Camlocks off Therminator?

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Gadjobrinus

Gadjobrinus

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I'm unable to quite see what size and type the wort fittings are on the therminator. I'm less concerned with QD'ing the water, though I guess that would be nice.

All wort transfer hoses have 1/2"barb-Female Cam QD.

Should it be 1/2" FPT-Male Cam QD for the two wort ports of the therminator?

I can instill a swivel on the ends of the garden hoses, but it would be a tad nicer to QD them. Anyone have this, and would you mind sharing what you use for the two water ports of the Therminator?

Many thanks.
 
Thanks DCP, I've got the water connection on the Therminator itself worked out (I think) - their female garden hose (screws on to the therminator) - male cam.

What I can't find is a male garden hose - female cam, to put on the garden hoses.
 
I just went with a high flow cam lock fittings and used silicon hose from my sink to the unit and back to the drain. I have used RV food grade hose in the past but it kinked due to the heat. I just cut the male end off and attached the cam lock.
I use that same hose (silicone) to feed water to my system from my RO collection tank. I'd take a pic but we're literally in the middle of a move and all my gear is busted down and in the garage for storage.

https://www.brewershardware.com/1-2-Cam-and-Groove-Coupler-X-1-2-high-flow-Hose-Barb.html
 
Thanks guys. d3, sorry, having a hard time putting it together. I see a male NPT there (isn't the first one available 1/2"?), and I think what I need is a female garden hose-female 1/2" cam. Brewhardware.com has female garden hose-male cam, which I can put directly on the water inlet/outlet on the therminator, so that part's set. Unless you mean, and adapter to take it from NPT to garden hose male?

If I've got something totally screwed up, wouldn't be the first time.

Dcp, that's interesting, I've never thought of that. You're talking the outflow warmed up and kinked the hose?

It's a really interesting idea and I've been thinking about it. The only issue I really have in buying silicone is that I have to brew some distance from our kitchen, and the inlet water hose is therefore necessarily pretty hefty. Buying silicone hose for the distance might be a bit prohibitive, but thank you, you've definitely put one possibility up there.

Sounds like there's just no male garden hose-female cam available?
 
You can fit Type B female cams on GHTs using this for the hose female end
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FPAPM8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

and this for the hose male end
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0070TUZZY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

and just use the female GHT-male cams on the chiller ports.

That said, would there'd ever be a reason to make the water ports compatible with your wort process plumbing?
Otherwise you can use inexpensive GHT quick disconnects on the hose ends and the mating ports on the chiller...

Cheers!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
day_trippr said:
You can fit Type B female cams on GHTs using this for the hose female end
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FPAPM8/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

and this for the hose male end
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0070TUZZY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

and just use the female GHT-male cams on the chiller ports.

That said, would there'd ever be a reason to make the water ports compatible with your wort process plumbing?
Otherwise you can use inexpensive GHT quick disconnects on the hose ends and the mating ports on the chiller...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Thanks Trippr. I need to just clarify for myself, and then from the NPT to an NPT-female cam, right?

And you're right, no, I don't need the same robustness at all. You're talking, a QD, and not a cam, right? Like I was asking about, concerns over leakage and you and others mentioned cams, then? If so, another duh on my part. I have no idea why I was wanting both systems the same.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Gadjobrinus said:
Thanks Trippr. I need to just clarify for myself, and then from the NPT to an NPT-female cam, right?
Click to expand...

Right - that's the Type B female I referred to.

And you're right, no, I don't need the same robustness at all. You're talking, a QD, and not a cam, right? Like I was asking about, concerns over leakage and you and others mentioned cams, then? If so, another duh on my part. I have no idea why I was wanting both systems the same.
Click to expand...

This is the only decent picture I have of my PC plumbing, taken back when I was still building my rig.

chiller_01_sm.jpg

Male cams on the wort-out tee and the wort-in elbow, and the water side has GHT disconnects on these funky 45° in-line GHT shut-offs I found at Lowes (each has a female and a male end). I've been using those for years, they haven't leaked yet, and they're cheaper than using a set of cams plus adapters. The water out valve is actually handy for tuning flow rate...

Cheers!
 
Wish I could give multiple likes. Perfect. Thanks very much, Trippr - lotta help.

Edit: That is a seriously beautiful rig, trippr. Speaks a lot to ss.

Edit 2: Never looked at the Duda site before. Can you tell me which model you're using?
 
Thanks Duda.

To have that kind of water source would be awesome. Wish I could remember the name of the place below. Outta do.

I'm thinking of doing a recirc/pre-chiller in an ice bath. Our water is nowhere near 55!

watery cool brewery - Desktop Background.jpg
 
Pretty. Looks like the UK somewhere?

While I'm actually very happy to have it, well water isn't always biscuits and gravy.
Ours is plenty cold (good) but alkaline as hell (not so good).
On the up side, the private water system we had before it went bankrupt used chloramine (not good) so we're up a point or two there, but with alkalinity verging on 200 I had to install an RO system to be able to brew with it ($$ boink).

