mmonacel

Recipes 

Has anyone tried using 4 way ball valves (1 input / 3 output) in their setup? I'm thinking that two of these, one on the input and one on the output side of the pump, would be ideal to go from any typical source (HLT, MLT, BK) to any other. It could potentially eliminate multiple ball valves through the system and a second pump for those who use two pumps (one water, one wort). There'd be no hose connect / disconnects to make until initial set up and final cleanup. I haven't seen much searching around here however.

One I found online (still need to call for pricing) is at PBM Valve (link to their PDF not showing up for some reason in the post properly so here - . Check out the Bottom Entry #26 - L-Port 360* turn. It appears that this provides three distinct outputs, but also a shut-off position which other variations don't seem to offer.

Another approach might be the standard 4-way hose manifold from a big box store. I use one of these on the side of my house and all the liquid contact appears to be brass and SS. While not as blingy, it may be just as effective, considerably less cost, and have the added bonus of an extra input and output.

Anyone use either one of these approaches?

__________________
"Goin' downtown to the disco, gotta do it right away. Got a funky thing to get into, gonna blow my blues away!"

mmonacel

Recipes 

Shameless bump. Lots of views. FYI that I called PBM for a quote and should hear something back soon just to get a SWAG on the cost of these.

__________________
"Goin' downtown to the disco, gotta do it right away. Got a funky thing to get into, gonna blow my blues away!"

mmonacel

Recipes 

I also confirmed that the configuration I listed has a distinct off position and three outputs

__________________
"Goin' downtown to the disco, gotta do it right away. Got a funky thing to get into, gonna blow my blues away!"

conpewter

Recipes 

I guess you could plumb something up, but I tend to have one pump with silicone hoses attached then I can pump whatever liquid to whatever vessel. Has proved very useful when I had to use my HLT as the BK one time when my BK went out.

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"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people." - V

Primary: Nothin
Secondary: Shady Lord RIS, Water to Barleywine, Pumpkin wine, burnt mead
Kegged: Crappy infected mild
Bottles: Apfelwein, 999 Barleywine, Oatmeal Stout, Robust Porter, Robust smoked porter, Simcoe Smash

mmonacel

Recipes 

Yeah, I use silicone hoses with QDs too and likely would continue with this configuration. With a 4-way valve I'm thinking there's no need to change over hot QDs from vessel to vessel - just throw the switches and the water or wort just flows to the right spot. This way I can set up my system in the morning and not have to worry about moving hoses all around. If you plumb it up, it makes even more sense. Necessary? No. Possibly neat and nice to have? I think so....

__________________
"Goin' downtown to the disco, gotta do it right away. Got a funky thing to get into, gonna blow my blues away!"

mmonacel

Recipes 

Looks like $1500 per valve. Nevermind...

__________________
"Goin' downtown to the disco, gotta do it right away. Got a funky thing to get into, gonna blow my blues away!"

outside92129

Recipes 

I got a 3-way for a reasonable price from duda.

pjj2ba

Recipes 

I started with one pump, and then moved to two. This was mostly a sanitation issue. I now have one pump that "sees" only boiled wort, and one for pre-boil wort. Now I don't have to worry about cross-contamination and have stopped with the rigourous cleaning of the one pump set up during the middle of brewing.

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Secondary:
Primary: Kolsch, OKZ (std Amer. lager), CZ pils
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mmonacel

Recipes 

So what are you using your three-way for? Are you using more than one?

__________________
"Goin' downtown to the disco, gotta do it right away. Got a funky thing to get into, gonna blow my blues away!"