would very strongly suggest that you use some aircraft cable attached to the very top of the column to help hold the column in place. 

My safety manual states that our columns that tall must be bolted to the floor and air craft cable must be used, however my columns, unlike some of my competitors columns, are incredibly heavy because of the metal thicknesses, so I like for them to be solidly supported at the top and bottom when they are that tall, and of course I am very safety conscious.

[John McKee]

An additional thought to consider,

  All columns need to be as plumb as possible, even 1" over 16' is unacceptable for supporting good distillation. 

  To picture the analogy, put a pyrex of water on a desk and then put a few pennies under one side.  The water will pool in the deeper side right?  The same applies to each tray of your column and the liquid hold-up on each tray.  If you're out of plumb the vapor and liquid interaction (distillation) will lose efficiency because the vapor will short path to the side with less liquid and the liquid will short path to the side with the lower elevation.

  I was asked to assist with a Carl system that couldn't sustain 190p.  When I arrived it was obvious the column was out of plumb.  We leveled and the immediate following run made 190p and there haven't been issues since.

  Just FYI on distillation efficiency and getting your install precise.

Cheers,

McKee

 

[nabtastic]

Thanks for the advice everybody.  These columns are heavy AF and I've been terrified of these swaying - especially since they are so top heavy.  I'll get the cables for the top and bolts for the bottom.  Please tell me these anchor bolts  work and that I won't need to tap all 16 holes per column..

I'll get our local metal shop to cut some shims for us.

[SLCDBD]

1 hour ago, nabtastic said:

Thanks for the advice everybody.  These columns are heavy AF and I've been terrified of these swaying - especially since they are so top heavy.  I'll get the cables for the top and bolts for the bottom.  Please tell me these anchor bolts  work and that I won't need to tap all 16 holes per column..

I'll get our local metal shop to cut some shims for us.

My 28' vendome 12" column came with 8 of these anchors for support, FYI

[Southernhighlander]

2 hours ago, nabtastic said:

  Please tell me these anchor bolts  work and that I won't need to tap all 16 holes per column..

 

Those are the bolts.  What is the OD of the column and the OD of the column flange?

[nabtastic]

I'm not sure I want to say anymore after looking at the Vendome base but...

column is basically 16" wide and looks to be about 3/16" thick stainless.  The copper plates aren't in a position to be inspected at the moment.  Bear-in-mind the bottom 5 feet (stainless steel) is just a stand.  

the flange is 1 1/4" wide and 1/2" thick and no bracing like in the picture above.  Definitely getting the cables though - I can't tell if the base of one of the columns was poorly made or if it's conforming to our wavy concrete..

[Southernhighlander]

I would use all 16 holes and the cable.  I would also ask the manufacturer what their recomendations are.

[whiskeytango]

12 hours ago, nabtastic said:

I'm not sure I want to say anymore after looking at the Vendome base but...

column is basically 16" wide and looks to be about 3/16" thick stainless.  The copper plates aren't in a position to be inspected at the moment.  Bear-in-mind the bottom 5 feet (stainless steel) is just a stand.  

the flange is 1 1/4" wide and 1/2" thick and no bracing like in the picture above.  Definitely getting the cables though - I can't tell if the base of one of the columns was poorly made or if it's conforming to our wavy concrete..

So just thinking about this another way.  Why don't you get a concrete guy in to grind down your concrete floor?  They use a big machine that they push behind and it will cut down the high spots of the concert first.  We have had this done at our building and was very affordable.   

 

[John McKee]

You should be able to shim to a new elevation without too many issues, provided you shim the attached still to the same elevation as well.  We use Redhead anchor bolts when installing and leveling our systems.  Pretty simple to use, there are some good videos on youtube to assist.  Shim stock can be purchased from McMasterCarr which would be a better solution than slotted washers.

 

Cheers,

McKee

[Silk City Distillers]

What @John McKee says.  

Don't assume your floors or walls are flush, plumb, straight, level, or anything else.  Shimming is a much better approach then attempting to level your concrete floor surface.  If you don't see shims, it probably isn't perfectly vertical.

[nabtastic]

I went with slotted shims from Grainger as in the link.  We probably should've ground the floor down.  There's about 0.5inch variance from one side of each column to the other, and not in a uniform manner.  Had to bend and twist every component to get shit straight again..  I've actually done a fair amount of residential construction and installations (mostly kitchens and such) so I assumed it was a little off.  I didn't realize the concrete guys didn't even try - I honestly have no clue how thick our 6" concrete actually is.  I'm not going to post the manufacturers installation instructions.  I haven't seen any original copies and they're well-respected so I'll chock my experience as a one-off.

Anyway, the columns are level and anchored, although it would've been a lot easier if the flange was wide enough to drill them in place.  Next up is the cables.  I was thinking lag screws to an anchor plate in the walls.  The ceiling is exposed composite I-joists so I'm going to assume they won't work as an anchor.. One end to an anchor in the wall, the other end is secured to a bolt on the still? 

Again, thank you to everybody that has commented. 

[richard1]

Pricey but looks nice and will get the job done.