High Temp Quick Disconnects

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Bobby_M

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The way I see it, I need at least 4 female and 2 male quick disconnect fittings to get my 3-keg single tier going.

3 bulkhead drains (female)
March pump lines in and out (male)
CFC chiller input (female) (the output will just have a hose clamped on.)

Based on Morebeer pricing:
Female CPC with MPT = $11.75 x 4 = $47
Male CPC with hose barb = $6.75 x 2 = $13.50

You know, I was thinking that outfitting the whole system with these would break the bank but $60 isn't all that bad. Am I forgetting something?

Has anyone had a CPC female fitting leak? I'm throwing around the idea of threading the female fitting directly into the bulkhead couplings and leaving that as the only seal to stop flow out of the vessel (when the male is not connected obviously). Am I nuts? I'm trying to think of when I'd need to stop the flow while the hoses are connected.

Having the males on the march pump hoses means that when I disconnect, I'll leak whatever liquid I have in those lines since males are non sealing. If I reverse them so that the males are on the vessels, I need to put ball valves on the bulkheads but I save some money in buying less females, more males. The liquid in the pump lines would be trapped until the next transfer. Maybe less dripping?

I'm just thinking out loud and would like to hear your experiences with these fittings and how you've oriented them.
 
Take a look at McMaster-Carr for the QDs:

Straight Through Coupling Plug, 1/2" Nptf Male, 3/8" Coupling Size 6739K59 - $1.75 Each

Straight Through Coupling Sleeve-Lck Sckt X Barb for 1/2" Hose Id, 3/8" Cplg 6739K64 - $6.01 Each

Straight Through Coolant Hose Coupling Sleeve-Lock Socket, 1/4" Nptf Fem, 3/8" Cplg Sz 6739K61 - $5.57 Each

You might want to verify that the female QDs that you want to use on your bulkheads are free-flowing (do not shut off flow) when disconnected. It means you would need another male on hand for cleaning purposes. My design has all hardware side (bulkheads, pumps, etc) fittings with male QDs and all my hoses with female QDs. Two advantages:

1. I need more male QDs than female QDs - cost savings
2. If the hoses hit the ground, the head is protected. A male QD could get damaged.
 
I would use ball valves between the vessel and a male QD fitting. No drooling hoses, and a positive seal as well as the ability to meter flow from the vessel into the hose. I would not rely on just a female QD on any vessel.

Now recognize that I have no experience with QD fittings in brewing, so treat this as theoretical not practical advice. On the other hand, I have several female QDs on my air compressor, hoses and air tools, and the females all leak from time to time.

Please note, my observations are strictly limited to the female of the QD species, and in no way apply to the female of any other species, regardless of what anyone else may infer from my statement....
 
Bigfoot99 said:
You might want to verify that the female QDs that you want to use on your bulkheads are free-flowing (do not shut off flow) when disconnected. It means you would need another male on hand for cleaning purposes. My design has all hardware side (bulkheads, pumps, etc) fittings with male QDs and all my hoses with female QDs.

Ok, I'm with you there. Just wondering why you put disconnects between your pump and hose. Assuming you use the pump for all transfers, wouldn't it be easier to use a cheap hose barb on both sides of the pump eliminating two male and two female QD's?

I guess if I go with brass QD's I might as well save the money on stainless ball valves and go brass there. I suppose pickling them takes away the danger anyway.

If I go with the slightly more expensive CPC food grade QD's, it makes the stainless more practical.
 
Bobby_M said:
Just wondering why you put disconnects between your pump and hose. Assuming you use the pump for all transfers, wouldn't it be easier to use a cheap hose barb on both sides of the pump eliminating two male and two female QD's?

I have different hose lengths for different applications, and cleanup is a lot easier since I can simply disconnect the hose from the pump.
 
