Would this work to connect vinyl hose to my IC?

Hey Guys, I was thinking about connecting my 3/8 OD copper IC to one of these compression unions, then connecting the other end to vinyl hose using one of those little brass inserts. See the picture. Seems like this would be the best and cheapest way to attach to hose. Anyone else have any experience doing this? I want to make sure I get the right parts. Thanks!!

I think that should work, Swagelock makes stainless inserts like that to go inside softer plastic tubing and they work great. But I have to ask, why not just get a "real" compression fitting (one with a metal ferrule instead of plastic) and clamp down right on the copper?

On the opposite end of the union from the vinyl tubing I'll connect the soft copper tubing from the IC with a regular metal ferrule. I'm not a big fan of garden hose connectors being up close to the edge of the pot for fear of leaks. Seems like this would be a much better solution than a worm-type pipe clamp or two. What do you think?

I'm sure that would work, but I think the cheapest way is hose clamps:


I use 2 to secure vinyl tubing to 3/8" copper, hasn't leaked yet. And at 50 cents each, worth trying at least.

Yea man that's a killer way to do it!!! This is what I have done and have no issues at all. I have had leaks when using those hose clamps because they don't pinch uniformly.

I think this sounds good. I do use hose clamps, I always watch them closely when I first turn on the water. Your plan is definitely more solid

I tried the brass compression unions but with a threaded coupler then attached to a barbed fitting. My original idea was to attach a hose coupler but I never could get the compression to seal. It always dripped or worse (sprayed) and I didn't want to risk the chiller water getting into the kettle so I "temporarily" switched to a hose clamp until I could solder a coupler to the copper. "Temporary" has become very extended and it hasn't leaked so other projects have moved ahead in priority.