Let's talk about 1 iTap to 4 kegs

[Belgian Samurai]

Hi! What a whirl wind it has been since my last post 3 months ago! I finally got my fermentation chamber issues resolved, parts for the keezer build ordered and finally some Spring-esque weather.

I have an idea for my keezer tap management system that I wanted to run by you all. I am going to purchase a Boel iTap bottle filler, but due to the amount I've already invested in this project, I had a notion to try to maximize the benefit of a single iTap with a 4-keg keezer. Here is the idea I am toying with:

iTap bottle filler:

1. Port 1: (gas)
   1. From iTap gas barb > tubing > keg ball lock > jumper ball lock > ball lock from Co2 manifold (borrowed from keg)
2. Port 2: (beer {and no-rinse sanitizer})
   1. From iTap beer barb > tubing > keg ball lock >
      1. ... to whichever keg I want to bottle from Or
      2. ... to a reservoir with no rinse sanitizer to flush the iTap beer line and bottle filler prior to filling bottle.
         Here in lies my further info I need to make this work. If possible, I was thinking: 32oz spray bottle > thread cap w/barb > tubing > ball lock > jumper ball lock > that would then connect to to the beer line coming off the iTap. The threaded cap w/barb may be impossible to find, but if this theory worked, I could then invert the "spray" bottle and squeeze it to force the no-rinse sanitizer thru it. What do you think? Do you have an alternate solution to the spray bottle for rinsing the iTap beer line?

Tag, you're it!
Belgian Samurai

 

[Elric]

[*]... to a reservoir with no rinse sanitizer to flush the iTap beer line and bottle filler prior to filling bottle.
Here in lies my further info I need to make this work. If possible, I was thinking: 32oz spray bottle > thread cap w/barb > tubing > ball lock > jumper ball lock > that would then connect to to the beer line coming off the iTap. The threaded cap w/barb may be impossible to find, but if this theory worked, I could then invert the "spray" bottle and squeeze it to force the no-rinse sanitizer thru it. What do you think? Do you have an alternate solution to the spray bottle for rinsing the iTap beer line?

I just have one of these Plastic Carbonation Cap for the FermZilla Carbonation Cap with two of these Plastic Carbonation Ball Lock Cap for the FermZilla. I put them on a pop bottle and use a bike pump to pressurize it. Works well enough for me and is a good reuse of items I already have around for other purposes.

 

[DuncB]

You could put a ball lock bulkhead post liquid fitting into the top of the spray bottle or the side near the top, then just connect the ball lock liquid connector to it on your jumper line. Or just fit tubing or use the tubing directly into a duotight fitting on the iTap. There are adapters so 8mm will fit to larger diameters.

 

[Belgian Samurai]

Thanks for the replies! I will return to this thread, but it might be a bit as I'm trying to finish up this keezer build and get brewing.

 

[Belgian Samurai]

I just have one of these Plastic Carbonation Cap for the FermZilla Carbonation Cap with two of these Plastic Carbonation Ball Lock Cap for the FermZilla. I put them on a pop bottle and use a bike pump to pressurize it. Works well enough for me and is a good reuse of items I already have around for other purposes.

Thanks for the product links! Glad to know that there are such specific parts!

Okay, taking this idea one step further about about said product attached to this hand-pump garden spray bottle (27 or 50 ounce). I learned about this concept from this YouTube video. Thoughts? It looks do-able.

 

[DuncB]

Basically what I mentioned above re spray bottle, I used a hybrid of the video you show and this one ( I thought 32oz was quite big but done the maths now and realise that my 5 litre pump spray bottle is a lot more than 32 oz).


It means I have a bigger reservoir of cleaning fluid ( using it for keg line cleaning ) and a long tube and an on off switch that locks so I don't have to hold the trigger down. Longer tube means keg fridge doesn't have to be open whilst flushing lines.

 

[Belgian Samurai]

Basically what I mentioned above re spray bottle, I used a hybrid of the video you show and this one ( I thought 32oz was quite big but done the maths now and realise that my 5 litre pump spray bottle is a lot more than 32 oz).

It means I have a bigger reservoir of cleaning fluid ( using it for keg line cleaning ) and a long tube and an on off switch that locks so I don't have to hold the trigger down. Longer tube means keg fridge doesn't have to be open whilst flushing lines.

That was awesome! Well, that is exactly what I am going to do! Thank you so much!!

Can you elucidate on the switch (link?) and not having to open the keg fridge door? How are you accessing the beer lines from outside the fridge?

 

[DuncB]

Have attached picture of the switch, its the trigger on the tube that comes out of the sprayer. Have attached the bulkhead post to the end as you see.

