Stainless Camlocks review

I just got an update from Pro Flow Dynamics that the 1/2" camlock parts are back in stock! Get em' while they last. I just placed my order and can't wait to use them. If anyone is interested I have some brass QD's from McMaster that I no longer need. They are true 1/2" NPT x 1/2" plugs/couplers instead of the more popular 3/8".

I would be more than very happy myself if I could hell this would be a dream and free less the materials. I'm house bound walker and cane the back's failing going down hill. I'm still young. In my frustration I have plenty of time to think thru projects and ideas. Sorry to disappoint.

BrewBeemer said:

I would be more than very happy myself if I could hell this would be a dream and free less the materials. I'm house bound walker and cane the back's failing going down hill. I'm still young. In my frustration I have plenty of time to think thru projects and ideas. Sorry to disappoint.

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I don't understand a word of what you're trying to say here. Are you stoned?

On another note, I ordered a bunch of these 2 weeks ago, so hopefully they will ship finally.

ghart999 said:

I don't understand a word of what you're trying to say here. Are you stoned?

On another note, I ordered a bunch of these 2 weeks ago, so hopefully they will ship finally.

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I would trade anything including being able to weld and fabricate again vs being crippled up in pain of 8-9 on the 10 pain scale at 24/7. Not stoned even on percocets. Crushed vertabra with fractures, bulging discs the spines a mess a job related injury. I've done many freebie welding projects for years as I enjoy helping others I get other rewards back from them with no money involved. This make my above reply clear?

Yes that makes much more sense. Sorry to hear you're all jacked up like that. Harsh.

I own 9 bikes plus competed in shows plus cars, i'm only 57 now plus the past 8 years have been a living hell even after surgeries. Take care of your back! I'm an active person this has me frustrated and stopped with many delayed projects.

I clearly see Camlocs as clean and a quality item in SS, lathe off the barbed end then machine for 5/8" SS tube snug fit then Tig welded with the bulb at the end like a radiator stub with a flaring tool this would allow full 1/2" ID flow. Even take it and scale up to match 5/8" or even 3/4" SS stub nipples and matching silicone tubing. There's plenty of gasket sealing area for the male Camloc. I was already thinking of straight, 30 and 75 degree nipple angles for a natural and straight connection to the silicone tubing preventing kinking or flattening adding any flow restriction.

So I went ahead and ordered the camlocks with the with 1/2" MPT and 90 street elbows (the barbed end grinded down and the silicon hose fitted over it) so I can get the 1/2" diameter all the way around.

A problem I never thought of until now is that all the SS diptubes I use in my HLT, MT and BK are all 3/8" ID. Hence I have another bottleneck that cannot be fixed unless I upgrade to 3/4" ballvalves and 3/4" NPT compression fittings for my diptubes and 1/2" ID diptubes. This will not happen. Damn I feel like I just waisted a ****load of time and a few extra $ converting all these camlocks to 1/2" when it doesn't even matter now.

I should've just stuck with the barbed camlocks.

ghart999 said:

So I went ahead and ordered the camlocks with the with 1/2" MPT and 90 street elbows (the barbed end grinded down and the silicon hose fitted over it) so I can get the 1/2" diameter all the way around.

A problem I never thought of until now is that all the SS diptubes I use in my HLT, MT and BK are all 3/8" ID. Hence I have another bottleneck that cannot be fixed unless I upgrade to 3/4" ballvalves and 3/4" NPT compression fittings for my diptubes and 1/2" ID diptubes. This will not happen. Damn I feel like I just waisted a ****load of time and a few extra $ converting all these camlocks to 1/2" when it doesn't even matter now.

I should've just stuck with the barbed camlocks.

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The bad part is your inlet restrictions to the pump, going from 3/8" to 1/2" the cross section area alone has increased by 1.777 times. Pumps hate intake restrictions, pressure out isn't much of a problem unless it's a weak pump to begin with. I'll leave a pump name out on this one so no pissing wars this way.

I assume every person on earth that uses a pump for recirc or whatnot have diptubes. So how is this not an issue with everyone?

I give up as I had issues with my first single tier keggle conversion all 3/8" with a March pump. A weldless system that went to 1/2" then got hold of a used Little Giant pump then all was well. Later I went with welded fitting all 1/2" ID nothing reduced and it worked out great then sold the complete system.
I still have bigger plans and collecting parts when i'm able, a brewery will rise again.

I first started out with small aquarium pumps, how weak and lame was that? All forward progress with a few failures I screwed up many times also I must admit.

Well I do have a Little Giant pump so hopefully all will be well.

just scored a md5 hc pump and a md3-sc to go along with my little md2..
the md5 has 1" inlet so as of now, my dip tube,braid and kettle outlet are 3/4"..
already had a 3/4 coupler and SS valve on the kettle necked down to 1/2"

cant wait for next brew 1/8 HP whirl-pooling ya baby

After reading all 18 pages of this tread, I went ahead and placed an order. Looks like all the SS fittings are in stock right now.

Wow, this is amazing I was getting ready to drop near $400 on More Beer's SS Quick Disconnects and figured there had to be something cheaper. Why do you need the street elbow? Couldn't you just make a barb out of the threads on these camlocks? Or is there not enough to grab?

one more question, would the coupler side of this equation not have enough room to close the levers if you threaded it into a 3 pc ball valve?

Commonwealth
Some people like the fittings to have a 90˚ so the hose can go directly up or down and does not collapse from the weight. Some do not. Most will put the coupler on the hose side rather than the valve side.

I got mine this week! They look great - and they lock up very tight.
I can't wait to get the rig together to try them out.

Even if they loosen up over time, I'll just buy a new $6.00 connector

SweetSounds said:

I got mine this week! They look great - and they lock up very tight.
I can't wait to get the rig together to try them out.

