barbed vs. threaded flare disconnects

[chrishart7]

I do not understand the benefit of threaded flare disconnects over barbed? Can someone enlighten me?

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Barbs are simply barbs only. The threaded flares can easily be removed from the disconnects. The cons I can think of to the threaded flare are increased cost and one more point of failure. Instead of just the connection of the tubing at the barb, you also have a connection at the flare. Not a big deal as long as you are careful to tighten them down all the way.

 

[Bobby_M]

The only benefit I see for the flare is if you want the ability to switch between ball lock and pinlocks or between corny and sanke taps for maybe a guest beer. Other than that, it's a costly no-gain alternative to barbed.

 

[iceman80403]

When I got my kegging stuff I went with all flair connections thinking it was superior to barbed connections. It's sleek having that extra bling in the keezer, but they're a bit of a pain because you have to use a wrench or pliers to fasten and loosen them. You also have to use washers on metal to metal connections to stop leaks and the washers get smashed into the joint causing the "swivel nut" not to swivel. This forces you to have to twist the entire hose to remove it. There is extra surface area and threads to get infected that you have to sanitize too. All this pain in the a$$ costs extra too...

It should be noted that I have not used barbed connections in my kegging setup so those may actually be no better.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

I have both, and have to say I like the flare better. When I want to clean out the lines I just use a wrench, then flush with water. Soak the QD's separately, then toss the separated components in sanitizer before I assemble. IMHO, using a wrench is easier than removing the hose clamps, and you never have to worry about damaging the hose.

 

[Bobby_M]

I've never removed the QD from the tubing. You literally cannot take 3/16" ID off a 1/4" barb without cutting it. I dispense cleaner through the QD, tubing and faucet at the same time so I never had to remove them.

 

[caspio]

I like the threaded flare. Makes it easy to pull out the QD's for cleaning. Every so often I do a full kegerator cleaning, including completely disassembling the QD's and giving them a blc or pbw soak. It's nasty all the stuff that can hang out in there.

Anyway, the other reason is that I have a few adapters from northern brewer, so it makes things super simple for the occasions when I want to serve commercial.

 

[stevea1210]

I've dissasembled my kegorator before in order to use parts for a jockey box. that would have been a bigge pita if I was using flare fittings.

 

[chrishart7]

Thanks very much for the insight, I think I'm going to start off with the flare because I can get a cheap pair when I purchase my kegs. Now I understand though!