And as there wasn't much choice in the matter I decline to amortize the cost of the well against my brewery production ;)

Cheers!

[edit] Ok, the recirculation thing actually might affect what fittings you want to use on a PC.
If, for instance, you had a two pump rig, you might be able to use what I call the HLT pump - the one you wouldn't be using to push the wort through the PC - to drive the recirculation loop.
And in that case, you probably would want to outfit the PC water ports with the same cams as used on the wort plumbing.

Semi-related, there's not a lot of space between the ports at the ends of the PC. While I never tried it, it might be a tight fit to have two female cams side by side. I serendipitously avoided the potential conflict...
 
Thanks trippr. Hahah - I guess there's something to be said for virtuous bankruptcy. My water on the farm was alkaline as well, but I seem to recall the RA wasn't bad so it gave me some flexibility as is. Been a long time.

Yep, UK brewery that draws beautiful water from a stone seep. Wish I could remember the name, eludes me.

On the recirc connection stuff, thank you. I think it was MaryB here, who does it? I was thinking of submersible pump driving through 50' of copper through the PC line and back. So I think I'd be able to use your GHT connections still, yes? Although I like your solution of the two pumps going. Yep, two Chuggers. Thanks on the info re space. I imagine that's the same on the Therminator as well?
 
Gadjobrinus said:
Thanks guys. d3, sorry, having a hard time putting it together. I see a male NPT there (isn't the first one available 1/2"?), and I think what I need is a female garden hose-female 1/2" cam. Brewhardware.com has female garden hose-male cam, which I can put directly on the water inlet/outlet on the therminator, so that part's set. Unless you mean, and adapter to take it from NPT to garden hose male?

If I've got something totally screwed up, wouldn't be the first time.

Dcp, that's interesting, I've never thought of that. You're talking the outflow warmed up and kinked the hose?

It's a really interesting idea and I've been thinking about it. The only issue I really have in buying silicone is that I have to brew some distance from our kitchen, and the inlet water hose is therefore necessarily pretty hefty. Buying silicone hose for the distance might be a bit prohibitive, but thank you, you've definitely put one possibility up there.

Sounds like there's just no male garden hose-female cam available?
Click to expand...


Yes the hot water out of the chiller made the Rv hose soft. It's more of a challenge when I'd use it to cip the conicals, any bends or turns would reduce flow.

My sink and RO water supply are across the room. So I pump water to the tanks from my RO tank to the kettles. I wanted food grade hose for that, after a few years playing around with old rv hose I finally got fed up and went silicone and cam locks on everything. So every hose has female cam locks and every pump, kettle, chiller, hop rocket, faucet etc has the male cam lock on it. Fast, easy and drip free.
 
Dcpcooks said:
Just saw this on another thread. [emoji482]

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/camgh1.htm
Click to expand...

Yep, those are the ones I have on the cart, that I intend on using on the therminator itself. Just needed a male GHT - female cam to join them. Both yours and trippr's makes the most sense to me. Especially if I'm going to be doing a recirc'ing pre-chiller, where I can keep the cold water/ice bath very close to the stand, the long-run of the hoses is a moot point.

BTW - can I ask how much RO you can get at one time? I really don't understand how they work in terms of output. Do you tap the tank, and then it starts going through RO actively if demand is made? Does it slow down, or is it pretty much like tap water coming out, in terms of speed?
 
day_trippr said:
Right - that's the Type B female I referred to.



This is the only decent picture I have of my PC plumbing, taken back when I was still building my rig.

View attachment 415242

Male cams on the wort-out tee and the wort-in elbow, and the water side has GHT disconnects on these funky 45° in-line GHT shut-offs I found at Lowes (each has a female and a male end). I've been using those for years, they haven't leaked yet, and they're cheaper than using a set of cams plus adapters. The water out valve is actually handy for tuning flow rate...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Hey trippr, one more if I could, just to clarify. Your Duda has all 1/2" MPT posts, yes?
 
Yes indeed. Substantially faster chilling/more efficient/less water used, wort channels are straight/don't take 90° turns/less prone to clogs and deposits, and for that it's actually cheaper.

I got the model with the two M8 studs out the back, made the mounting easy to my hinged plate.
The whole unit pivots and locks inside the frame out of the way when not in use...

Cheers!
 
B3-23A 30 Plate Beer Wort Garden Hose Chiller, 12" x 2.9", with M8-1.25 Mounting Studs, Convenient Garden Hose Fittings for Water Side, Garden Hose x 1/2" Male NPT HX2330BWGH:M12

This, yes?
 
Yes, HX2330BWGH:M12 is indeed what I have. Wort side are male 1/2" NPT, water side has a female and a male 3/4" GHT.
Took a while to confirm that as I just discovered (like four years later) my 12" chiller has the sticker from one of their 7" long B3-12A models :)

Cheers!
 