I have just finished installing my QD's on my brewery and love them. I bought high flow/high temp polysulphone QD's from usplastics.com for the hot-side of my brewery and smaller lower temp ones for the cold-side. They were costly but helps me keep everything easier to hook up and break down, which is a very big blessing and I would recommend anyone making the move on bigger setups. I will post pics of mine in a little while, I just moved it and am busy hooking everything back up. I used female (more expensive) for all my hose fittings and males (way less expensive) for everything else. I would recommend usplastics as a solid company (no affiliation) with great shipping and customer service, not to mention a great catalog to look at anytime you are bored :D
 
wortmonger said:
I have just finished installing my QD's on my brewery and love them. I bought high flow/high temp polysulphone QD's from usplastics.com for the hot-side of my brewery and smaller lower temp ones for the cold-side. They were costly but helps me keep everything easier to hook up and break down, which is a very big blessing and I would recommend anyone making the move on bigger setups. I will post pics of mine in a little while, I just moved it and am busy hooking everything back up. I used female (more expensive) for all my hose fittings and males (way less expensive) for everything else. I would recommend usplastics as a solid company (no affiliation) with great shipping and customer service, not to mention a great catalog to look at anytime you are bored :D

Pics? Catalog numbers of the part? Please! :)
 
Here's what I use.

My Hot Liquor Tun has a weld-less site gauge and a thermometer. My Mash Tun has a stainless false bottom and the ball valve assembly is located direct center on the bottom of the keg. I really like having the valve on the bottom so I can drain the MT completely. I have my grant and march pump hooked together so it is easy to move around, and I can easily take it apart to clean if need be. This is the only place I still use my Blichmann "quick connects" (note they aren't Quick Disconnects). This is the only product from Blichmann's that I will ***** about. They leak and the seal pops out and gets lost every time I used them. Plus they are $20 for two connections.

Here are the actual QD's I use on my hot-side.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pr...=USPlastic&category_name=6917&product_id=7413

And here are the cold-side QD's I use these in my kegerator and wow they make changing out a keg, tap, or gas bottle easy.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pr...=USPlastic&category_name=6917&product_id=8429

I didn't post any prices as you guys can check them out for yourselves. I primary in a 32 gallon Brute trash can (also sold by usplastics and food grade), and secondary in my serving keg with a spunding valve for natural carbonation. I have enjoyed the ruff times when I first started up with my old system, but all these little tweaks have definitely given me less headaches and cleanup. Hope this helps or gives someone some direction. I will be glad to answer any more questions, as I am sure I am leaving out a bunch.

Oh, and for you guys that want to know more about the spunding valve:

UPDATE!!! Here is a link to the Wiki article about spunding.

Hope this is interesting.
 
Here is some more info about my brewery.

I went through and found the types of tubing I bought from usplastics. They are PVC same as morebeer just $.24-$$.29/ft (50ft min) not $.50/ft like morebeer sells. (I am in no way knocking morebeer, I order tons of stuff from them and they are a great company I just like to buy bigger priced items from them and everything else is miser-ed from everywhere else;) ).

Here's my beer and gas lines:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=7513&product%5Fid=8594&variant%5Fid=59005
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=7513&product%5Fid=8594&variant%5Fid=59008

I also found these nifty and cheap plastic hose clamps. I love these things and will change out my hot-side stainless worm-screw hose clamps with more of these as soon as I can. They are working great on my cold-side equipment and only require pliers to clamp to the tubing.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.asp?catalog%5Fname=usplastic&category%5Fname=2659&product%5Fid=8236&variant%5Fid=57131
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.asp?catalog%5Fname=usplastic&category%5Fname=2659&product%5Fid=8236&variant%5Fid=57161
I also found the hot-side tubing I use (bought from morebeer :))
http://morebeer.com/view_product/17608/
and here is what I will replace it with when the time comes
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=7511&product%5Fid=8415&variant%5Fid=54038
or maybe this (I have had a problem in the past with the tubing being cut easily at the clamp connection)
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=7511&product%5Fid=8265&variant%5Fid=54056

On a side note (your input needed please) I lost my hydrometer cylinder and these look like an excellent replacement. Not to mention useful for adding measured quantities of say whirlfloc, etc... liquids. My quandary comes in the question of which one to buy? Morebeer sells an 11.5" one for their hydrometers but all these are measured simply by milliliters. Maybe you guys can help, maybe I will call usplastics and ask come Monday. ??????
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=14&product%5Fid=14039
Please tell me what you guys think.
 
Get the 100 ml Graduated cylinder. It should come out about the same size as a hydrometer test tube and also give you a good volume:accuracy range for measurement uses.
 
Thanks, I really wondered what size to get. I will put that in my next order to usplastics.com. Ok, now for more feedback on my yeast collection idea........
 
