EVA + DuoTight + ... Picnic Tap?

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AntDoctor

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Since apparently EVA lines and DuoTight are the future, I'm planning on slowly switching my stuff to the EVA universe. However, I can't find any picnic taps that connect to EVA lines. Am I going crazy? Is there a cheap faucet to serve from EVA barrier beer lines?
 
I have been slowly swapping my lines out for EVA barrier as they've needed replacement, they work great when they can be designed for dispensing and don't have to move ( heavy foreshadowing). In general they are much more brittle, almost like a semi-rigid plastic than PVC or silicone. For example I learned my lesson where I needed a 90 degree tailpiece off the shank, as gravity did its work on the line, it inevitably kinked, cracked, and in about 24 hours I lost a keg of beer into my keezer floor and a 10# CO2 tank. Okay, we can swap out tailpieces for some 90's... 🙄

Now you could certainly use them on a picnic tap, including by just shoving the 1/4 tap valve through the 8mm ID. They won't stretch nicely like vinyl/silicone, but you can get them to seal in a pinch. Just don't expect a long term solution there, because brittle. Or you could use a few fittings that morebeer sells, like what I do on my 1/4 90' tailpieces. They talk about them here: Duotight Push-In Fitting - 6.5 mm (1/4 in.) x 8 mm (5/16 in.) Reducer | MoreBeer
 
I took the idea from an old post I saw on here a few years ago, but I cut the barb off the picnic tap and threaded it to take a John guest fitting.
20201026_080700.jpg
 
I cut off the barb and tapped and threaded the end of the barb. I'll try and find the tap kit I used after I wake up later.
 
I avoid Duotight like the plague. They leak like crazy. I just got my new Komos V2 kegerator about a month ago. The unit had the EVA barrier and Duotight connectors. I also bought additional Duotight connectors. I have lost two complete CO2 canisters and I keep having to replace and reconnect the connectors. I am seriously contemplating switching out the whole system.
 
otoh, fwiw, I currently have just under 40 push to connect fittings throughout my cold side - beer, gas and water lines are all EVAbarrier - installed a year ago November.
Many of them are Duotight, the rest are John Guest and DMfit.
No issues, period...

Cheers!
 
otoh, fwiw, I currently have just under 40 push to connect fittings throughout my cold side - beer, gas and water lines are all EVAbarrier - installed a year ago November.
Many of them are Duotight, the rest are John Guest and DMfit.
No issues, period...

Cheers!
So, I am the only guy in the world that has nothing but bad luck with them? Close to 40% failure rate?
 
So, I am the only guy in the world that has nothing but bad luck with them? Close to 40% failure rate?
I have no experience with duotight but we used to use push to generic connect fittings extensively at work. I learned two main things. First, make sure the hose is fully seated, a lot of fittings have a "false bottom" feeling and a lot of new users tend to not fully seat the tube. Second, the hoses tend to get scratched up from inserting and removing them and this will lead to leaks eventually. If you're disconnecting hoses regularly you may need to trim off the very end of the hose to get a smooth finish for the oring to make a proper seal.

Also they tend to not like a lot of sideways force on the tubing, in other words coming out and straight into a tight bend. Though this is exactly what the duotight fittings advertise they are good for.
 
I have no experience with duotight but we used to use push to generic connect fittings extensively at work. I learned two main things. First, make sure the hose is fully seated, a lot of fittings have a "false bottom" feeling and a lot of new users tend to not fully seat the tube. Second, the hoses tend to get scratched up from inserting and removing them and this will lead to leaks eventually. If you're disconnecting hoses regularly you may need to trim off the very end of the hose to get a smooth finish for the oring to make a proper seal.

Also they tend to not like a lot of sideways force on the tubing, in other words coming out and straight into a tight bend. Though this is exactly what the duotight fittings advertise they are good for.
Thanks for the information. I have tried several times and Morebeer has also helped but they still leak and I have the beer at only 8-12 PSI. I think I will go back to what works. Not all new things are improved things...
 
So, I am the only guy in the world that has nothing but bad luck with them? Close to 40% failure rate?

Well, in a word: yes.

So far in over a year of following closely, I have only read of a few issues, all of them related to over-torquing the threaded side and putting a circumferential crack at the back. Otherwise, best as I can recall, nobody has complained...

Cheers!
 
Well, in a word: yes.

So far in over a year of following closely, I have only read of a few issues, all of them related to over-torquing the threaded side and putting a circumferential crack at the back. Otherwise, best as I can recall, nobody has complained...

Cheers!
I seriously doubt that.
 
Umm...based on what? Extrapolating your experience?

If that worked I'd be looking at roughly 16 leaking fittings out of 40. Yet, I have zero leaking fittings after 11 months...

Cheers!
 
