Can this be done? DIY gas manifold?

[Yuri_Rage]

Here's what I'm picturing, bird. Thinking 1/4" NPT ports would be best.

Other ideas?

 

[the_bird]

That's exactly what I was thinking.

I have a bunch of these:

at the house. I'll double-check the measurements when I get home.

 

[uuurang]

hey bird, those valves are nice. Look like the ones northern brewer?/morebeer? uses on there manifolds. Where'd you get them?

Are they commercially available at Home depot or hardware store? I''m just really cheap, have a hard time paying shipping. I know I should support my LHBS.

 

[the_bird]

I bought them from someone on here a month or so back...

 

[Fingers]

Do they have built in check valves?

 

[the_bird]

yup.

567890

 

[uuurang]

Thanks Bird. I should keep an eye on classifieds then.

 

[mward]

You can get little plastic check valves from us plastics for about a buck each. I bought several of them a few months ago and add them as needed.

 

[Eric_Duel]

If I could add a suggestion on check valves...

As I've seen a lot of posts saying to put only one between the regulator and the manifold.

Personal preference, and if you always keep all your kegs at the same pressure, it may never become an issue. But if you dump CO2 from one keg after dialing down the pressure, the CO2 in the other kegs rushes through the lines from one keg, through the manifold, to the keg you're dumping CO2.

So if you're dumping from, say, an Alt, and you've got a Belgian Abbey Ale on the same manifold, your German Altbier may taste oddly Belgian at some point in its life.

You could also disconnect the other kegs when relieving pressure, or at least turn them off via the manifold valves.

 

[CollinsBrew]

I bought the 6-way manifold from MoreBeer.com for $67 and being over $50 meant the shipping was free. I couldn't buy the parts for less than that anywhere as well as deal with the headache of putting them together with no leaks.

 

[Fingers]

If you don't fill your kegs above the level of the gas-in tube, you shouldn't get any beer into your regulator. Other than that, what else are the check valves good for that the shut-offs can't do?

 

[BierMuncher]

If you don't fill your kegs above the level of the gas-in tube, you shouldn't get any beer into your regulator. Other than that, what else are the check valves good for that the shut-offs can't do?

I use check valves. Learned my lesson.

I don’t over fill my kegs, but I do fill them up with very little room to spare regarding the gas dip tube. It only takes a small amount of beer getting sloshed up into that tube (shaking, moving, jostling…) and then a slight imbalance in your keg pressures for that drop (or more) to get pushed backwards in the system. At $3.00 apiece, they’re a nice safe guard.

 

[olllllo]

As an added measure of safety, use clear tubing. If you use the opaque kind, you'll never know how close you've come to averting disaster.

 

[AlchemyBrewing]

Nothing like flogging a dead thread but ChiCompany has great prices on these manifolds. About $38 for the four port with check valves. Also expandable.