Trigger is depressed and can be slid forward to keep the flow going.
Because the tube between this handle and the pump bottle is about a metre long I can either open the fridge plug it onto the ball lock ( liquid ) and turn it on shut door or with long enough keg lines ( which I have ) I just have the line I'm cleaning out of the fridge and the door shut. Then when flushed with say line cleaner I then flush with water and then starsan. Can reuse the linecleaner and starsan.

I remember the smaller pump sprayers also have a trigger lock but no tube and less capacity.

Somewhere I think Day trippr has a fancy manifold he uses for flushing all his beer lines at once. I recently read about it and saw pictures on the forum.

 

[Belgian Samurai]

Have attached picture of the switch, its the trigger on the tube that comes out of the sprayer. Have attached the bulkhead post to the end as you see.

Trigger is depressed and can be slid forward to keep the flow going.
Because the tube between this handle and the pump bottle is about a metre long I can either open the fridge plug it onto the ball lock ( liquid ) and turn it on shut door or with long enough keg lines ( which I have ) I just have the line I'm cleaning out of the fridge and the door shut. Then when flushed with say line cleaner I then flush with water and then starsan. Can reuse the linecleaner and starsan.

I remember the smaller pump sprayers also have a trigger lock but no tube and less capacity.

Somewhere I think Day trippr has a fancy manifold he uses for flushing all his beer lines at once. I recently read about it and saw pictures on the forum.
View attachment 723485

Thank you! Said items ordered!

 

[Belgian Samurai]

Have attached picture of the switch, its the trigger on the tube that comes out of the sprayer. Have attached the bulkhead post to the end as you see.

Trigger is depressed and can be slid forward to keep the flow going.
Because the tube between this handle and the pump bottle is about a metre long I can either open the fridge plug it onto the ball lock ( liquid ) and turn it on shut door or with long enough keg lines ( which I have ) I just have the line I'm cleaning out of the fridge and the door shut. Then when flushed with say line cleaner I then flush with water and then starsan. Can reuse the linecleaner and starsan.

I remember the smaller pump sprayers also have a trigger lock but no tube and less capacity.

Somewhere I think Day trippr has a fancy manifold he uses for flushing all his beer lines at once. I recently read about it and saw pictures on the forum.
View attachment 723485

The sprayer I purchased arrived this morning, but in my excitement, I inadvertently bought the carbonation ball lock (as shown in video mentioned earlier) instead of the bulkhead ball lock shown in your picture. :rolls eyes: Oh well, I'll use it for flavored water bottles.

Questions...

1. Can you help me resolve which part(s) I need? Can I borrow a liquid line ball lock (which I'll replace later) from an unused keg?
   So, I found this bulkhead ball lock by OneBom Ball Lock as well as this one by Homebrew, but even though they both claim to be male NPT, the pictures make by OneBom make the ball lock appear as is if it has a aggressive taper. I'm not sure what the difference in applications are between these two. Perhaps, I am completely missing something here.
2. It appears that you might have two couplers between the garden sprayer and the bulkhead ball lock. I see one brass female coupler and between that and the ball lock, I don't recognize the part, because the threads look flat.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Note: All Amazon links are sterile links; non-affiliate links.

EDIT: I just returned from a local hardware store as well as Ace Hardware,but no one was able to figure out how to connect these two. What parts did you get?

 

[jseyfert3]

Looks like you're already down another path, but saw this item here and thought you might be interested. Fair warning I haven't got it yet but I plan to for bottling up small amounts to give to family and friends. It's a counter pressure bottle that fits into the faucet of a forward sealing faucet.

https://shop.greatfermentations.com...iller/tapcooler-bottle-filler-and-accessories
In other words, assuming you have forward sealing faucets, this means all you need one CO2 line to the filler, and there are no beer lines to flush between bottling different bottles, since you just stick this into whichever faucet you want to use and you just pop it off and rinse between uses. If you were doing a lot of bottling I see how it would be annoying but if you're talking about an occasional 6-pack or two seems like a lot less work then setting up and flushing various beer lines to a dedicated filler.

 

[Belgian Samurai]

Looks like you're already down another path, but saw this item here and thought you might be interested. Fair warning I haven't got it yet but I plan to for bottling up small amounts to give to family and friends. It's a counter pressure bottle that fits into the faucet of a forward sealing faucet.

https://shop.greatfermentations.com...iller/tapcooler-bottle-filler-and-accessories
In other words, assuming you have forward sealing faucets, this means all you need one CO2 line to the filler, and there are no beer lines to flush between bottling different bottles, since you just stick this into whichever faucet you want to use and you just pop it off and rinse between uses. If you were doing a lot of bottling I see how it would be annoying but if you're talking about an occasional 6-pack or two seems like a lot less work then setting up and flushing various beer lines to a dedicated filler.

Hey, that's pretty cool. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind!

 

[DuncB]

Questions...

