Creative way to connect chiller to faucet

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readmypilot

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I want to get a wort chiller, but I live in an apartment, which means I don't have a garden hose, so I'll have to use my kitchen faucet. The problem is that I use a PUR faucet mount filter. I can easily remove the filter, but the quick-release adapter stays on. I had enough trouble getting it on correctly that the last thing I want to do is remove it so I can attach the chiller.

Is there any way I can go from the vinyl tubing to maybe a bigger tube that I can wrap around the adapter and fit with a hose clamp?
 
I used to work for PUR, though its been almost 10 years. Helped engineer the carbon filter inside. But I digress. If I remember right, the adapter will have a threaded male end. Hose clamps to those little threads will not hold pressure IMO.

I would remove the adaptor. There should be a slot where you can use a quarter to remove it from the faucet (look at bottom of adaptor). Bring the adaptor to your hardware store and talk to one of the plumbing guys. You just want to mate those male threads to a barbed hose fitting that fits your vinyl hose.

If you didn't remove the PUR filter, I wanna say the threads on the filter itself where the water comes out are plastic. I would think they would fail after 2-3 removal cycles.

BTW, I did a similar thing on my home faucet, though without a PUR filter. Works really well.
 
@solbes - I'm afraid the filters have changed a bit. There aren't any threads on the adapter (nor the filter itself). I could take the adapter off easily, but it was such a pain to get it on just right without any leaks. Taking it on and off every time I brew just won't work. Here's a pic:
HVKZKEx.jpg


@delloman - I'm afraid there's no cold water line under the sink. My water comes straight out of the wall. See:
btzKkJl.jpg


I'm wondering if I can go from vinyl tube to a wider rubber hose that I can clamp around the faucet/adapter with a worm gear clamp. Unless there's a better way. I'd also rather not carry the kettle to my bathroom.
 
Looking at the pic try to unscrew it at the base and get a barb that fits that spot see below where the foset swivel's right below that looks like it can be removed
 
If you are plumbing inclined the best option as mentioned would be to add a tee from the source under the sink.

Also what my friend did for me was he got the threaded adapter that allows me to hook up a garden hose to my sink. Maybe you could find one of those threaded adapters that goes to the Pur filter adapter.
 
Personally I would try the vinyl hose and hose clamp first (easy tightening the hose clamp). The basic immersion chiller does not create very much back pressure like what is in the pipes.

On another note, that adapter is different from the PUR filter I installed at my first house ~5 years ago. Looks like a PITA with no way to get a wrench on it.
 
...I'm wondering if I can go from vinyl tube to a wider rubber hose that I can clamp around the faucet/adapter with a worm gear clamp....

That's a good work-around, and requires no re-plumbing. Whatever piece of hose that fits tightly over the aerator/adapter can be used with a reducer fitting down the line to fit your chiller connector.

They used to sell these push-on hoses with a beefy rubber collar. It think they were used for temporary washing machine connections.
I used to be able to push a 1" (?) vinyl tube over the faucet aerator to fill processor tanks. No clamp was needed.

You got to be inventive. And you're lucky, most if not all of the newer designer faucets allow for no adapter at all. That's the luxury you buy for spending $250+ up. :D

In my case, I take the whole kitchen faucet/spray head off and screw an adapter into the remaining hose connector. Less than 1 minute of work and easy to put back.
 
Get a cheap pump from HF, fill the sink with cold water and pump it through your chiller then back into the sink. Saves water too.
 
In my case, I take the whole kitchen faucet/spray head off and screw an adapter into the remaining hose connector. Less than 1 minute of work and easy to put back.

There's an idea. It looks from the pic like you can unscrew the spout part right after the valves? You should be able to find a fitting/replacement spout specific for your chiller. Shouldn't take more than 2 minutes to swap each time...
 
Do you have a washing machine? Get an adapter and run a garden hose from the cold water spigot.

If not, I don't see any reason a hose clamp or two won't do the job on your faucet...
 
Get a cheap pump from HF, fill the sink with cold water and pump it through your chiller then back into the sink. Saves water too.

I like this idea a lot! Thanks for all the input everyone! The other ideas are great too, but I'd rather leave the plumbing alone.

Any recommendations for a pump model?

Thanks!
 
readmypilot said:
I like this idea a lot! Thanks for all the input everyone! The other ideas are great too, but I'd rather leave the plumbing alone.

Any recommendations for a pump model?

Thanks!

I bought one on amazon for about $40. It's a 1/5hp utility pump if I remember correctly. You could fill the sink up and let it run til it cools off some, then drain, refill, and add a bunch of ice to chill it to your pitching temp.
 
You could go with the 12V little tan pump (P38I - see the "Cheap compact wort pump" thread). It should give enough flow to chill with a small batch, and only needs 12V DC wiring near the sink from an AC adaptor. You could then reuse it in the future (or earlier in your process) for moving wort or water around as it's food safe. And it's $20, plus whatever you want to do to wire it up.

The sink idea has the bonus that you can dump a bag or two of ice in there to speed up chilling if your tap water is too warm.
 
Get a cheap pump from HF, fill the sink with cold water and pump it through your chiller then back into the sink. Saves water too.
This, but put a 5 gallon bucket in the sink with the pump in it. When you first start to chill, the exit water will be really hot and you don't want to re-circulate it. You can pump it into an empty bucket and use it for cleaning. Also, with a bucket in the sink you still have access to other parts of the sink. Like dyqik says, throw ice in the bucket toward the end to get those last few hard to get degrees. I use a Little Giant submersible pump, but don't recall which model.
 
If you can get a good connection, maybe run it from the bathroom faucet? Long run, chance of puddle on bathroom floor, but for the price of a long enough hose you wouldn't even have to touch the Pur filter.
 
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