Even if they loosen up over time, I'll just buy a new $6.00 connector

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No need to do that. If they loosen up all you should need to do is replace the rubber washer. That should only cost you about $.75

I placed an order Thursday night and just received them in the mail today (Saturday). Wow quick service.

They look great nice and well built. I haven't done a test for leaks yet, but they seem to fit well and not too difficult to disconnect. I am sure these fittings are going to make my brewing so much easier.

I am getting the 3/4" ones for my new rig, 3/4" plumbing all around. TriClamps are like three handed connections... these will be much more user friendly than the Tris were.


These come with BunaN seals, which are not really rated for what we do (probably just fine) but you can get the silicone gaskets at McMaster for $8 each.

I just use silicone orings which cost me a few bucks for the whole rig.

Hey Brewbeemer,

I like your idea for modifying the Camlock barb fitting. I did a quick google search for a tool that would create the bulge in the tube, but came up with nothing but standard flaring tools. Do you have any idea if such a tool exists, and where one could get it? Since I bought a bunch of the 1/2" female barbed Camlocks, I definitely want to improve the flow through them.

Why not just use 3/4" fittings and hoses?

The 1/2" ones are pretty bulky to begin with and the flow is perfect with exception of the goofy barb.

You do not use the single flaring tool set, you need the double flaring tool set.
Use just the double flare instead of the cone of the single flaring process as the second step in the operation requires the inverted adapter piece. Use this second step to make the bulb on the end of your tubing.
This will allow for a thin wall nipple with a bulb at the end for a larger ID cross sectional area plus no hose blowoff problems. Heck I would use 5/8" tubing as the hose will stretch over the bulb as well the tubing. Add a bend to angle downwards preventing kinking of the silicone tubing for a natural angle. JMO.

I'm thinking about using the camlocks with 1/2" swagelock 90˚ adapters and some teflon tubing a brewer sent me to try out.

Thanks for the video Bobby. Really cleared it up. When looking at the straight fitting on one end of a hose, is there any reason you use the pipe nipple ground down versus grinding the actual thread on the Type B itself? Was it just to keep it in tact in case you wanted to change it up in the future?

You could do either but I imagine that keeping the Type B intact was a concern.

I myself went with Bobby's recommendation for the 90 street elbows and ground down the threaded side. They work perfect. I had to grind down 6 of them and it took about 15 minutes per piece for about 90 minutes total. But it was a great solution. Only added $3 per disconnect to the cost for 90 degree fittings which are nicer than straight fittings were the hose then has to bend 90 degrees and get pinched.

Ghart99, my thoughts exactly. sounds like many folks like the elbow 1) as a handle to push with and 2) to help avoid kinks in your tubing. 3) there isn't a ton off thread there to clamp on to. I think if you are careful with your tubing lengths you can avoid the kinks without an elbow and save your line the extra nooks and crannies you create when adding an elbow. I also think some folks are still a touch skeptical about these fittings and want to be able to resell them if they don't like em and selling a home-ground fitting might be tricky. If the venerable Bobby M could chime in I too would like to hear his thoughts on this grinding the threads idea. Anyone else out there try grinding the cam lock threads themselves? what is the concern with keeping the Type B intact?

Just to clear up how these things work... there is no pushing on. They just sit on there, and you tighten down the arms. Without the arms there is no friction whatsoever.

I would agree that the type B threads are not as long as the street elbow so you would indeed have less to grab onto if grounded down. But again not a huge deal. I merely like the elbows for the right angle connection only. When I did it without, the silicon tubing kinks when hot wort is pushed through. I have no idea how much this effects flow. But for $3 extra for the elbow I am more than satisfied. I know have the benefits of the brass mcmaster 90 degree QDs with all SS and twice the flow rate for the same cost. I could not be happier. Well if there were free I would be happier.

IrregularPulse said:

Thanks for the video Bobby. Really cleared it up. When looking at the straight fitting on one end of a hose, is there any reason you use the pipe nipple ground down versus grinding the actual thread on the Type B itself? Was it just to keep it in tact in case you wanted to change it up in the future?

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My main reason is that I want elbows on all of mine. The hose just seems to come off nicer in almost all connections. Even 1/8" wall silicone will kink if it's stressed a bit. I know I showed a straight connection in the video but it's not how I use them in real life.

I should probably do a followup video showing them all installed on my rig. It's getting tougher to find time for videos when I'm packing up sightglasses after work every day.

Good to know Bobby. Thanks. for an extra few bucks it might be worth it to put elbows on both ends. It'll be $2 more to swap street elbows for the pipe nipples for get 90° vs straight.

Nice to know you're selling so many site glasses. I have yours of 2 of my kettles and love them.

Quick question for you 'grinders.

what is the best (easiest) grinding method please?

jason

Also, i don't recall seeing in the last 10 pages -

Is there any difference in the flow rate / thru diameter between the type B vs the D with a close nipple (1/2") inserted.

thanks
jason

HUge diff between the two. That's why the whole discussion about the 90* street elbows, etc.

If you're going to grind I would think a bench grinder is the only real option. If you don't have one, find one at a garage sale for $15. That's how I got mine a few weeks ago to do my street elbow grinding.

A belt sander will also make quick work of the threads and the results will be smoother.

Would it be reasonable to put my angle grinder in a vice and then use that simliar to a bench grinder?

Thanks!

Make a couple half round cutouts out of wood and pad them preventing hard compression of the grinder that can vibrate and toss it out of the vice. I see a dangerous operation developing doing this.
I would place the female connector over a plug in the lathe with a live center
holding the nipple and machine them down safely, same procedure but chuck above the male end at the flats. Stainless is gummy to grind.