1. Can you help me resolve which part(s) I need? Can I borrow a liquid line ball lock (which I'll replace later) from an unused keg?
   So, I found this bulkhead ball lock by OneBom Ball Lock as well as this one by Homebrew, but even though they both claim to be male NPT, the pictures make by OneBom make the ball lock appear as is if it has a aggressive taper. I'm not sure what the difference in applications are between these two. Perhaps, I am completely missing something here.
2. It appears that you might have two couplers between the garden sprayer and the bulkhead ball lock. I see one brass female coupler and between that and the ball lock, I don't recognize the part, because the threads look flat.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Note: All Amazon links are sterile links; non-affiliate links.

EDIT: I just returned from a local hardware store as well as Ace Hardware,but no one was able to figure out how to connect these two. What parts did you get?

Yes you can just swap the liquid ball lock onto the top of the gas bulkhead no problem at all.

I had the female to female connector left over in my odds and sods box. It had been connecting a low pressure gauge onto the top of a rotokeg (which has been substituted for a liquid keg post seen below ).
Other option is one of these the female goes on the ball lock bulkhead and then fit the stiff plastic tube between the trigger and spray into it ( I would shorten the tube ) . Just need to make sure that you have the correct size push in to match the plastic tube.

Further option would be the short dip tube that you can get for ball locks, my fermentasaurus has them on the liquid ball lock ( they are available separately though to swap over as seen on the rotokeg lid) and then fit the plastic tube between sprayer and trigger over the tube. With a small clamp on.


Does that help?

We have an amazing plumbing supply shop down here where they have all kinds of adapters which I have used for other odd connections ( sorting out a broken adapter on my metal rubbish spunding valve ), so frustrating the metric, bsp, mpt thread thing drives me potty

 

[Belgian Samurai]

Re: DuncB
Okay, I found some connectors that worked and thought I'd share the product links for anyone interested. Thanks for all of your (and everyone else's!) input on this project!!

The problem I ran into is the same problem everyone runs into: it's the stupid "frustrating the metric, bsp, mpt thread thing". If anyone is interested in an early retirement, get a metal lathe, cut an exact fit and brand it, then sell them to the beer community. Voi La! InstaRich. haha

Shopping list:

• 1/4 in MIP x Close Hex Nipple (304 Stainless Steel by ProLine)
  Note: Actually, too small for the threads inside the ball lock post I borrowed off the keg liquid line, but I just wrapped it ... a lot ... with teflon tape. It seems to be tight. If you don't read a follow-up, then it worked fine.
• 3/8 in FIP x 1/4 in FIP Reducing Coupling (304 Stainless Steel by Proline)
  Note: For the 3/8 inch side of the coupling attaching to the sprayer nozzle, it was a tight fit, so i only wrappe the telfon tape twice and threaded it onusing channel-lock pliers to create a tight fit.

Exploded view:


Assembled view:




All in all, it looks like it's going to work. Forget ever trying to find an exact fit. Use teflon tape: the plumber's equivalent of Duct tape? haha

 

[DuncB]

Glad you got it sorted , looks good. The other supplement for leaks on some connections ( not on kegs or hot side ) is a bit of silicone sealant ( food grade ) on top of the teflon ( PTFE ) tape.

 

[buddyjeff]

Can anyone here confirm the thread size of the co2 supply to the iTap? We just bought one and we have an idea on how to set up a quick connect directly on the unit but that depends on the actual thread size.

 

[Belgian Samurai]

Can anyone here confirm the thread size of the co2 supply to the iTap? We just bought one and we have an idea on how to set up a quick connect directly on the unit but that depends on the actual thread size.

You could send a message to Boel's support on Instagram.

FWIW, here is how I resolve the removals process for cleaning.

 

[buddyjeff]

You could send a message to Boel's support on Instagram.

FWIW, here is how I resolve the removals process for cleaning.

View attachment 750831 View attachment 750832 View attachment 750833 View attachment 750834 View attachment 750835

Sick setup btw.

We just decided to use the setup based on the first post in the thread. We found a ball lock post that would thread directly into the back of the iTap, but with the connector installed we feel like the tolerances would be too tight with everything else hooked up so that kind of kills that idea. Thanks!

 

[Belgian Samurai]

Sick setup btw.

We just decided to use the setup based on the first post in the thread. We found a ball lock post that would thread directly into the back of the iTap, but with the connector installed we feel like the tolerances would be too tight with everything else hooked up so that kind of kills that idea. Thanks!

I forgot to included these two images to show how the inside works. So I just have a QD on the end of 6ft of tubing that can quickly connect to any keg. It makes it easy to clean as well as bottle. You will also see a plastic falling water jug in the keezer. I have the bottle waste going into that jug. I bottled an entire case and had less than a 1/4in of waste beer. Not even enough worth talking about. I was super impressed with this bottle filler!