Accuflex Ultra 235 vs Kegland EVA barrier

[Yesfan]

I took one of my shanks into work to see about getting the nipples grounded off. I also have some PTC fittings (as well as beer line) from Williams that's coming in Friday. I figured I'll change out both gas/beer lines.

Here's a comparison pic. There's just a slight bump left. Will that be alright, or do they need to be ground flush?



A close up for the grounded shank.

 

[odie]

It will depend on where the washer or seal sits. I’m still waiting on mine to arrive so I can’t see but I have a feeling u ok

 

[Yesfan]

That's what I'm hoping. No big deal if it doesn't work. I can always take them back in and have them ground flush.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I called a machine shop today to ask what they would charge to grind down a couple of nipples. They hung up.

 

[day_trippr]

hahaha!

I did grind the stubs off after cutting the nipples off my shanks (pic is a page or so back). When you look into the threaded end of the PTC connector (John Guest in this case) the gasket is only 1/16" thick and you want that to squish down.

So nipple stubs have to be close to flat, certainly no more than a 1/32nd" proud of the shank face, lest it make contact with the flat inside surface of the connector before the gasket is sufficiently compressed...

Cheers!

 

[Jayjay1976]

What about lead exposure? By modifying your shanks like that you expose the brass under the chrome. Once corrosion starts, the exposed edge of the chrome will keep flaking further and further, no?

 

[day_trippr]

Those shanks are well over a decade in use and any chrome lining the beer path went to Dispensing Heaven long ago. So it's all exposed brass inside, and the tiny halo that isn't covered by the PTC gasket barely moves the needle in that regard, area wise.

Do I think that's an issue? No...

Cheers!

 

[Yesfan]

Well, all my lines came in today (4mm/5mm for beer/gas) with enough PTC fittings to do three taps and maybe a beer line from my Spike fermenter to my keg. I ran the numbers through the calculator posted in this thread and it suggested 4.25' lengths for a 10 second pour for the 4mm line. Dividing the spool of line evenly would give me 8 lengths of 4.875'.

I may just do that as I would like to add a nitro tap or two in the future and I would already have the lines for it when that day comes.

On a side note, I had three of my shanks reworked. Now they are completely smooth. I'll have the other three reworked after the holidays.

 

[Bobby_M]

I like my 5.5ft lines at 11psi.

 

[odie]

I got all my fittings in. I’m confused. The 1/4 threaded ball lock disconnect and duotite fitting doesn’t seem to have any oring or sealing gasket. Is that normal?

 

[day_trippr]

A ball lock QD sporting a 1/4" MFL thread usually has a captive gasket at the tip. Whether a PTC connector or a standard swivel, no additional gasket or tape required.

That said, you can use the same PTC connector on a bare 1/4" MFL thread (eg: a 1/4" MFL bulkhead) as the connector itself will deform to seal directly to the metal male side with sufficient torque.

fwiw, the only PTC fittings I used with captive gaskets were for the faucet shanks and my flow meters...

Cheers!

 

[odie]

There is some kinda plastic insert on the Threaded part. But it’s hard.

 

[day_trippr]

I'm guessing that's a Far East knockoff of a CMB disconnect as all of the dozens of CMB's here have a glossy finish.
Still, that plastic tip is the "gasket" and as long as you apply sufficient torque to the connector it'll seal just fine...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

I also found that the duotight threaded on to a metal MFL will also seal just fine. It's the metal to metal connections that require a separate nylon gasket to make the seal at lower torque.

 

[odie]

CMB? No clue but I have several different looking kegs that all have interchangeable ball locks. I don’t think any one company holds a monopoly anymore. I’ve never seen a branded disconnect, well I’ve never noticed or looked closely at any of mine from numerous sources

 

[day_trippr]

Clearly.

CMB makes a recognized quality product.
Imitators, not so much...

Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

CMB? No clue but I have several different looking kegs that all have interchangeable ball locks. I don’t think any one company holds a monopoly anymore. I’ve never seen a branded disconnect, well I’ve never noticed or looked closely at any of mine from numerous sources

CMBecker is likely the only brand left that is not made in China. They are worth the extra dollar.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Nevermind, asked and answered.