Hey Bobby_M,
Sorry about that. After I wrote it I was like, "Man, I started with his question about disconnects and gave him my entire brewery, lol". I do hope it helps show how mine is setup so you might get some ideas(that is if you haven't bought anything yet). By using the "females only" on my hoses I kept my costs down. Any future gadgets can be attached via cheap Male QD's. I also don't see the need for QD's with shut-offs on my connections as they are less expensive, the ball valves do just fine, and they don't block the tube to collect things that shouldn't be collected, lol. There is always some cleanup, but nothing like it used to be.

Yorg said:
"Oh, and for you guys that want to know more about the spunding valve:
http://s181.photobucket.com/albums/x...t=DSCN1628.jpg
http://s181.photobucket.com/albums/x...t=DSCN1629.jpg"

Wortmonger, what is a spunding valve and how is it used??

You can do a search on here for spunding for way more info, but basically it is a device that allows you to naturally carbonate your beer in your secondary by "adjustably" letting excess CO2 escape. It has a adjustable pressure relief valve and a gauge for visual reference. There is a lot on here about it and the web, I just like how it fits my system. Others aren't so accepting and like force carbonating, which I will still do on occasion.
 
Depending on where you work, you could always call up Colder Products and request a few sample fittings for evaluation. I did just that and ended up with my high temp quick connects for free. I did genuinely evaluate them for something work related; but they worked out better in my brewing set up.
 
I will agree that US Plastics prices are great for the CPC valves. You can get the shut off style for less than the straight through style that all the LHBS sell them for. And there silicon hose prices are great too....

But you better live across the street from this place in Ohio. I just put together an order of about 24 or so quick connect components and they wanted $58 for shipping from Ohio in Minnesota. You dont save THAT much getting them Northern Brewer, B3, Midwest, Austin, etc.

I think ill look for another option. I just had over 60 lbs of fresh seafood shipped overnight from California that didn't cost $60.

MNBugeater
 
I just stopped by US plastics on my way through Ohio. I didn't realize they sold all this stuff or I would have bought it while I was there. The showroom was more of an outlet.

Linc
 
I also found the hot-side tubing I use (bought from morebeer )
http://morebeer.com/view_product/17608/
and here is what I will replace it with when the time comes
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.asp?catalog_name=USPlastic&category_na me=7511&product%5Fid=8415&variant%5Fid=54038
or maybe this (I have had a problem in the past with the tubing being cut easily at the clamp connection)
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/variant.asp?catalog_name=USPlastic&category_na me=7511&product%5Fid=8265&variant%5Fid=54056

Just an FYI. If you are using a pump and decide to go with unreinforced silicon tubing, make sure you get something that has a wall thickness greater than 1/16 of an inch (which is what the tubing you reference above has.) The vacuum created by the pump, even when unobstructed, will easily collapse the sidewalls of the tubing, especially when pumping hot liquids. It works great on gravity systems, but the pump is too much for it.

In fact, I have about 40' of unused 3/8 ID platinum cured silicon tubing to get rid of due to this very issue. Got a pump and found that the 10 feet I've been using won't work due to the lack of strength in the walls.

Just my $.02. Hope its helpful.
 
I think this will be on topic...but not sure, the thread might have been highjacked from the original poster and if I remember from other threads Bobby has gone to brass quick connects in stead of the aforementioned CPC Polysulfone.

So... I have the polysulfone quick-connects and really like their ease of use. I went from using the auto shutoff to the straight-thru as I was getting too much grain clogging while recirculation the mash as well as transferring from mash tun to boil kettle. I have gone to a "pre-varlouf" with the hoses off just to get the grain cleared and the hooking the hoses up to start the recirculation. This seems to work best about 90% of the time. But i still get some clogging occasionally of grain in the little cross hairs of the CPC valves.

I have heard that some have drilled out the cross hair pattern in the center of these valves. Can anyone verify they have done this and what is the result? I am tempted to try the stainless/brass disconnects on the mash tun and kettle to avoid the clogging. Any input?

Thanks.
 
I have the same problem with my Polysulfone QD's. I will be drilling out the centers of mine really soon. Gotta love the auto shut offs on the cold side lines though. They really keep my kegerator and floor clean.
 
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