Sanitary clover fittings or Quick Disconnects?

I have not used clover fittings so I don't have personal experience. I ran the numbers for my build and the cost to use sanitary clover fittings would be about $100 so it the cost is not a factor.

Note: my rig will still have threads in it so the "sanitary" aspect of the clover fittings may be negligible as compared to the q-d's.

Let me know what you think and give me a review if you have used both kinds.

Thanks much!

q-d's


clovers

I work with tri-clamps profesionally. They aren't difficult to use but definitely requires two hands and can be a handful to put on: i.e. hold mating flanges together and make sure gasket doesn't slip out and is seated properly with one hand, then use other hand to wrap coupling around mating flanges, latch, and tighten screw. This requires a decent level of dexterity, especially compared with Q-D's which can be connected with one hand and it as easy as plugging in a power cord.

On the other hand, I don't know much about Q-D's in general, but since they probably use springs and o-rings they could be more likely to wear out than triclamps, or at least need occasional maintenance.

If sanitation isn't the priority, tri-clamps seem like more money and more work than they are worth, but they are satisfying to play with and will last forever.

I personally wouldn't mess with TC if you plan to make/break any connection more than once in your brew day. I really like the one handed QDs though. While I think the stainless ones are sexy, I like the cheap brass ones from Mcmaster just fine. Even with 3/8" plugs, the flow rate is more than enough.

Thanks guys! It is great to have such a group where pretty much any question known to man can be answered by someone with experience and a grounded knowledge base.

I will use the Q-D's for all routing and tri-clover fittings for connecting my kettles to the hard-plumbing. The kettle connections only get undone once a day and the tri-clovers are way cheaper than the cam lock fittings I was considering.

Bobby, I agree the SS is silly, but then again I am kind of silly. My brewery upgrade started as a wort chiller upgrade and has digressed into a very long term project that will likely take more than a year.... whoop. For now I will brew on my old system while I build the new one.

Thanks again. If anyone has any more input I would be interested to here it!

I certainly won't begrudge anyone for wanting as much stainless in their rig as possible. I just reached a point where I started feeling bad about spending my daughter's college money... well, only a little bad.

If i had an unlimited budget i would totally pimp my rig out w/ all sanitary fittings...but on a limited budget...yeah well it's your call

I have both. QDs are nice on the rig, but on the fermentor tri locks are where its at

I ended up going with tri fittings. From KLG Stainless on Ebay, the cost is about the same as QD's and the Tri's will be maintenance free and bomb proof forever.

same here - just ordered some tri-clamp fittings for a DIY fermenter