Going over your chiller setup as we speak, trippr. Would you mind telling me - the thermometer stem length - and that's a 1/2" NPT tee, right?

Thanks for all your help.
 
The tee is 1/2" all female threads, the 3" dial thermometer is 1/2" male npt with a 2.5" stem, exactly like this.
I bought mine from Bobby as well before he started getting them branded (though apparently the current stock is unbranded as well, fwiw).

Whatever you buy wrt a dial thermometer be sure to get one that can be calibrated (the Miljoco can) so you can optimize the accuracy for "chilled wort" temperatures...

Cheers!
 
Thanks trippr. I have a bunch of therms from cheesemaking and they can all be calibrated, but they're all ridiculously long. One right in front of me is 12", suppose it will be great to do an instant check of a keg ferment, lol.

I thought 2 1/2" myself, but when I measured my 1/2" tee, I couldn't see how a 2.5 would fit in there, as it's only just short of 1.5" in length from the base to the mouth of the tee. I must be missing something...stem length includes the portion buried in the dial, etc., yes?
 
I run my RO system into a husky 30 gallon food grade garbage can fitted with a ball valve and a auto shut off. I turn it on a day or two before brew day to collect enough water for brew day
 
Nice solution for the water reservoir. I wasn't looking forward to an assortment of 5-10 gallon plastic containers....

Do you treat right in the container?
 
day_trippr said:
[edit] Ok, the recirculation thing actually might affect what fittings you want to use on a PC.
If, for instance, you had a two pump rig, you might be able to use what I call the HLT pump - the one you wouldn't be using to push the wort through the PC - to drive the recirculation loop.
And in that case, you probably would want to outfit the PC water ports with the same cams as used on the wort plumbing.

Semi-related, there's not a lot of space between the ports at the ends of the PC. While I never tried it, it might be a tight fit to have two female cams side by side. I serendipitously avoided the potential conflict...
Click to expand...

Ugh - takes me awhile. I used to be smarter. :( The HLT idea is so much better than what I was thinking, with a copper IC and a bath external to the rig! Ice bath there in the HLT, one pump recirc's HLT-PC-HLT, other wort BK-PC-Fermentor. Right?
 
Gadjobrinus said:
[...]The HLT idea is so much better than what I was thinking, with a copper IC and a bath external to the rig! Ice bath there in the HLT, one pump recirc's HLT-PC-HLT, other wort BK-PC-Fermentor. Right?
Click to expand...

Right. My hlt hex is 50 feet of 1/2" SS tubing and my march 815 can drive wort through it plus the associated silicone tubing, valves, elbows etc at a really good clip, at least a few gallons per minute.
If your chiller was roughly the same geometry your chugger shouldn't have much trouble recirculating the cold water through the pc.

I will note that most folks use a sump pump for that task, and tbh I'm not sure I've seen anyone using one of their beer pumps to do it. But I think it'd work ok...

Cheers!
 
Great idea and many thanks for this and others, trippr. 93F today. I dig kettle steam, loved the heat of the kitchen - but am an ambient heat wimp. Bring on autumn, can't wait to brew!
 
Gadjobrinus said:
[...]I thought 2 1/2" myself, but when I measured my 1/2" tee, I couldn't see how a 2.5 would fit in there, as it's only just short of 1.5" in length from the base to the mouth of the tee. I must be missing something...stem length includes the portion buried in the dial, etc., yes?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure the "stem" is just the 1/4" diameter probe section.
Amazingly Miljoco doesn't have a decent engineering drawing but where it mentions the stem length it specifies 1/4" diameter.

Here's a view from above:
chiller_02.jpg

The long side of the tee is 2.125" overall length, there's about 1/8"" of the pc riser showing and about 1/4" of the thermometer threads showing.
That would put the tip of the probe somewhere inside the pc riser.

btw, you can see how close the ports are side-by-side...

Cheers! (it was hella hot here today as well. It's been awhile since I've had to run the A/C this late in the year)
 
day_trippr said:
Took a while to confirm that as I just discovered (like four years later) my 12" chiller has the sticker from one of their 7" long B3-12A models :)
Click to expand...

Lol, we've had problems getting our stickers correct for *years.* Definitely not our strong suit.

Glad to see it working so well, beautiful rig!
 
day_trippr said:
I'm pretty sure the "stem" is just the 1/4" diameter probe section.
Amazingly Miljoco doesn't have a decent engineering drawing but where it mentions the stem length it specifies 1/4" diameter.

Here's a view from above:
View attachment 415449

The long side of the tee is 2.125" overall length, there's about 1/8"" of the pc riser showing and about 1/4" of the thermometer threads showing.
That would put the tip of the probe somewhere inside the pc riser.

btw, you can see how close the ports are side-by-side...

Cheers! (it was hella hot here today as well. It's been awhile since I've had to run the A/C this late in the year)
Click to expand...

THanks, trippr. Also, I don't know why but as usual I was spacing and had the thermo in another part of your tee. I see now it's a non-issue.
 

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