Asco Valve

Hi Guys
I apologize in advance for rehashing an old subject, but I could not find a definitive answer on my asco valve question. The question being... What is a suitable replacement for the brutus 10 Asco valve?
Will this work

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/RED-HAT-Solenoid-Valve-3UK76?Pid=search

Thanks

There's a lot of people using these: http://cgi.ebay.com/1-2-Electric-Solenoid-Valve-110-VAC-Air-Water-B21N-/290541766868

Myself included...

Thanks
The price is certainly attractive! You have been using these with no issues? And with the love controller?

I did previously use them with the Love controllers, but I now use them with a BCS system. You can see pictures in my build thread in my signature.

If you want to be as safe as possible and a little less expensive I may add, I would go with a Honeywell VR8200A2124. It is a standing pilot valve with a safety thermocouple that shuts down the valve if pilot or flame is lost. You can find them on ebay for $59.95 (http://cgi.ebay.com/VR8200A2124-HON...704?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a0f381398). For the $59.95 it includes the propane retrofit kit. They run on 24 VAC so you need a cheap 24 volt transformer and a Q314A586 pilot burner for $22.00 on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/Honeywell-Pilot...234?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335d1c88e2)

Pilot Burner

Valve

skizziks said:

Thanks
The price is certainly attractive! You have been using these with no issues? And with the love controller?

Click to expand...

I've been using a valve from Valves4Projects for several years without issues. Call their tech support and they will help you select the best valve. They are hip to home brewers and they are very friendly.

I bought this one. It's 3/8" NPT 110v AC. Nice compact design at the right price. I'm using it with a standing Honewell Q314a LP pilot burner without a thermocouple shut off.

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-8-Electric-So...125?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f9771fc5

Thanks for the input guys, I took your advice and ordered a couple from valves4projects. I hope to finish up by next weekend.

Just out of curiosity: are those Asco valves very bad quality?

Inodoro_Pereyra said:

Just out of curiosity: are those Asco valves very bad quality?

Click to expand...

No, as a matter of fact they are probably the best you can buy but they are very expensive. My problem is that I am a safety nut and in my own opinion when brewing, if you are in an enclosed space even with good ventilation having the pilot or main flame go out is dangerous if you do not have a safety shutoff. You see, propane is heavier than air and has a 270 to 1 expansion rate from liquid to gas. That means 1 gallon of liquid propane becomes 270 gallons of propane in gas form when removed from the pressure of the tank. The flame does not have to out for very long before a lot of gas has been released. I brew with Natural Gas because I admit I am scared chitless of propane, but thats just me. I will not criticize or tell anyone what valve they should buy. I bring these things up so people can consider different alternatives and decide how much risk they want to take. The decision is always up to them. I would feel bad making a recommendation and have something go wrong.

Oh, ok. So it's just a poor choice for a name...

You see, in Spanish, "asco" means "disgust", but it's also used to call something that's of real bad quality. So when yo say something is "un asco", yo mean it's a piece of cr@p. Good to know it's not the case here...

Hey all, I realize this thread is about propane valves, but it still seems like a good place to post this.

I found a supplier in China for SS 1/2 NPT electric (12VDC) ball valves. Only $24 each plus shipping and wire transfer fee (which is a bit much). If anybody else is interested, we could save some $$ on shipping and wire fee. Drop me a line. I plan on making the purchase on Monday.

When this is hooked up to the BCS it will control flow? Thus control temperature? or just on, off? I have searched and cannot seem to find this answer.

nosmo said:

When this is hooked up to the BCS it will control flow? Thus control temperature? or just on, off? I have searched and cannot seem to find this answer.

Click to expand...

You use a temp probe in your kettle or inline in your plumbing to monitor the temp and then the BCS fires the burner on when needed to maintain the temp. It is only on/off, but it does it based on your set temperature.

JonW said:

You use a temp probe in your kettle or inline in your plumbing to monitor the temp and then the BCS fires the burner on when needed to maintain the temp. It is only on/off, but it does it based on your set temperature.

Click to expand...

Ok, makes sense. I assume from looking at your setup the flex line is just a thermocouple/pilot on the end. Then you can adjust your temp set points through the BCS so it's no clicking on and off every second.

Any particular thermocouple you like?

There are stainless temp probes right on the BCS website. Those are what I used. There are also ones available from BrewersHardware.com that will work with the BCS unit.

Sorry for being such a noob and thank you for the advice and knowledge. I get the part that the probe monitors the temp of the BK, HLT and MLT. Then the BCS tells the gas valve to open or close for each burner as needed. Do I just need a pilot light constantly on next to each burner? That way when it needs to relight there is a flame ready for it to light? My setup will be natural gas indoor, so long as I stay there for the whole brew process I will not need the thermocouple for the pilot light.

Sorry I mixed you up with which thermocouple I was asking about.

nosmo said:

Sorry for being such a noob and thank you for the advice and knowledge. I get the part that the probe monitors the temp of the BK, HLT and MLT. Then the BCS tells the gas valve to open or close for each burner as needed. Do I just need a pilot light constantly on next to each burner? That way when it needs to relight there is a flame ready for it to light? My setup will be natural gas indoor, so long as I stay there for the whole brew process I will not need the thermocouple for the pilot light.

Sorry I mixed you up with which thermocouple I was asking about.

Click to expand...

Maybe I am overly cautious but you still are going to need a hell of a lot of ventilation to brew indoors even with natural gas. These burners give off a lot of carbon monoxide and use a ton of oxygen. I would still go with a standing pilot valve with safety shutoff. If you are going to brew in your garage I would have the garage door wide open. In an enclosed area, even though not as volatile as propane you can get yourself in trouble real easy with natural gas. I won't tell you what to do but that is the way I would feel safest. The choice is of course yours.

After some time I decided to purchase the Honeywell setup and pilot. I think my biggest problem is I was under the impression that the gas valve would be throttled by the BCS and it would not go out at all once I started the brew process, but just like a furnace it is on or off.

Last thing I need to do is have a couple beers in me and not have all the proper safety precautions in place.

Thank you both for the advice.

Sawdustguy said:

If you want to be as safe as possible and a little less expensive I may add, I would go with a Honeywell VR8200A2124. It is a standing pilot valve with a safety thermocouple that shuts down the valve if pilot or flame is lost. You can find them on ebay for $59.95 (http://cgi.ebay.com/VR8200A2124-HON...704?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a0f381398). For the $59.95 it includes the propane retrofit kit. They run on 24 VAC so you need a cheap 24 volt transformer and a Q314A586 pilot burner for $22.00 on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/Honeywell-Pilot...234?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335d1c88e2)

Pilot Burner

Valve

Click to expand...

I love this idea of Safety and Want to go this route for my HLT and BK propane Gas burners. but Im not sure which controller would be best? Love or Auberins? This Valve is 24V and I was hoping to avoid a Relay if I could. Which Controller is best for this situation? I could probably research this for ever but Im going blind reading this stuff..LOL:cross:

I have decided to go another route on my rig and I have 3 ASCO valves for sale if someone wants to make an offer. PM me or email [email protected].

What about a valve that won't be utilizing a pilot? I plan to use electric start, and didn't want to pick up the wrong valve setup.

Thanks, in advance.