 

[Yesfan]

Quick and topic related questions.

I have barbed ends on the check valves of my co2 regulator and the inlet of my main co2 distributor. I have a spare distributor that has MFL fitted check valves to connect to swivel nuts. If I can replace those connections with MFL ones from my spare distributor, then I can use the Duotight PTC connections all the way through from tank to taps on my keezer.

Could I swap out the inlet barb on the main distributor with one of the MFL valves from my spare? On the regulator, could I just swap out the barb tips with the MFL tips from the valves on my spare distributor? The tips look like they just have an Oring for the sealing. I know I'll have to use gas tape on the valve for the distributor.

For added measure, I washed and rinse the valve and tips, then boiled them for a few minutes. I'll flush the valves out with c02 afterwards before final assembly.

 

[h22lude]

I also found that the duotight threaded on to a metal MFL will also seal just fine.

I found the exact opposite, at least for CO2 fittings.

 

[day_trippr]

Eh? You've had success threading a metal swivel nut onto a male metal flare thread with no gasket and it held pressure?

fwiw, I put over four dozen John Guest, Duotight and DMfit PTC fittings into service a couple of months ago, the vast majority of them 1/4" ffl to 5/16" - 8 mm OD tube. Most of those were to CMB QDs, the rest to regulator and manifold ports. I didn't stick a flare gasket inside any of them...

Cheers!

 

[Robert65]

Yep. Duotight right onto metal MFL on gas. And would be on beer if it were a thing. No flare washers anywhere in my system except metal to metal (which really doesn't exist anymore.) As @day_trippr keeps pointing out, a deforming washer is superfluous on a deforming fitting. In fact, I'd think that, by reducing the number of threads you can engage, it would just potentially interfere with your ability to properly torque it down.

 

[Jayjay1976]

While we're on the subject, anyone know approx. how much torque to use installing the flare-to-Duotight adapters? I kinda just made them as tight as I could by hand and let it go at that. The shank-to-Duotight fittings require standard shank gaskets, but because of their size I used a crescent wrench to snug them down a little more than I could by hand.

 

[Robert65]

While we're on the subject, anyone know approx. how much torque to use installing the flare-to-Duotight adapters? I kinda just made them as tight as I could by hand and let it go at that. The shank-to-Duotight fittings require standard shank gaskets, but because of their size I used a crescent wrench to snug them down a little more than I could by hand.

I use a wrench on all of them, but I just go by feel, no idea how much actual torque I'm applying. When it doesn't seem to want to tighten much more I quit while I'm ahead. Sounds like what you're doing. If it doesn't leak, it must be right.

 

[day_trippr]

They don't take a lot of torque to seat tight. If you look inside the threaded end there's a tapered seat that will deform easily enough.
That said, when I was just getting started with the massive conversion I did manage to blow out the back of a 1/4" FFL adapter due to excessive torque.
Put a lovely circumferential crack on it.
Don't do that

Cheers!

 

[gnef]

I've also cracked a number of the acetal John Guest fittings from overtightening, but it took months of use, so I didn't know at first, they just started leaking one day.

Due to breaking enough of the acetal ones, I have changed a few dozen of my gas acetal John Guest fittings to their lead free brass versions, but those get expensive when you buy that many!

 

[Jayjay1976]

So as I suspected, fatigue failure is something to watch out for, thanks!

 

[Robert65]

So as I suspected, fatigue failure is something to watch out for, thanks!

So, rig it all up and then don't mess with it. What we would hope to do anyway.

 

[Jayjay1976]

So, rig it all up and then don't mess with it. What we would hope to do anyway.

Ideally, I'll only be torque them down once. In the real world, probably 5-ish times. Glad to be aware they can fail so I will keep my eye on them. After all, it's called plastic for a reason, right?

 

[h22lude]

Eh? You've had success threading a metal swivel nut onto a male metal flare thread with no gasket and it held pressure?

No sorry, I was referring to the duotight comment. I had leaks when using duotight against metal threads with no gasket.