Connecting 3/16" poly beer line to 1/4" ball-lock disconnect?

**kal** · 11-23-2007, 08:25 PM

Maybe I'm fussier than others or my beer drinking style is different, but I've tried 3-4 different beer lines so far and every vinyl line I've tried 'taints' my beer with a plastic taste if I leave it overnight. I did some tests with different tube types left overnight (not connected to anything) with water in them:

Rating system:

0/10 = zero taint (good)
10/10 = Lots'o'taint (bad)

Arrowhose.com type 14 "General Purpose" vinyl hose (3/16" ID): 4/10
Arrowhose.com type 58 Arrow-flo "barrier" poly tubing (1/4" ID): 2/10
Kuritek.com Accuflex Bev-Seal Ultra Series 235 poly "barrier" tubing (1/4" ID): 0/10

Even the Arrowhose.com type 14 general purpose vinyl stuff that one of our city's draft system installers uses (in over 700 installations) I find leave a bad taste in the beer if left in the line overnight.

So I've moved on to what the pro's and soda companies use inside their trunk lines: Polyethylene barrier-type tubing

Poly tubing is that harder plastic stuff so it has very little give. So I can't jam a 3/16" poly line on the 1/4" barbed posts on my keg quick disconnects like I can with 3/16" vinyl beer line. And there's no such thing as ball-lock/pepsi quick disconnects with 3/16" barb!

What's the best way to attach the two?

Kal

**Baldy_Beer_Brewery** · 11-23-2007, 10:05 PM

Would warming the end of the line give you enough flexibilty to push it onto the barb?

**kal** · 11-24-2007, 06:47 PM

Interesting idea.... I tried using a heat gun and was able to heat up the 3/16" poly hose enough to get it onto a 1/4" barb! You have to be very careful however as you need to heat it up quite a bit and it gets pretty soft.

I'm worried however that it's hurt the poly such that it might break/crack in the future...

Kal

**Baldy_Beer_Brewery** · 11-24-2007, 07:04 PM

Sorry... I was thinking hot water. That seems like it would have been kinder and less stressful to the tubing than direct heat.

I doubt though anything will let go on you unless you see a definite change in properties such as discoloration or hardness.

**kal** · 11-25-2007, 12:55 PM

Hot water definitely won't heat it up enough. That works well for vinyl but poly's just so much harder.... boiling water may work. That would actually be a better idea than a heat gun as you're less likely to create hot spots or warp the poly.

Kal

**kal** · 11-29-2007, 02:08 AM

For reference sake, I tried boiling water: Stick the 3/16" poly line into a kettle for 30 seconds or so and you shouldn't have any problems getting it onto a 1/4" barb. Nice tight fit too.

Kal

**lagavulin** · 08-28-2011, 02:25 AM

I tried to connect my 3/16 barrier tubing to 3/16 tail pieces today. I attempted this using the boiling water technique and I couldn't get the bugger on. I'm looking at my 1/4 ball lock nipples and can't imagine how I'm going to get the tubing around them.

Any tips/tricks?

Cheers!

**Golddiggie** · 08-28-2011, 02:28 AM

The before mentioned boiling hot water soak should do the trick... I use a socket wrench to hold the nut against the barb (from the inside of the nut) so that I have something to press against when putting the tubing on. Works really well.

Heat the water either in a nuke chamber, or a tea kettle... You want BOILING hot water for this, not just hot tap water (won't be hot enough)...

certaut · 08-28-2011, 02:40 AM

+1 on boiling water.
I fill a half pint mason jar about 1 inch of the top, nuke for 2.5 min take out caution real hot
only dip the hose but not more then the length of the barb and stuff it on

**lagavulin** · 08-28-2011, 04:31 AM

Thanks guys. I'll give it another shot.