I started with 35' immersion chiller (3/8" refrigeration tubing) with a 15' pre-chiller. I was completely dissatisfied with the cooling time so I converted the IC to a CFC. I've used it twice and I have been thrilled with the cooling times and that was just gravity fed. Now I'm looking at adding a March pump to my system and upgrading my hoses to 1/2". One thing that has been bothering me though is how to connect the 3/8" OD counter flow chiller to a 1/2" hose without intruducing a bunch of nooks and crannies to make cleaning a nightmare.
I've also been researching QDs since I'm starting with a single pump and won't have dedicated hoses. I decided on the SS camlock quick disconnects as my solution. Reading about the flow restrictions of the hose barb connections on the camlocks gave me an idea.
A type E camlock (male QD with 1/2" hose barb) seems like the perfect reducer to go from 1/2" hose to 3/8" CFC. The smallish hose barb is perfect for a short length of 3/8" silicon hose to squeeze over. The other end of that hose would then attach directly to the 3/8" CFC copper. The male QD will attach to the female QD on the 1/2" hose coming from the pump. No nooks for gunk to hide in by stepping up the 3/8" to 1/2" with fittings.
I realize that:
1) There is nothing new under the sun and there are almost certainly people already doing this.
2) There probably countless threads about this that I'm about to be told that exist
3) I'm probably overly paranoid about post boil cleanliness
I've been searching for a while and I haven't found any solutions for connecting a 3/8" CFC to a 1/2" hose extra fittings. Hopefully if someone else is searching for a similar solution they will find this.
I've also been researching QDs since I'm starting with a single pump and won't have dedicated hoses. I decided on the SS camlock quick disconnects as my solution. Reading about the flow restrictions of the hose barb connections on the camlocks gave me an idea.
A type E camlock (male QD with 1/2" hose barb) seems like the perfect reducer to go from 1/2" hose to 3/8" CFC. The smallish hose barb is perfect for a short length of 3/8" silicon hose to squeeze over. The other end of that hose would then attach directly to the 3/8" CFC copper. The male QD will attach to the female QD on the 1/2" hose coming from the pump. No nooks for gunk to hide in by stepping up the 3/8" to 1/2" with fittings.
I realize that:
1) There is nothing new under the sun and there are almost certainly people already doing this.
2) There probably countless threads about this that I'm about to be told that exist
3) I'm probably overly paranoid about post boil cleanliness
I've been searching for a while and I haven't found any solutions for connecting a 3/8" CFC to a 1/2" hose extra fittings. Hopefully if someone else is searching for a similar solution they will find this.