So far in over a year of following closely, I have only read of a few issues, all of them related to over-torquing the threaded side and putting a circumferential crack at the back. Otherwise, best as I can recall, nobody has complained...

I'm 100% John Guest for both gas and beer (about 50 connectors in all). I trust them enough that I use them to connect my trunk line to my tower inside the insulation, which would be be a major PITA if they leaked. The only problem I've ever had is what @day_trippr flagged: over-torquing an FFL thread to a liquid or gas keg fitting and cracking the thread, but that was my own fault and it's pretty obvious when it happens.

I also use a bunch of JG to NPT and NPT to triclamp fittings for things like cold side transfers and have no problems with leaks. The acetyl co-polymer NPT male screws happily into stainless female without the need for teflon tape, so the connections can be sanitized.

One thing I've found is that you sometimes need feel carefully for the push-to-fit to properly engage in the beer line. Sometimes, the line doesn't go all the way in and it's not engaged the seal. I have disconnected and reconnected a fitting more than once to convince myself that the seal has been made. Maybe that could be an issue for your connectors @Reneauj62?
 
Put me down for never having an issue outside of the user-error in inducing too much of an angle at the tailpiece (see above post). I seat them well and pressure test with a starsan keg at 18PSI for 24 hours before hooking up to precious, precious beer.
 
Put me down for never having an issue outside of the user-error in inducing too much of an angle at the tailpiece (see above post). I seat them well and pressure test with a starsan keg at 18PSI for 24 hours before hooking up to precious, precious beer.
From what I understand when working with PtC connections there are 3 things to ensure proper seal and clamping engagement:
  1. The face of the tubing needs to be cut as close to 90° and square/smooth as possible.
  2. The tubing should remain round and minimally deformed when making the cut; e.g., don't use wire snips.
  3. Make a mark on the tubing at the insertion depth as a visual feedback that's inserted deep enough.
 
Have had Zero issues with the duotight fittings that came with my KOMOS V2, love the simplicity. I was in a rush and the upgraded reg i purchased had a barb on it and I was eager to get everything setup. What a pain it is to use a barb with EVAtight hose....
 
Thanks for the information. I have tried several times and Morebeer has also helped but they still leak and I have the beer at only 8-12 PSI. I think I will go back to what works. Not all new things are improved things...
The proper way to use Them is clean square cuts as noted above, push them ALL the way in, then gently pull them out until there is enough room to put the plastic e clip behind the tubing sleeve. Pulling them back out after full insertion is the way the get fully sealed according to their engineers. No idea why.nobody seems to include the little clips that go with them, but you can find them buried on the website usually, or online Vendors. Push AND pull. Then lock it with a clip.
 
It really is amazing they aren’t included with the connectors considering they’re probably a few pennies per unit. Makes a huge difference, especially for things like bends close to the connector, cramped quarters where things get jostled, etc.
 
Has anyone found these clips for Duotight? Or been able to verify that the John Guest ones work for Duotight?
 
Looking at this post, it appears @LBussy knows what clips you need for DuoTight:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...egland-eva-barrier.668944/page-6#post-8914153
I'm assuming the small blue things are the locking clips?
I never knew such a thing existed either, but for the price it would be cheap insurance. A quick internet search led me to these links—
https://www.homebrewfinds.com/2020/07/finding-duotight-compatible-locking-clips.html
https://www.amazon.com/John-Guest-Copolymer-Connect-Fitting/dp/B007COM8KC
https://www.amazon.com/JIUWU-Locking-Reverse-Osmosis-Fittings/dp/B00YGR576K
 
They’re all the same design. You just have to get the size right so they fit over the tubing sleeve. If I recall correctly they’re sized nominally to match the od of your tubing, i.e. a 1/4 connector uses 1/4 clip, even tho the clip is probably more like 5/16 or 3/8.
 
yes. Please share.
Okay here's the drill bit and pipe tap/thread cutter I used. It is actually fairly simple, I cut the barbed end off, drilled out the hole thats left after the barb is cut off, cut the threads using the thread cutter and screwed the John guest fitting from the 1st picture in.
20201028_150039.jpg
20201028_150417.jpg
20201028_150046.jpg
20201028_150039.jpg
20201028_150417.jpg
20201028_150046.jpg
 
Okay here's the drill bit and pipe tap/thread cutter I used. It is actually fairly simple, I cut the barbed end off, drilled out the hole thats left after the barb is cut off, cut the threads using the thread cutter and screwed the John guest fitting from the 1st picture in.

AHHHHH. ok. i thought you were tapping threads on the barb stem itself, which seemed freeakin crazy. so you just tapped into the lower body of the tap, was there any issue with that at all? is the plastic thin like up towards the top?
 
Somehow I posted something about the Perlick/Intertap issue in this thread. Sorry about that gents - deleting this. :)
 
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