Help with camlock purchase

I'm struggling to understand exactly how many camlocks I need to purchase for my setup. Any and all help is appreciated.

I have a three vessel system, a little giant pump (which hasn't arrived yet), and a counter flow chiller. I'm assuming I need male ends on my MT, HLT, and boil pot.

My questions are the following:
1. Do I need male ends on each end of my pump?
2. Do I need male ends on each end of my counterflow chiller?
3. Do I need female ends on each end of my tubing? Or do most people leave the tubing attached to the pump?

I'm planning on purchasing from bargainfittings.com using the following camlock supplies:
1/2" SS CAMLOCK F STYLE FITTING QUICK DISCONNECT
1/2" SS CAMLOCK B STYLE QUICK DISCONNECT

Most of this comes down to personal preference and your exact setup. The smart thing to do is blueprint your system: Write down and map out your plumbing including tubing diameters. Some people prefer to have a QD on literally every connection (me), some people prefer to leave certain things permanently attached. There is no way to answer your questions with a great deal more info. Is it a 3 TIER system, or a flat 3 vessel system? What sparge mechanism do you use? What valves do you have? What fittings are on your CFC etc etc etc etc. You can just as easily put a female fitting on your kettle with male fittings on your tubing (I prefer this, more leverage for closing the lock). Some people prefer male ends on their kettles.

Coach_Hogleg said:

I'm struggling to understand exactly how many camlocks I need to purchase for my setup. Any and all help is appreciated.

I have a three vessel system, a little giant pump (which hasn't arrived yet), and a counter flow chiller. I'm assuming I need male ends on my MT, HLT, and boil pot.

My questions are the following:
1. Do I need male ends on each end of my pump?
2. Do I need male ends on each end of my counterflow chiller?
3. Do I need female ends on each end of my tubing? Or do most people leave the tubing attached to the pump?

I'm planning on purchasing from bargainfittings.com using the following camlock supplies:
1/2" SS CAMLOCK F STYLE FITTING QUICK DISCONNECT
1/2" SS CAMLOCK B STYLE QUICK DISCONNECT

Click to expand...

Yes, it's best to have male fittings on all of your vessels.

1. I purchased male ends for each end of my pump (and my pump outflow also has a valve before the male end)
2. I put male ends on each end of my CFC.
3. I have female ends on each end of my tubing, except for one tube that has no end on it. I use that tube to drain into the top of the BK when recirculating the hot wort through the CFC and then, once the wort is cooled to the right temp, pumping from the BK into the carboys.

I have three other tubes:
* One that has special braided silicon hose with two female fittings on each end. This is the tube that I use to connect vessels to the pump. It's debatable whether or not you need the special braided hose for the inflow side, but I just wanted to be safe when transferring boiling hot liquids.

* One that has normal silicon hose with female fittings on each end. This is used for transferring liquids from the pump to the vessels.

* One short hose that has a garden hose attachment on one end and a male fitting on the other end. This is so I can easily connect the garden hose to any of my other hoses, or (by first connecting it to one of my other hoses that has female fittings on each end) to the pump, or the CFC, or any of the vessels. This hose is used for cleaning purposes.

I use male fittings on all "solid" connections and use the female fittings on the hoses... Cheaper that way...

You may want to purchase some 90º Street Elbows as well. Clamping the elbows to your hose and then attaching the Female Camlocks will help reduce strain on the hose and prevent kinking.

beergynt said:

You may want to purchase some 90º Street Elbows as well. Clamping the elbows to your hose and then attaching the Female Camlocks will help reduce strain on the hose and prevent kinking.

Click to expand...

Actually this is one of the reasons I prefer female ends on my kettle.

I went with females on hose ends and males on everything else (kettles, pumps, and the soon-to-arrive 30 plate long chiller). It's the least expensive of the two options, and avoids dinging males if a hose gets dropped on pavement.

No barbs anywhere. 1/2" ID silicone hoses are stretched over dulled threads on street elbows on the b-style female couplers for ends that will hang from a horizontally oriented male coupler (kettles, cooler MLT and plate chiller) and directly on the b-style females for anything hanging from a vertically oriented male coupler (ie: pump heads)...

Cheers!